$70 was already hard to justify, but $80-$90?

[Rob⛧Slayer]

Never thought a company could make me want to walk away from gaming, but Nintendo just set a new standard. These prices? It feels like they’re actively daring us to quit. Gaming was once a universal joy, but now it’s turning into an exclusive pastime for those with disposable incomes and no idea how much a loaf of bread costs.

And let’s not even start on Activision Blizzard and Tencent. These corporations are masters at hiring influencers to spin their predatory pricing and exploitative game models into something palatable, as if they’re the saviors of gaming. Iconic franchises like Diablo and Call of Duty have been reduced to little more than cash cows, prioritizing revenue over the player experience.

Rising costs aren’t just hurting players—they’re alienating content creators too. When their audiences can’t afford the games being promoted, it creates a rift that turns gaming culture into something distant and unrelatable. It’s not just the soul of gaming that’s at risk—it’s the shared connection, the very thing that made gaming special in the first place, slipping away under the weight of relentless schemes and price hikes.


Update: This just happened, I guess we have Trump to thank for this.

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-delays-switch-2-pre-order-date-in-the-us-to-assess-impact-of-trumps-tariffs

Another update: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCW6KFV8jxc

Thank god for the EU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkUUm0zDLY

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

Truth is there TON of mix & match problems in the whole industry from greed, spending stupidity, patent war, too many services getting out of hand, and etc what cause things to drive up cost.

What funny we're coming up with TECH to help with some of these problems like AI assistance, better & faster tech, and more, even finding alternatives, but has no affect what so ever, and instead used to cut corners, and charge same, or more. Example certain games that has terrible optimization, yeah just push upscale + frame gen.then call it a day, even Nvidia/AMD realize what publishers are doing with their tech to be lazy in things to cut corners. But this just small area I'm pointing out, there more to what drive up cost.



Also Companies been wanting to raise prices, look up Sony they admit wanting to raise game prices, Rockstar suggest they charge $100 for GTA 6, this roller coaster just keep on going, and we're seeing full swing from Nintendo on this one.

[big mozza of puddin taters]

go ahead and purchase indie games (not to be confused with indieslop since both are entirely different from each other) or you can wait a bit for discounts to come in, some real solutions that do not break the law ;)

[Chika Ogiue]

Welcome to five odd years ago when many parts of the world started seeing that pricing. Now do what we do:

Shop smart. Get a console, enjoy the benefits of real competition in a physical market, if your country still has one. Get over FOMO. Wait for sales. Play your backlog.

[BJWyler]

Well, truth be told, gaming has always been an expensive luxury hobby. And we've been fortunate that the cost of games has remained relatively static over the course of the last four or five decades, despite the dramatic rise in inflation over that time. And it's not like we didn't have games that were sold for $70-$100 over that period.

Honestly this was bound to happen. The pricing is finally catching up to the rest of the economy. When a I got my first job, I had to put in a week's worth of work to afford a game. When my daughter got her first job a couple of years ago, she only needed two hours worth of work. Now she'll need four.

And it's not like we don't have hundreds, if not thousands, of quality free games and indie games that sit in the $20-$50 range. That's something we never had back in the day, except for board games.

[Start_Running]

Well then. just don't buy the games that cost more than $60...Honestly seeing people get their knickers in a twist over these prices is hilarious to those of uss who considered $20 too much for a single game.

[SLAYER187]

Nintendo wants $80 and up for handheld games that run on outdated hardware/nvidia who's hardware is bandaided together with software that is in poorly written language (dlss). The games do not even look great smh! Consoles are no longer worth it, just a way to pay gate everything and bleed people dry.

[Chika Ogiue]

Originally posted by Amaterasu:

Nintendo doesn't do sales worth anything and they don't lower the price of their games.

Stop thinking digitally. Physically, Switch games drop in price the same as on any other platform. Even a long seller like Smash Bros. gets a price cut, even if it's on the stingy end of cuts. Most other things, they lose 60 to 80 percent of their price within a year.

[bidulless]

hello
honestly who really cares about that ?
do you have a gun stick to your head ? clearly no , so jut do not be stupid ...

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by bidulless:

hello
honestly who really cares about that ?
do you have a gun stick to your head ? clearly no , so jut do not be stupid ...

Exactly. This is how a free market economy works, and how it should work at the surface level. The manufacturer has every right to charge what they want for their product, and the consumer has every right not to buy it. Simple as.

[Zombie Enthusiast]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Well, truth be told, gaming has always been an expensive luxury hobby. And we've been fortunate that the cost of games has remained relatively static over the course of the last four or five decades, despite the dramatic rise in inflation over that time. And it's not like we didn't have games that were sold for $70-$100 over that period.

