As a greybeard, I think paying $70 for a video game is crazy.
Then I have to remember that in 1982 I paid $50 for a copy of Atari 2600 Pac-Man. That's $135 today.
So maybe I should shut the hell up.
Then I have to remember that in 1982 I paid $50 for a copy of Atari 2600 Pac-Man. That's $135 today.
So maybe I should shut the hell up.
Federal minimum wage in 1982(2020 dollars): $3.25 ($9.11)
Federal minimum wage in 2020: $7.25
So that copy of Pac-Man was 15.38 hours of minimum wage labor in 1982, a $70 game today is 9.65 hours of labor. Minimum wage is slightly lower today than it was in 1982, but video game production has apparently become significantly cheaper.
A larger video game market has created economies of scale that make larger development budgets viable.
These days you pay between $5.00 and $6.00 for the same beverage with some establishments charging way more that.
But they totally could, and should. These games are the cheapest and longest form of entertainment around. The market can bare more, it is just a matter of time before shareholders force studios to put that theory to the test.