Are Modern Games Too Expensive? YES! NO! It's Complicated!
56Did you know that it's actually possible to respectfully disagree with someone? Its True! Our good friend Tyler from @MyRetroLife recently posted the following to X:
https://x.com/myretrolifeshow/status/1899816213426913306
"Hot take: There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with the price of games today.
This Toys R Us flyer from 1994 reflects the cost of games back then. Adjusted for inflation, Donkey Kong Country would have roughly cost $130 today. 😩
So PLEASE, just stop people. It doesn't make sense!"
Are modern games too expensive? Well Yes. And No. It's honestly complicated, but let's dive in to my thoughts on the matter.
First and foremost, inflation is real; it's not transitory, and it has made everything you buy more expensive, including video games. Tyler is correct that $59.99 in the 90s isn't the same as $59.99 in today's dollars and that's a fact. So a $59.99 game in 1992 took more of your total income than it does today in 2025. So he's right there.
You can also say the games are just bigger and better today then they were 35 years ago. You could finish a game in an evening in 1992 that, for the same price, takes weeks today. The amount of content that goes into a Mario Odyssey, Breath of the Wild, even Kirby and the Forgotten Kingdom, the value of what you get for what you pay for is tremendous today.
But he's wrong, too.
Nintendo tends to be the most guilty of this, but Xbox and PlayStation have done this, too. Bringing classic games back on modern platforms is amazing,g and I love to see it. What do I not love to see? A $60 price tag on a remaster of a re-release of a game that's 25 years old! $60-$80 for a fantastic modern-generation game that has over 100 hours of content is justifiable. The same price that is a re-release from a previous generation that I could buy on that platform for $4 is now selling for $60, and that is not right. I think one recent release underscores this.
Donkey Kong Country Returns HD has been released on multiple platforms going back to the original NIntendo Wii where it debuted. We also got it on the 3DS with additional content. DKC Returns on the Wii, CIB, is only $13. New? Sealed? $33. On the 3DS, CIB is only $1,5 and New/Sealed is $27! Yet, they are charging $60 for the Switch remaster? That's not right.
I have no problem with companies asking what they want to ask for their product; that's capitalism. But something like this is where I believe they get things wrong, and it hurts the hobby and the consumer. But these are just my opinions, what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments and make sure to subscribe to My Retro Life!
#VideoGames #pricegouging #Nintendo #DKC #DonkeyKongCountryReturnsHD #MyRetroLife