Honestly this was bound to happen. The pricing is finally catching up to the rest of the economy. When a I got my first job, I had to put in a week's worth of work to afford a game. When my daughter got her first job a couple of years ago, she only needed two hours worth of work. Now she'll need four.

And it's not like we don't have hundreds, if not thousands, of quality free games and indie games that sit in the $20-$50 range. That's something we never had back in the day, except for board games.

This doesn't at all figure in paid DLC, subscription services, and other such stuff that's jammed in games today. Back then, a game was sold as is. What you bought was what you got. You were lucky if it got an expansion pack, which itself was a full-fledge game all on its own back in the day. Today, when you buy a game, its rare for it to not have a cash shop of some kind, unless you buy an indie game made by some guy in his garage.

The way studio execs monetize their games today are nothing compared to back then. So the whole "Prices have finally caught up with the economy" story that some keep shilling is nothing but bunk.

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by Zombie Enthusiast:

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Well, truth be told, gaming has always been an expensive luxury hobby. And we've been fortunate that the cost of games has remained relatively static over the course of the last four or five decades, despite the dramatic rise in inflation over that time. And it's not like we didn't have games that were sold for $70-$100 over that period.

Honestly this was bound to happen. The pricing is finally catching up to the rest of the economy. When a I got my first job, I had to put in a week's worth of work to afford a game. When my daughter got her first job a couple of years ago, she only needed two hours worth of work. Now she'll need four.

And it's not like we don't have hundreds, if not thousands, of quality free games and indie games that sit in the $20-$50 range. That's something we never had back in the day, except for board games.

This doesn't at all figure in paid DLC, subscription services, and other such stuff that's jammed in games today. Back then, a game was sold as is. What you bought was what you got. You were lucky if it got an expansion pack, which itself was a full-fledge game all on its own back in the day. Today, when you buy a game, its rare for it to not have a cash shop of some kind, unless you buy an indie game made by some guy in his garage.

The way studio execs monetize their games today are nothing compared to back then. So the whole "Prices have finally caught up with the economy" story that some keep shilling is nothing but bunk.

Except it's not, bud. It's all part and parcel. MMO subscriptions have not changed in 30 years, despite the fact that the cost of creating and maintaining these games has risen quite significantly in that time. Same with all the other things you mention. How much is that guy in the garage charging for his one man operation compared to a studio that has payroll, and all the other expenses that come with that.

Subscription services are par for the course as the market had shown that there is a demand for them. TV services are increasing, not decreasing. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that more people make use of a particular business model and enjoy it, even if you don't.

And sometimes that means certain non-essential luxury products will be out of our reach.

[Reiya]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Originally posted by Zombie Enthusiast:

This doesn't at all figure in paid DLC, subscription services, and other such stuff that's jammed in games today. Back then, a game was sold as is. What you bought was what you got. You were lucky if it got an expansion pack, which itself was a full-fledge game all on its own back in the day. Today, when you buy a game, its rare for it to not have a cash shop of some kind, unless you buy an indie game made by some guy in his garage.

The way studio execs monetize their games today are nothing compared to back then. So the whole "Prices have finally caught up with the economy" story that some keep shilling is nothing but bunk.

Except it's not, bud. It's all part and parcel. MMO subscriptions have not changed in 30 years, despite the fact that the cost of creating and maintaining these games has risen quite significantly in that time. Same with all the other things you mention. How much is that guy in the garage charging for his one man operation compared to a studio that has payroll, and all the other expenses that come with that.

Subscription services are par for the course as the market had shown that there is a demand for them. TV services are increasing, not decreasing. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that more people make use of a particular business model and enjoy it, even if you don't.

And sometimes that means certain non-essential luxury products will be out of our reach.

Don't worry, my fellow American. Soon essential goods will be out of our reach.

Also I crunched the numbers, I'm a paramount + subscriber, I pay 13 dollars a month to watch all the movies and TV I want. For the same price as a new game in the future, which I may have beaten in like 8 hours on average and 120 at best... I could get 6.1 months of Paramount + or 4,450 hours of entertainment or 5,192 episodes of Star Trek. There are only 940 episodes across all the various series. Meaning to watch every single episode of Star Trek. All of it. Or 809 hours if I were to average 50 minutes per episode and 2 hours per movie. Which is only 1.1 month. Leaving me with another 5 to do whatever the hell I want.

So no, gaming is not the cheapest form of entertainment as some people in other topics have claimed. It's one of the most expensive.

