Games and consoles and that, yeah? They cost loads don't they? Yeah, well, they do, and it'd be nice if everything could cost, like, a couple of quid, but what are you gonna do? It is what it is.
Right now, you may be wondering whether games and consoles and that actually cost more today than they used to? What if we were able to adjust the prices of classics games machines and their games by accounting for inflation? Why, if we did that we would learn whether they are more or less expensive than they were back in this thing: the day!
So let us perform this task and put the nonsense to bed. Come on, everyone!
...That was a really weird intro. I don't know if it made sense.
I MIGHT BE GETTING A MIGRAINE.
Right now, you may be wondering whether games and consoles and that actually cost more today than they used to? What if we were able to adjust the prices of classics games machines and their games by accounting for inflation? Why, if we did that we would learn whether they are more or less expensive than they were back in this thing: the day!
So let us perform this task and put the nonsense to bed. Come on, everyone!
...That was a really weird intro. I don't know if it made sense.
I MIGHT BE GETTING A MIGRAINE.
ATARI 2600 - 1978 - £199
You may indeed wonder how Atari gained such a foothold, and gave birth to the modern home console industry, when you discover that the Atari 2600 cost the equivalent of £1,085 in today's money.
Admittedly, that's about the same price as a decent-ish laptop, but - through the jaundiced, prejudiced, eyes of 2018 - it's a challenge to wrap your head around spending so much on something which offered such terrible graphics and gameplay, and was probably stuffed full of asbestos.
For context, when the 2600 was released in the UK, the average house price was £13,820, and a packet of smokes would set you back around 58p. In short: you could've bought almost 350 packets of ciggies for the price of an Atari, and smoked yourself to death.
Admittedly, that's about the same price as a decent-ish laptop, but - through the jaundiced, prejudiced, eyes of 2018 - it's a challenge to wrap your head around spending so much on something which offered such terrible graphics and gameplay, and was probably stuffed full of asbestos.
For context, when the 2600 was released in the UK, the average house price was £13,820, and a packet of smokes would set you back around 58p. In short: you could've bought almost 350 packets of ciggies for the price of an Atari, and smoked yourself to death.
ATARI 2600 GAMES - £19 to £29.99
Atari's VCS games cost just under thirty quid, while those from third-party publisher Activision were around £20. Either way, when adjusted for inflation, the games cost between £103 and £164 - an absurd, eye-watering, one of these: amount.
Do you feel stupid for moaning about the price of modern games now? That's okay. You can't help being this: an idiot.
Okay. Stop doing this: that.
Do you feel stupid for moaning about the price of modern games now? That's okay. You can't help being this: an idiot.
Okay. Stop doing this: that.
48K ZX SPECTRUM - 1982 - £175
Compared to the Atari 2600, Sir Clive Shithole's ZX Spectrum cost the equivalent of £590 (if you went for the high-end 48k version... which everyone eventually had to when they realised most of the games wouldn't work on the 16k edition). That's still a big bulge of money, but - get this down your turtleneck - only slightly more than modern games consoles cost upon release.
COMMODORE 64 - 1982 - £299
Next to the Commodore 64, the Spectrum was far more affordable. Sinclair's nearest competitor cost the equivalent of £1,003. That's a high price to pay for that much brown.
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.
SEGA MEGA DRIVE - 1990 - £189
My annual salary in 1990 was around £3,800, if I recall. Thus: my purchase of a Mega Drive - at £189, more than half my monthly salary - was deeply irresponsible. In today's money? £408. STANDARD.
VIRTUA RACING - 1994 - £70
The most expensive Mega Drive game ever released, due to its inclusion of the "Sega Virtua Processor" chip, whatever that was, cost £70; that's £132 by modern prices. No game is worth that - least of all Virtua Racing, which I continue to harbour antipathy towards because my former sub-editors always changed it to "Virtual Racing".
PLAYSTATION - 1995 - £299
Many felt that £299 - or £546, adjusting for inflation - was a small price to pay for Sony's next generation thrills, which the marketing had suggested would make them cooler and more sexually active. Regardless, the first PlayStation was - again, adjusting for inflation - somewhat more expensive than its successors were.
That's to be expected given that the only thing the marketing for the PS2, 3 and 4 implied you'd get from them was rubella.
That's to be expected given that the only thing the marketing for the PS2, 3 and 4 implied you'd get from them was rubella.
SATURN - 1995 - £399
If you're looking for reasons why the PlayStation was a massive success while Sega's Saturn flopped like an palsied conger eel, the latter's bloodied launch price is stuffed into Evidence Bag Number One.
In today's money, it would've cost around £729. Which might've been fine had the Saturn been technologically superior to the PlayStation. It wasn't though; it was the games industry equivalent of rocking up to a Formula One race inside one of those wheeled basket things that old women drag around the shops.
In today's money, it would've cost around £729. Which might've been fine had the Saturn been technologically superior to the PlayStation. It wasn't though; it was the games industry equivalent of rocking up to a Formula One race inside one of those wheeled basket things that old women drag around the shops.
NINTENDO 64 - 1997 - £250
The Nintendo 64 was Nintendo's most expensive console at the time, but when adjusted for inflation, it comes in at approximately £433 - roughly the same as the Super NES, but around twice as much as the NES. What does that demonstrate? Any number of things.
XBOX - 2001 - £300
Remember how huge and heavy and noisy the Xbox hardware was? It cost the equivalent of £472 - that's less than half the price of the Atari 2600. A bargain for something which weighed more than a giraffe!
PLAYSTATION 4 - 2013 - £349
The PlayStation 4 was £380 in today's money when it launched. When glancing back at the cost of many of its predecessors, it was far cheaper than many other systems, suggesting that console manufacturers had finally understood the importance of a competitive price point. Unfortunately, Sony's main rival never got the memo...
XBOX ONE - 2013 - £449
Stupid Microsoft bundled the stupid Xbox One with that stupid Kinect thing that nobody wanted, and it meant they had to sell the system at the equivalent of £489 in 2018 coins. The consequence of this is that the Xbox One continues to struggle in its battle against the PlayStation 4, like a dinner party guest who has long outstayed his welcome, and has resorted to telling apocryphal tales about a friend of his called Buttery Dave.
RSS Feed
