Console Launch Prices Adjusted For Inflation

[Warrior]

Pussy Toys-R-Us would not sell the Saturn with the Gun. I hope they burn in hell.

LOL!!

When i got my Saturn I got the bundle with the game Nights. That game was friggen awesome. I played that game for like a month before actually buying another game.

 

[pxc]

Alot of shit games though like near unplayable crap that the only way to filter them was though word of mouth or magazines.

The system was so limited there weren't that many different play styles. Out of a dozen cheap cartridges I bought, I think only 2 of them were stinkers. Not just my opinion, because I used to swap games with other people at school.

 

[Kranium]

I remember saving money to buy a Sega Saturn in middle school, that price on the chart seems about right. It was extremely expensive for a "mainstream" console when it was released.

The Nights controller with the analog stick was amazing.

 

[pbassjunk]

Under 50 bux? 50 buX!?

 

[sfsuphysics]

Alot of shit games though like near unplayable crap that the only way to filter them was though word of mouth or magazines.

And enter the licensing requirement for games, so now console makers can sell their consoles for a loss because those licensing agreements on every game sold will be where they make their money!

 

[Draktharbar]

Adjust the prices for actual incomes and the prices won't see so large. Incomes have not kept pace with inflation. Not by a long shot.

The graph needs a little explanation. The numbers for each fifth of income earners is the highest income made by that group (in other words, it's the border between the 20% of people below and the 20% above). The numbers for the top 5 percent is the lower limit of that group, since the upper limit would make the chart hard to read. No matter which group you fall into, if you stayed near the same percentile, your income has increased since the 90's. Numbers are from the census bureau.

 

[polive]

Neo Geo got beat out by the 3DO? Weak.

3DO was the shit! It had Gex and Samurai Showdown and a Street Fighter game and full motion video on about every game! It even had real music in Road Rash!

Mine was stolen when I was 16, about a year after my parents very graciously bought that $500 machine for me. I had the original Panasonic one.

 

[TheMadHatterXxX]

the NEO-GEO and 3DO are perfect examples of how price can negate the attractiveness of superior technology in consoles.

Man I don't remember how much it cost when they came out in the early 90s but I didn't know anyone at all that even had one.

 

[rat]

Especially considering the NEO-GEO cartridge's cost almost as much as the competing consoles themselves. It wasn't until the NEO-GEO CD came out that it became more affordable.

I STILL don't know what it was that made the Neo Geo and its carts so damned expensive...

 

[Krenum]

Most expensive console I'd ever seen was the Magnavox / Phillips CDI, I remember seeing a commercial for it back in the early 90's, I think they were advertising it for 600 dollars.

 

[Deleted member 204526]

Still have an un-opened copy of "Night Trap" for the Sega CD before the censors starting crying fowl.

A little history nugget: The 3DO was the first system to have The Need for Speed on it and it was much more sim based back then. I sure enjoyed that system and currently, it sits in my attic with all games and controllers. There were two versions, a Panasonic version and a Goldstar version IIRC.

Need to get into my attic soon...

I have the Goldstar version. Need for Speed? The shit.

 

[Quicksilver_]

haha, I always find it odd how people always talk about nostalgia. I never sold a console I own and I still regularly play old school games. Hell, I've just started playing Panzer Dragoon Saga. NiGHTS Into Dreams? I own its sequel too

 

[Flatline]

80s style fanboy-ism: "Intellivision sucks!!"

I bought a 2600 for the $200... we couldnt afford the intellivision 8( But the 2600 was great, and had way more games.

Still, my friends had an intellivision and there were a couple games I *loved* on that thing... AD&D and especially Sea Battle!

 

[cnick79]

I don't see the cost of the NES Deluxe set that included 2 game cartridges, Robbie, gun zapper, and 2 controllers. I remember getting that for christmas the year it was released.

 

[maademperor]

PS3 was $600 at release? I thought that was the Ebay gouging price, not the retail...thats crazy.

 

[Yetamedi]

I STILL don't know what it was that made the Neo Geo and its carts so damned expensive...

The price of RAM back then. I think most of the nintendo and sega cartridges were pretty small and they made a big deal if they had 8 megabit ROM's on them. The NEO-GEO catridges were huge by comparison (there were two contact points underneath) and could support 330 megabit, though I never saw any that big. I did however see several that were in the 64 megabit or bigger range. I bought the NEO-GEO gold edition and had about 6 games for it. Those were in the $150-200 a piece range. Maybe part of the price difference could be because SNK thought that since they were true arcade versions of games they could charge more too. I am not sure honestly.

On a separate note, my second most expensive system was my Turbografx-16. That however was for a separate reason: all the accessories. I had the CD add-on and the TurboExpress to go with it ($300 and $400 respectively). Still a very interesting chart though.