[BJWyler]

Originally posted by Amaterasu:

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Except it's not, bud. It's all part and parcel. MMO subscriptions have not changed in 30 years, despite the fact that the cost of creating and maintaining these games has risen quite significantly in that time. Same with all the other things you mention. How much is that guy in the garage charging for his one man operation compared to a studio that has payroll, and all the other expenses that come with that.

Subscription services are par for the course as the market had shown that there is a demand for them. TV services are increasing, not decreasing. Sometimes you just have to accept the fact that more people make use of a particular business model and enjoy it, even if you don't.

And sometimes that means certain non-essential luxury products will be out of our reach.

Don't worry, my fellow American. Soon essential goods will be out of our reach. :lilacstare:

Well, yes indeed, but that's a whole other ball game. But it does highlight the fact that life means we have to make choices with our budgets. As the price of essential items goes up, that means we must sacrifice the purchasing of non-essential items. That's the way it's always been. Gaming is a non-essential luxury hobby, but the amount of entitlement that is pervasive in the gaming community still never ceases to amaze me.

People will try to justify the price of eggs based upon their political perspective and in the same breath complain that they can't afford the next new hotness of game that is being released. I'd like to see them walk into a car dealership and make the same arguments and demands about the high end luxury model car as they doing the next AAA game they feel they are entitled to own. It's patently ridiculous.

Originally posted by Amaterasu:

So no, gaming is not the cheapest form of entertainment as some people in other topics have claimed. It's one of the most expensive.

Certainly it is, if you want to cherry pick specific examples. I can do that right now with a handful of game bundles that would prove that gaming is in fact the cheapest form of entertainment around.

Again, it all boils down to the choices. If I am only interested in high end luxury model cars, I am going to be sorely disappointed in my ability to get around from place to place. But if I accept the fact that I have only a certain amount of money to spend, and it's my choice on what that amount ultimately is, then I also have to accept the fact that there are certain things that make zero sense to me to buy, not matter how much I want them, or think I am entitled to them.

[Bllasae]

Nobody's forcing you to buy games at $90. I refuse(d) to buy them at $70 so I stopped buying new games and haven't for years.

[Reiya]

Originally posted by BJWyler:

Originally posted by Amaterasu:

Don't worry, my fellow American. Soon essential goods will be out of our reach.

Well, yes indeed, but that's a whole other ball game. But it does highlight the fact that life means we have to make choices with our budgets. As the price of essential items goes up, that means we must sacrifice the purchasing of non-essential items. That's the way it's always been. Gaming is a non-essential luxury hobby, but the amount of entitlement that is pervasive in the gaming community still never ceases to amaze me.

People will try to justify the price of eggs based upon their political perspective and in the same breath complain that they can't afford the next new hotness of game that is being released. I'd like to see them walk into a car dealership and make the same arguments and demands about the high end luxury model car as they doing the next AAA game they feel they are entitled to own. It's patently ridiculous.

Originally posted by Amaterasu:

So no, gaming is not the cheapest form of entertainment as some people in other topics have claimed. It's one of the most expensive.

Certainly it is, if you want to cherry pick specific examples. I can do that right now with a handful of game bundles that would prove that gaming is in fact the cheapest form of entertainment around.

Again, it all boils down to the choices. If I am only interested in high end luxury model cars, I am going to be sorely disappointed in my ability to get around from place to place. But if I accept the fact that I have only a certain amount of money to spend, and it's my choice on what that amount ultimately is, then I also have to accept the fact that there are certain things that make zero sense to me to buy, not matter how much I want them, or think I am entitled to them.

I can buy a game that I will probably 100% in about 10 hours tops for 13 dollars.

I could also watch all of Star Trek: The original series, Deep Space 9, and The next generation for that same 13 dollars. That's 424 episodes of Star Trek or 353 hours of entertainment or 12 days and 7 hours of Star Trek. Leaving me with the other 18 days of the month.

So my value per hour for a video game that lasts me 10 hours is 1.3 dollars per hour and my value per hour of Star Trek is 4 cents. Meaning I have spent 4 cents or 1.26 less per hour of my time. Now even if I were to only say... watch a single episode each day. Roughly .833 hours a day, it'd come to 52 cents or less than half of the video game I bought for 13 bucks.

And let's just try and say... it's a really big game, will last me 70 hours. That's 19 cents per hour. And if I were to spend 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours working and 8 hours watching star trek for an even easy split. It would cost me 5 cents per hour or a little under a fourth of that large video game.

Math is great, ain't it?

I would only need to watch 3 episodes of Star Trek per day for a month to have spent less money per hour for the same 13 dollars than I would get from that 70 hour video game, at 17 cents per hour.