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Has Gaming Become Too Expensive?

Despite what certain aspects of media will tell you, the average age of a gamer is now more likely to be in his thirties with a disposable income. A far cry from a teenager who sits in his room all day playing games with an 18 certification. Maybe the powers that be have realised this, as it would go along way to explain why our beloved pastime is now more expensive than ever.

Last November, eager gamers found themselves having to shell out vast amounts of money on a glut of big titles such as Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Saints Row: The Third, Assassin’s Creed, Batman and the annual instalment from Call of Duty.

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thisismyjoystick.com
zeal0us5135d ago

$60 buck price tag, Online service $40-60(XBLG PSN+), DLC $1-15+, Online pass $10-15

I think companies like Activision and Capcom will push for a higher price for some of their games in the near future.

Price for games going to stay the same long as people keep buying them. If some people got the patience they can get the game they want for a cheaper price just by waiting. ME3 already hit a low of $30 bucks.

RIPSKATEDESTROY5135d ago

i remember paying about the same for my zelda game back in the day

reynod5135d ago (Edited 5135d ago )

Naa it hasnt.

Steam discounts say hi, lol.

Most of the new games are on discount in a matter of few weeks. I think gaming has never been cheaper.

Plus since the industry is on a halt in terms of graphics improvements since the last 4-5years, there really isnt a need to upgrade hardware either. So yea gaming couldnt ever have been cheaper.

dredgewalker5135d ago

Gaming has always been expensive hobby if you want the best and latest since the beginning. I remember my friend buying Neo Geo cartridges that were $200 a pop and that was in the 90's. People also forgot that consoles like the 3DO was launched at $600 while having a bad library of games.

dark-hollow5135d ago

lol at the kids today with short memories.

the older gens arent all rainbows and sunshine!
there were games even more expensive than todays.
there were greedy developers.
there was copycat games of popular games (the countless 2d platformer that ripped off mario bros. on the nes)

Flipgeneral5134d ago

DLC can be really expensive. The solution, just don't purchase DLC. It's an effective way of protesting and it also saves you money!

I remember buying FFVI (3 at the time) for $90 at toys'r'us

Rageanitus5135d ago

the truth is PC gaming is cheaper slightly vs in the early 2000's

Console game has increased....

Aloren5135d ago

It sure has not where I live. Not only were console games at least as expensive back in the days, they also took much longer to get discounts. And that's not even counting Inflation...
I remember Genesis or SNES games that were close to 500frs or more back in 1991 (that's 75 euros... roughly 100 euros with inflation).

T9005135d ago

I think what has happened:

PC gaming has gotten significantly cheaper here are few reasons why:

Online DD and the sort of sales those networks offer. Also since games are also designed to run with console tech in mind (which is very old from a tech perspective, PC users also dont need upgrades). Previously in the PC industry every 1-2 years a monster game used to roll out which needed massive upgrades to be playable. Now since those sort of games are few and far in between. The need to upgrade PCs has dropped significantly for most games anyways. A 8800GTX from 4 years back will still play most of todays games in 1080p. Back in the late 90's or early 2000's this would have been considered impossible, since GPUs used to go obselete very quickly (or games used to progress very quickly in terms of graphics).

In the Past if you needed to make an entry level PC it would have cost you 600-800usd, today an entry level games PC can be made for 500-600usd.

Hence overall there has been a considerable drop in terms of costs to game on PCs.

On the console front:

Not much has changed, yes there are issues such as:

DLCs coming day one and it feels as if the content was ripped from the game just to make more money.

It is getting harder to rent or sale games as online passes are making things difficult and in the future it looks like this will only get more difficult.

Hence i would think consoles have more or less maintained their costs of gaming. Sure the opportunity to penny pinch has increased, however overall the picture remains the same.

plmkoh5135d ago

Classic case of bad memory, kids too young to know and ignorance of inflation. Games from the 1990 costed anywhere between $29.99 all the way to $59.99, in fact I distinctly remember paying $59.99 for Super Metroid on the SNES.

If a game costs $59.99 way back in 1995, today that equates to around $99, assuming a constant 3% inflation. Which is completely not the case.

Games are cheaper today, that's a fact.

MoonConquistador5135d ago

Console gaming has, but since its trying to operate in an economic climate where average Joe is getting squeezed financially in every aspect, I'm not sure these issues are entirely the fault of the gaming industry.

I can't remember the last time I had a pay rise that at least matched inflation, so I'm effectively taking a pay cut over the last few years and that has had an effect

vikingland15135d ago

I actually agree with all the comments above me. Crazy huh.

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50°

21 Capcom Classics Are Now Free in Your Browser for a Limited Time

All 21 Classic Games are playable for a limited time 🎮

130°

Metacritic's 2026 Game Publisher Rankings

Jason Dietz: "We reveal the past year's best and worst video game publishers (based on their 2025 releases) in the 16th edition of our annual Game Publisher Rankings."

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metacritic.com
Christopher52d ago

Take note, Sony, you're falling behind by a lot.

-Foxtrot52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

I was just going to say this, their biggest and top rated game here is TLOU2 for PC….it’s embarrassing.

