XavierMike

This makes me appreciate the gifts my parents got me even more (2600 and NES). This also makes GameStop's horrid trade-in values look even worse as well.

Jay G.

That must've been a much later edition of the NES, since the Power Pad didn't come out until 1988.

The thread/original article should be more accurately titles "Game Console Launch Prices, Adjusted for Inflation." All of these consoles had later price cuts.
http://vgsales.wikia.com/wiki/Price_cuts

The $300 launch price for the Xbox 360 was for the "core" version that didn't include a harddrive. The one with a HD was $100 more, while the PS3 included a harddrive in all of its consoles. I remember working retail the 360 launch, and most of those that didn't get the one with HD included ended up buying both the core and the HD add-on on day 1.

bunkaroo

We didn't get a 2600 until maybe 1980 so I'm assuming the price had come down to at least $150 at the time if not $100. Still a fair amount to shell out. We did get NES the Christmas after it launched so that was a pretty good gift.

slop101

And don't forget the game prices either.
Compare $40 for E.T. on the 2600, for example, to, say, $60 for GTAV today.

wishbone

It's not listed but we had a Magnavox Odyssey˛ probably a year after its release. This site lists it as $100 or $351.39 adjusted for inflation.

superdeluxe

My parents got me a Intellivision for Christmas in 1980 Damn expensive I suppose.

Supermallet

Proof that the SNES was the best bang for your buck in the history of gaming.

Draven

I remember talking about the 3DO on the old ISCA BBS and there was a guy who simply could not be swayed that it was the greatest thing on the planet. All of the recent stuff in the PS4 and Xbox One threads could not hold a candle to him. My first exposure to illogical ranting about video games.

redcat

That's a really interesting list/ graphic. I'd love to see a corresponding list that shows the inflation-adjusted prices for games for each of those systems at launch as well.

Larry C.

Just looking at the picture of the NES reminded me about how after awhile I needed to always have a bottle of Drakkar Noir shoved above the game so the contacts could touch. Great times!

Rockmjd23

I'm more concerned about the crazy inflation that's already happened since 2006.

TheKing

Games are a little different as their prices have been a little more static. But in general Atari era was around $40 before the 1983 crash, then rebounded in the NES era. I think the SNES/Genesis era brought the $50 game, and that stuck around til the 360/PS3 era. Obviously you have some outliers like Neo Geo's $200 games, but they price hasn't moved all that much, partly because games became much cheaper to produce when cartridges were changed to discs.

And of course now they want to switch to digital for the triple whammy of lower production costs, removing the middle men and killing the used game market.

Brack

The games need to be priced lower than buying a disc for that model to work. When I can buy a game at Walmart for $10 cheaper, it's a no-brainer unless I despised discs.

TheKing

I meant switch to digital completely, which would eliminate discs. Some believe that will happen with the next generation, but the backlash MS took on the XBone's original policies could keep discs around a little longer.

slop101

The shit part of digital downloads is how they never go down in price. There are scores of games that are still at full price for their download, while you can get a new copy of that game for more than 50% off at a store.

RichC2

Digital download is fine if it has a competitive setup. Being able to buy activation codes from 3rd party vendors would allow price drops and sales like on PCs (where digital distribution seems to have saved a dying platform).

wmansir

It looks like the mainstream consoles were generally cheaper than the current/next gen even if you apply standard monetary inflation. But one should also consider the large amount of consumer electronic deflation that has occurred in the last 40 years. When most of these systems cost two or three hundred dollars, the average home computer was ten times as much.

In 1986 the $200 NES was $100 less than a VCR, and those $40 games were half the average price of a new release VHS movie.

Drexl

True, but the VHS movie comparison is iffy since those weren't meant for consumers to purchase (unlike games, which were meant for consumer purchase but also ended up being rented).

It is interesting though, given that game consoles were generally viewed as toys throughout the 80s and early 90s.

Brack

Umm, they're not toys? I'm not trying to make a disparaging remark, but consoles are glorified toys.

RichC2

Once you add Netflix, they're now home theaters!

Drexl

Well, I meant toys as in the kind of things that parents would tend to buy for their kids, not themselves. It seems that starting with the PlayStation they were aiming for an older audience (although I guess the N64 was still going after kids to a large extent).

Hasn't the average age of gamers gone up over time?

Brack

Sure, but why are toys only for kids? Adults have plenty of toys. Toys are toys, whether they're targeted towards kids or adults.

The reason adults play more video games than kids is a generational thing. My parents had no interest in video games. Kids who grew up with them are a different story.

Trevor

My parents played our 2600 as much as we kids did, but yeah, I'm pretty sure the average age of video game players has increased over the decades; same with comic book readers.

Probably has some connection to us becoming more affluent, with much more free time, and trying to hang on to our youth.

Nausicaa

Surprised the 360 launched $200 less than the PS3. I remember the 360 being $400.

I was also surprised by the Dreamcast costing only $200. No wonder I was able to afford it with my meager grocery store earnings back then. I ended up trading it all in for a PS2 once I played SSX, which blew me away. Big regret right there. I had an awesome library of games. Not hard to rebuild but there is something about having the originals. Oh well.

Jacoby Ellsbury

I count 5 cheaper, 4 of them Nintendo and the dreamcast