 

[sfsuphysics]

The graph needs a little explanation. The numbers for each fifth of income earners is the highest income made by that group (in other words, it's the border between the 20% of people below and the 20% above). The numbers for the top 5 percent is the lower limit of that group, since the upper limit would make the chart hard to read. No matter which group you fall into, if you stayed near the same percentile, your income has increased since the 90's. Numbers are from the census bureau.

Not to discount your chart, but really? In the 1970s if you made 22k a year you were in the top 5% and that's adjusted for inflation salary?

 

[sfsuphysics]

On a separate note, my second most expensive system was my Turbografx-16. That however was for a separate reason: all the accessories. I had the CD add-on and the TurboExpress to go with it ($300 and $400 respectively). Still a very interesting chart though.

The TG-16 was neat though with the little game cards instead of cartridges

 

[Methos]

I STILL don't know what it was that made the Neo Geo and its carts so damned expensive...

The Neo Geo was pretty much the same as the equipment used in actual arcade cabinets, including the boards for the games. If you wanted a perfect arcade port, it was on Neo Geo.

 

[nilepez]

Adjust the prices for actual incomes and the prices won't see so large. Incomes have not kept pace with inflation. Not by a long shot.

For most people, a newly released console was a luxury in the 70's. Looking back, my parents were easily in the top 20% (not that I knew that then) maybe higher, and we definitely didn't get an Atari (ever). I only knew one person who had one and it required 3-4 hours on a plane to get to it. Intellivision was far more common (Coleco was not, but it had Donkey Kong, as I recall). I knew one person who had it, and they were very well off (HUGE house on a golf course). Regardless, someone (perhaps you) posted a graph, and it looks like 2nd quintile has gained roughly 80% since 1990. 3rd looked like it was a bit less. The prices on these things will fall. But no matter what, let's not forget these are typically sold at a loss for several years. Sony lost hundreds on every PS3 sold when it launched.

As many of us remember (hopefully, or I'm getting really old), prices for certain items increased far more quickly than others due to conditions outside of inflation. Fuel prices rose much faster than anyone expected, regulations, tensions in the Middle East, declining reserves/supply issues, and natural disasters (amongst others) were the cause. I remember when a gallon of gas was 99 cents and it wasn't that long ago.

It was at least 12 years ago (probably more) and that was a fluke. Gas prices were generally over a dollar/gallon from 1990-present. Yes, there are exceptions, but as a rule, gas prices weren't that cheap. That said, the jump is a lot, but most cars get better mileage now too.

The consumer price index (http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm) is the basis of the "exchange rate" shown in this chart is heavily based on energy, food, medical care, and durable goods like clothes and cars. The problem with using this index for something like game consoles is that game consoles are generally bought with disposable income. What did we do when fuel prices went up? We all drove less and bought more fuel efficient cars if we could afford them. What did we do when orange juice prices went up? We drink far less of it. Remember when you were a kid and OJ was always in the refrigerator? Now, I almost never have it unless it's on sale. Home prices increased significantly due to over estimation of value and larger family incomes (two incomes instead of one).
In addition, regulations such as in inclusion of ethanol in fuel and efficiency requirements of cars drove prices up.

I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure until recently, housing was relatively cheap, though most people couldn't get a loan to buy one, unless their credit was flawless. Ethanol drove what prices up? Certainly not fuel. I can buy gas with or without ethanol at the same gas station and without is roughly 10% more. Much of what drives prices up, on cars, is safety requirements and things that were once luxury items (Side Airbags, CD, Players, Better Stereo Systems, Cruise Control, rear defroster) and so on. Fuel efficiency will pay for itself, so long as you're not someone who buys a new car every few years. I knew a guy in the 90's who bought one every 3 years. Why? Not sure, because he certainly didn't have the income for it. He bought more cars in a decade than I've owned in a lifetime.

And lets face it, the cost of medical care is so preposterous it's almost comical unless you are the one stuck with the bill. Things have changed quite a bit since 1980. Family dynamics, industry changes, energy consumption and regulation have deeply impacted what we pay for energy and durable goods. I'd argue that we pay less or about the same for items we would buy with disposable income. Think about how much we paid for music (if you buy it) or a movie on DVD/Blueray. We either pay the same or less.
The question is, if non-discretionary spending has increased, how much of our population FEELS poorer? How much disposable income do we have for an XBOX One? Maybe prices for consoles are relatively low because the need to be...

I totally agree on medical. Even with good insurance, coverage isn't as good as it was even a decade ago and for most they pay more in premiums and co-pays and get less.

I disagree on the dynamics since the 80's. Both parents worked in the 80's too (at least the ones I knew did). i suspect both parents worked in the 90's as well. Again, however, I don't think you have to buy the latest game system the day it comes out. If you do, then you'll pay a premium for it. That's no different than buying a brand new graphics high end graphics card. Those were once 200 bucks. Now they're what, close to a grand? Note i realize that graphics cards do much more than they did 20 years ago...but so do gaming systems.