Even Ubisoft and EA are ahead

Kind of surprised Nintendo is pretty low aswell, their biggest game is also a rerelease with the Switch 2 version of TotK.

StoneColdCrazy51d ago

That’s what happens when you start shutting down your own studios and forget what actually made you matter in the industry in the first place. Sony used to set the standard — now it feels like they’ve lost that identity. And if they decide to walk away from the PC market too, that’s going to be another huge mistake — that platform is only growing, and ignoring it now would just put them even further behind.

1Victor52d ago

@christopher:” Take note, Sony, you're falling behind by a lot.”
.
Why single out Sony? Microsoft didn’t do any better than the year before 5th same as Sony 9th and they have acquired activision and other mayor titles that have boosted their score massively from a 9th and Sony a 4th the year before the acquisitions.
Sony does need to do better without a doubt and I do hope they do take note but not the note of buying publishers is the way to succeed.

Christopher52d ago

1. Microsoft didn't get worse.
2. Sony got way worse.
3. Because Sony needs the criticism the most considering their publishing output this generation has been propped up by last gen ports and third-party developers for the most part.

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thesoftware73052d ago

1Victor,

I don't wanna speak for Christopher, but like most of us we recognize that Sony's output this Gen has been way below their own standards.

Also Sony did buy a fair amount of Devs, I know you will say they were not publishers, and don't compare in size, but they had their fair share of Aquisitions, including the very well established Bungie.

The overall point is with their stellar first party track record of the past, they should not be going down, they are singled out because they are some of the best videogame devs/publisher on the planet...no matter what reasons we attribute to the situation, they are moving in the wrong direction... period.

52d ago
KyRo51d ago

Its widely accept that Sony this generation has been underwhelming. We've had more peripheral releases, controller variants, PS5 accessories than games it feels like. The exclusives were also PS4 and what little output they have put exclusively on PS5 is nowhere near as memorable as what came in every generation before that.

This isn't a Sony hate post but anyone who's older and has been around for a long time gaming will agree that PS5 is by far Sony's worst generation. As much as Xbox is in the gutter, I pray the do bounce back in the hope we get Sony to wake up again.

darthv7251d ago (Edited 51d ago )

If you want to critique MS... you are doing so towards their management. The games output and their hardware have been much better than PS this gen. Sadly... people still hold a grudge against XB because of MS. Thankfully i am not that petty... I've been enjoying their games output in the drought of PS. And add in some NS1/2 games as well to balance things out. Things will change for me once Wolverine hits, and I start using my 5 more. That one I'm looking forward to. And the Marvel fighter... I'm not a GTA player so that has no bearing on my view of things.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 51d ago
Profchaos52d ago

Big part of that has been the live service push resulting in cancellation or flop after flop but when they put out the games their fans want we get amazing stuff like astro bot

Leadership really screwed the pooch trend chasing

1Victor52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

https://www.metacritic.com/...

https://www.metacritic.com/...
Well I apologize I was wrong about not doing worse but my statement of Microsoft getting a boost still stand 🤷🏿

52d ago
1Victor51d ago

Well OBSCURED unlike you I’m honorable enough to recognize when I’m wrong and apologize.
.
@ The software you know there’s no comparison between what Microsoft acquired and what Sony acquired that’s why you tried to get ahead of the conversation, yes we all know Sony can do better than what they have done this gen but they inhaled the poison GAS they thought would bring money for years but we make sure they got the message and quite a few games got cancelled you know as well a hit like that take years to be corrected and by now they hopefully will have taken steps away from the GAS and slowed their approach to them.

bsingle4051d ago

You will say anything when you are in denial that your hardware is dead and nobody wants your platform. Good luck with Helix because nobody will buy it.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 51d ago
SimulationDaily52d ago

But... but... the garbage-mongers always tell us that Square Enix is in trouble! 😂

Christopher52d ago

Square doesn't help that it fear mongers itself with ridiculous 'goals' that they can't reach and then they proclaim failure if they don't reach it. They're quite freaking profitable and people act like they're dying.

SimulationDaily52d ago (Edited 52d ago )

Keep in mind that these "proclamations" are usually third-hand bad translations from somedude who was at the investor conference, posted on Twitter, and picked up by press and youtubers like they were gold, and then when the official translation comes out, they're much softer statements, but at that point, the damage is done.

gold_drake52d ago

to be very fair

being number one on these things does not indicate how "well" their games do selling wise.

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30°

Capcom Insists It Won't Use AI-Generated Assets in Its Games, Will Harness Tech during Development

Capcom has clarified its current stance on generative AI in its videogames. The major Japanese publisher and developer behind popular series like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and Monster Hunter has revealed that while it doesn't use gen-AI assets in their games, it is exploring ways to use generative AI to streamline the game development process.

Chocoburger52d ago

Using Artificial Intelligence (more like Realistic Stupidity) art assets in your games is a great way to get people to boycott your product. We don't need that ugly, unsophisticated, generic, fake art in our games, good on CAPCOM for not using that garbage.

blacktiger52d ago

Naw you can't fool us, You work with Nvidia, that's a fact! And here you wanted to advertise but now look stupid!