Lessons of Modern Warfare 2, per Ars Technica

[smackababy]

Here are few examples of what games cost back in the day.

Chrono Trigger
"This, based on the game’s original $70 retail price"

yahoo: how expensive were SNES games
"If I remember correctly, I think I paid about 70 or 80 bucks for FFIII (now FFVI). I think the average cost of an SNES game was about 60 to 70 bucks. This was back in 1995"

Killer Instinct
"The powerful, 32-meg, one- or two-player tournament fighting video game "Killer Instinct," with unparalleled graphics design technology, comes home for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $74.95.(a)"


It's incredibly hard to find data on AAA titles for the NES because I keep getting a bunch of crappy results for Wii games and Wii downloads. I remember Super Mario 2 and 3 were $70 when they came out and I bought both of them.

N64's article on Wikipedia explains exactly why most of us did not own a Nintendo 64.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64
"While most PlayStation games rarely exceeded US$50,[64] N64 games could reach US$79.99,[64] such as the first pressing of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time"

I purchased LoZ:OoT for $64.99 the day it was released. Most N64 games (where I lived) averaged around $59.99 each, while Playstation games were $49.99 each. I had both systems and bought nearly all my games myself.

I can't comment on SNES games as my parents bought all those for me, including Chrono Trigger on release.

 

[pontifex]

That's the issue--you've grown tired of it already. Will the game retain your interest for years to come? If it is of such high quality then where are the custom maps and mods (the existence of which is a good way to measure players' enthusiasm for the game).

There are still people out there who are fanatical about the original Unreal Tournament (UT99) and there are also people who no longer play it today but who played it for years and regard it as a legendary game. Assuming that a sequel to MW2 were never released (not going to happen), would you still want to play it years from now?

you can't mod MW2 or create new maps for it so that "criteria" for a quality game is BS.

 

[NoSoup4You]

I remember paying $77 for Final Fantasy 3 on SNES. Or rather I remember my parents paying that.

I believe Playstation 1 games were $39.99 and Playstation 2 games were $49.99. And now Xbox 360 at $59.99.

N64 games... I forget but I think they were expensive. All Nintendo cartridge based games were expensive.

 

[WhipperSnapper]

you can't mod MW2 or create new maps for it so that "criteria" for a quality game is BS.

In that case, might the inability to do so detract from the quality of the game?

The ability to download and play custom maps and mods was one of the factors that contributed tremendously to my enjoyment of some other games, and one of the game types I play today is a user-made mod.

 

[blckgrffn]

What do you think I'm holding back on?

I lol'd... you have to love the combination of sarcasm and the internet...

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

I remember paying $77 for Final Fantasy 3 on SNES. Or rather I remember my parents paying that.

I believe Playstation 1 games were $39.99 and Playstation 2 games were $49.99. And now Xbox 360 at $59.99.

N64 games... I forget but I think they were expensive. All Nintendo cartridge based games were expensive.

Only ff3, earthbound, etc were very expensive. Most others were released cheaper and or became cheap quickly. Picking the one SNES game that cost over 70 dollars as your example is kind of misleading.

 

[NoSoup4You]

I should have mentioned that the reason I still remember the price of FF3 was because it was much higher than other SNES games.

 

[xCxStylex]

I believe the average price of SNES games was $60 or $65. Only super l33t games liek Secret of Mana were $74.99 or $70 with $5 off coupon.

Oh boy do I remember because that was a ton of money for a 12 yr old kid.


What people are failing to realize is that the price of MW2 relative to the price of other comparable games. Yes NES, SNES, and N64 games cost a lot back then, but manufacturing costs were quite a bit higher for cartirdges. Nowdays, the amount of labor that goes into producing a high budget game like MW2 needs to be compared to a similar game. NOT that it's bad or anything, but I also feel like they charged the extra $10 just because they could. Show me another PC game with MW2's approximate development budget and I'll show you a game with a retail price that was not as high.

 

[ShawnD1]

What people are failing to realize is that the price of MW2 relative to the price of other comparable games. Yes NES, SNES, and N64 games cost a lot back then, but manufacturing costs were quite a bit higher for cartirdges. Nowdays, the amount of labor that goes into producing a high budget game like MW2 needs to be compared to a similar game. NOT that it's bad or anything, but I also feel like they charged the extra $10 just because they could. Show me another PC game with MW2's approximate development budget and I'll show you a game with a retail price that was not as high.

Quake 1 was incredibly expensive back in the day. It was $70 in Canada, so probably like $60 in the US. It was the most expensive game on the shelf.

 

[Sureshot324]

I believe the average price of SNES games was $60 or $65. Only super l33t games liek Secret of Mana were $74.99 or $70 with $5 off coupon.

Oh boy do I remember because that was a ton of money for a 12 yr old kid.


What people are failing to realize is that the price of MW2 relative to the price of other comparable games. Yes NES, SNES, and N64 games cost a lot back then, but manufacturing costs were quite a bit higher for cartirdges. Nowdays, the amount of labor that goes into producing a high budget game like MW2 needs to be compared to a similar game. NOT that it's bad or anything, but I also feel like they charged the extra $10 just because they could. Show me another PC game with MW2's approximate development budget and I'll show you a game with a retail price that was not as high.

What about inflation? Do you expect games to cost $50 forever no matter how much inflation there is?