More money than sense?

[sagat]

I remember visiting the U.K as a teenage tourist in 1993 and walking into a Tandy game store (i think they are gone know) and seeing all the systems. The only affordable ones were the SNES and Megadrive (i bought the SNES). I saw the 3DO and i think it was for £550 or something and the others i.e. CDI, Jaguare etc where similar or higher. Looking back, people bought these systems. Which brings me to the question, did gamers back then have more money than sense?

[nightwolf]

All I can say is no. They can be even worse now.

[sagat]

Maybe so but £600 in 1993 is around £900 or so in today's money which is a lot for a Jaguar 64 Then again 20yrs down the line people will say the PS3 was too expensive

[Raining_again]

Maybe so but £600 in 1993 is around £900 or so in today's money which is a lot for a Jaguar 64 Then again 20yrs down the line people will say the PS3 was too expensive

 

but then people were making less. Wages (as well as the min wage) go up every year, with inflation. So it all balances out.

 

I was amazed when the ps3 and xbox360 came out, how bloody dear they were... I dunno where parents found £500odd to buy a console for their dear bratty child =P

[Dog-amoto]

I remember the Atari 2600 costing nearly £200 in the early 80s and the games were about £30-35 as well.

 

So when people complain about today's games costing £40 and them being too expensive, I tell them to shush! Considering how much work goes into them and the amount of gameplay hours you can get

 

I will say that the Neo Geo was waaaaaaayyyyy too expensive though!

[MoogleViper]

I remember the Atari 2600 costing nearly £200 in the early 80s and the games were about £30-35 as well.

 

So when people complain about today's games costing £40 and them being too expensive, I tell them to shush! Considering how much work goes into them and the amount of gameplay hours you can get

 

I will say that the Neo Geo was waaaaaaayyyyy too expensive though!

 

Just because things used to be more expensive it doesn't meant that they can't still be expensive.

[jayseven]

Hold up on the semantics, brothers!

 

I think the thing to look at is the shift in market between the eras we are talking about. Gaming has shifted drastically from fat basement-nerd realms to unshakeable it's-for-kids manacles, finally to the present day where we can, perhaps proudly, agree that the current gaming market covers all of the above and more (thanks to the gimmicky nonce that is nintendo), so really you have to see the decrease in the cost of gaming as a reflection of the increase in demand, affording games companies greater batch production, R&D, innovation, &c.

 

So with 'back in the day' I think the price attracted those dedicated enough to shell out a fair chunk of their sky-rocket fuel and alienated many who didn't apply to gaming the same sort of value as the 'hardcore' gamers felt the games offered. Today the growth in the market means we measure it differently. No longer is it "WOAAAH YOU HAVE A [insert console here]!!";* nowadays the elitism is measured by other variables, such as collector's editions of games, comprehensive retro collections or even just an extensive collection of current games can offer onlookers a sense of look-how-deep-my-pockets-are. There's probably an actual word for that.

 

I just bought a laptop that is roughly 4-5 times better than my old one (mild-to-mid exaggeration, perhaps) for half the price my old one cost me four years ago. Our first PC cost us over a grand a decade ago, and needless to say it was utter shite by today's standards. Not necessarily entirely on topic, maybe. And apologies for bad grammaretc. Not slept much for a while.

 

 

*Win for the punctuation train!

[Shorty]

Wasn't your old laptop free?

[Beast]

I think it's the same today. All my mates ever do as soon as they get their money is go to Blockbuster and pick games or buy something new for their console or buy a console or buy a console or buy collector's edition games in massive boxes (which I kind of find pointless).

 

But yeah, I think it's the same.

[sagat]

I agree with you guys in that today consoles are not much expensive as they were 'back in the days'. Shorty you know my first PC cost almost a grand as well...lol how times have changed

[Sheikah]

but then people were making less. Wages (as well as the min wage) go up every year, with inflation. So it all balances out.

 

I was amazed when the ps3 and xbox360 came out, how bloody dear they were... I dunno where parents found £500odd to buy a console for their dear bratty child =P

I think his currency comment did make sense actually. Like you said, people earned less so for it to be £600 then it would have been as if we spent £900 today (probably just a guess of his regarding currency but hey).

 

I remember my friend buying the Sega Saturn for £300 back in the day which was insane. I also remember N64 games being £50 new, and that was back then. Games today are often £30 or less, if you buy online, and they seem to spring up for £20 or less in sales on places like ShopTo not too long after they have been out.

 

In short, cost of consoles/games has generally improved since then, and more expensive consoles (the PS3, as a single base unit) actually do seem to be worth the price you pay.

[Nolan]

When a product hits the market the rich and the enthusiasts are the purchasers. New products with new technology are high priced, as the components become cheaper the price comes down as demand grows. Adjust for inflation, and people paid quite a lot back in the day, and most people didn't get into gaming then, and generally had a single console. People are making more now, and what I've noticed is a lot more people own 2 or 3 consoles, and nearly everyone has a PC now. PCs were a rather rare thing for quite some time.

[jayseven]

Wasn't your old laptop free?

 

The point was that the unit itself was worth more than £600 of 2006's money.

[Jimbob]

£350 back in 1993 is about £500 in todays money, which is what the PS3 started out as.

 

Obviously, i think any console above £300 isn't worth that much money. It always becomes sod's law, you buy something at a high price and it becomes a high price to pay once it breaks.