Are Computer Games Really That Expensive?
Gamers like to complain, and one of their favorite subjects has always been the cost of gaming. How many times have you seen someone lead off a conversation with:
“I won’t buy game X because it’s $45. Now, if it was $35 I’d snag it in a second.”
So let’s say the publisher drops it to $35. Everyone’s happy, right? Of course not. The truth of the matter is that if it was $35 someone would come along and say they wouldn’t buy it unless it was $25. If it was $25 along comes the gamer wanting it for $15. So on and so on. You could then whittle the price down to nothing and someone would whine that the developer should come over and install the game for them because clicking on ‘download now’ is too much trouble.
Not everyone expects something for nothing. There are those folks who simply think that anything about $20 is too much for a game, regardless of its quality, and spend their days waiting for titles to hit the bargain bin. So they’ll spend money on a game, but have their limits.
Naturally, everyone has their own financial limits. Not limited to only the cost of gaming, throughout life you pick and choose what you’re willing to spend money on, and how much. Because of this you can’t really fault anyone for feeling that $__ is too much money to spend on a game. If that’s how you feel, so be it. That’s your choice. Just try not to complain too loudly that games are too expensive nowadays.
Over the weekend I pulled out an old Dragon magazine to peruse. It was issue number 65, which came out nearly twenty-five years ago: September 1982. It’s been a long time since I’ve considered what computer games used to cost, but when I got to the computer game review section I was greeted by the following:
Notice Wizardy’s price? $49.95. In 1982. Now admittedly this was on the high end of retail cost back then, although not by much. The majority of games tended to run between $35 and $40.
Twenty-five years later what’s the average cost of a computer game? About the same, isn’t it? Can you think of any other form of entertainment that has cost roughly the same amount for a quarter of a century? Magazines? Cost more. Movies? Way more. Concerts? Don’t even get me started on what concerts run today. Music? A night out on the town? Board games?
The list could go on and on. Next time you run across a gamer complaining about the high cost of computer gaming today, point out that in your day they cost the same damn price, so they need to stop their bellyachin’. And then tell them to get off your lawn. 
Interesting observation. Note, too, that you got a lot less game for your money 25 years ago as well (in general).
A difference I hear about and perceive these days, though, has to do with game *quality*. There are so many more zillions of games out there, and any number of them are released chock full of bugs, driver incompatibilities, etc etc etc… It becomes hard to sift through the morass to determine which games are high quality and which are just poo.
As one who bought a lot of computer games in the 80s (with my own money, and I was a pre-teen then without steady employment!), I have to say that there was a different “feeling” about the games of that era. Nowadays, I get the sense that many games are driven by marketing; back in the day, it felt more like the guys who wrote computer games were actually gamers first, who did what they did because they honestly liked gaming (witness the early days of Infocom, Sierra, and Origin).
Not to say there aren’t programmers like that out there today, but it becomes harder to know who to “trust”.
Comment by Skip — 8/21/2007 @ 7:37 am
I’ll definitely agree with everything you said, although I think when we look back at the games of the ’80s we do tend to ignore the fact that there were some pretty bad games back then, too, which Jay Barnson’s blog reminded me of today. You can find the particular entry at: http://www.rampantgames.com/blog/2007/08/my-other-first-crpg.html
But yeah, it was definitely not market/corporate driven and more about coming out with fun and unique games. Which is where indie gaming steps up to the plate in today’s world (although you have to watch out for the casual marketplace).
Comment by Scott — 8/21/2007 @ 11:07 pm