Inflation takes this into account. A TV today is significantly better from a TV from 20 years ago, even if they cost the same inflation adjusted price. So even though someone might be "poorer" today, their standard of living is significantly better. Even the richest person in the world didn't have HDTV 20 years ago.

I'm not sure you can base standard of living off of HDTV vs VHS (though rentals are cheaper now $1.20 in 2013 dollars vs $3.00 in 1993 dollars. Cable is certainly more and while we have more channels, most of us still only watch a few of them. I'd love to be able to save $10-$15/month by dumping ESPN, which means nothing to me, other than the rare occasions where I watch Tennis.

How is saving .005% (if the car was $20,000 and you saved $1k off invoice) from a car that is worth 62% of it's value three years after you purchased it? Get it 3 years old and buy it in cash to save 38%.

A credit score is a rating of how profitable you are to a bank. The people I know that have the best credit scores live from paycheck to paycheck.

His point was clearly that if you have good credit, you can get a loan on better terms. In his case, he got a loan at 0% APR.

Not $1K off MSRP (i.e. sticker), but $1k off dealer cost. Of course I know that dealer cost is not really their cost, but that's another story)
The price was actually $3200 off sticker, or more than 10%

No that's 1k off invoice. Invoice is not cost. Dealers get money back from the Manufacturer, so there cost is well below the invoice price they'll show you. That said, if you pay cash, you should be able to get the money they spend on the 0% interest rate back. Nevertheless, 1K off invoice sounds like a pretty good deal, especially with 0%.

I’ll stick to buying new, taking proper care of it, and driving it for 10+ problem free years.

People living paycheck to paycheck usually don't have the best credit scores, because one mistake/problem and they blow thier score.

Totally agree on holding a car. Mine is now14-15 years old. It doesn't look great, and it's not worth the money to fix get a good paint job knock out the dings. One of these days I'll buy a new one, but I'm not motivated, yet. People living paycheck to paycheck, hopefully, aren't buying new cars. And FWIW, although I subscribe to the buy knew hold it a long time, buying a used car is a better deal. If you get a 3 year old car, it's probably a lease and I believe many (most?) leases now come with maintenance included, because that helps the dealers sell them for more money (someone can correct me if that's incorrect)

The price of RAM back then. I think most of the nintendo and sega cartridges were pretty small and they made a big deal if they had 8 megabit ROM's on them. The NEO-GEO catridges were huge by comparison (there were two contact points underneath) and could support 330 megabit, though I never saw any that big. I did however see several that were in the 64 megabit or bigger range. I bought the NEO-GEO gold edition and had about 6 games for it. Those were in the $150-200 a piece range. Maybe part of the price difference could be because SNK thought that since they were true arcade versions of games they could charge more too. I am not sure honestly.

I believe the prices were high, because licensing was high. An Arcade game was a license to print money and if you made it affordable to the masses, the masses would stop going to arcades. Eventually that's what happened, and there are far fewer arcades now and those that I see have fewer games.

Funny thing is in the mid 80's you could buy a used Ms. Pacman or Donkey Kong for 200 bucks (give or take). By then everyone was playing other games, so those fell out of favor. I was shocked when they reissued Ms Pacman around 10 years ago for 3 grand! 3 Grand for a game that required no new R&D and the most expensive part was either the monitor or the cabinet.

 

[twoodcc]

interesting. i'm surprised the ps2 isn't higher. maybe i will buy an xbox one and ps4

 

[infin@]

I guess I need to call my dad and thank him again for the NES he bought me. Inflation is fun! *sarcasm

 

[OGOC]

Inflation takes this into account. A TV today is significantly better from a TV from 20 years ago, even if they cost the same inflation adjusted price. So even though someone might be "poorer" today, their standard of living is significantly better. Even the richest person in the world didn't have HDTV 20 years ago.

Maybe. Though imo, and I think data would back me up on this, old TVs were far more durable than today's TVs. Tubes rule, but even the rear-projection TVs from 10+ years ago will likely have longer lives than newer LCDs and plasmas.

The way the U.S. government measures inflation is b.s. in multiple ways. But that's a thread unto itself. On this very merry Fourth of July, I'll just say The Federal Reserve and Keynesianism are b.s. and leave it at that. Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

 

[nilepez]

Maybe. Though imo, and I think data would back me up on this, old TVs were far more durable than today's TVs. Tubes rule, but even the rear-projection TVs from 10+ years ago will likely have longer lives than newer LCDs and plasmas.

Tubes didn't die, but the colors faded, the edge of the film/tv show was often off the screen (someone else can explain why). My 19" (1600 x 1200) viewsonic monitor went out after 5 or 6 years. It was fixable for 100 bucks, but I just paid 200 for a refurbed 21" monitor instead.(1900x1400?). I still have it, but it's rarely used. I've used a 2408 for 5 years.

I think the real difference between now and 20 years ago is that if your TV or monitor died and it wasn't the picture tube, you got it fixed. Now technology prices drop so quickly that most just replace it and probably get a better monitor in the process.