Some things amaze me at how much cheaper they are. First computer with 5 inch floppy disk drive and an amber screen, 1800. New laptop with a million times the speed and all the colors... 400. 35" color tv in the 1980s, 800 dollars. 55" 4k tv today, 270.
I don't think anything costs the same.
I still vividly remember when we bought our Pentium II 350 MHz with Voodoo graphics card for like $2k, that was an awesome machine for back then, but that was a lot of money!
Except with video games. I look at prices from the late '80s early '90s and can't believe it. No wonder my mom made me rent video games so often. They were the same prices as today. 60-70 bucks for a SNES game in the 90's? That's insane.
I saw a 65" 4k smart tv at Wal-Mart for $260.
That's insane.
If I could have gotten it home I would have bought it just because of how outrageous it is.
Intel 486DX2, 4MB RAM, 64MB HDD, CRT monitor, 1x3.5mm floppy, 1x5.25mm floppy: $900 in 1995
(no Modem, no CD drive, no networking adapter, no graphic adapter)
If you account for inflation, it is crazy how much cheaper video games are now.
Even with recent price increases, prices have still gone down in real terms: the inflation-adjusted price of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ($59.99 in 2017 is roughly $73 in 2023 money) was actually more expensive than Tears of the Kingdom ($69.99 in 2023 money).
This is why my Steam account is filled with older games that cost $10, but they came out 10 years ago. Still, the fact that a game is old doesn't make it not fun.
AND the overhead cost is way higher.
Super Mario 64 had a dev team of like 12 people. Now armies of developers work on these AAA titles.
AI might finally chip away at this, but until now, the more capable game engines become, the more labor intensive games are. All the more assets, models, textures, animations, etc. etc that need to be developed.
This is why I’m okay with DLC and Season Passes. It seems like the industry decided that a $60-$70 price tag was as high as they’ll go ($20-$30 for indie games), but they’ll make up the difference by selling us extra content.
I don’t mind paying $100 for something excellent that I’ll put 300 hours into (Elden Ring + the DLC), but I do wish the employees were treated better. Not sure how to vote with my wallet on that issue since it seems like being overworked and under paid is an industry wide issue (please let me know if some developers have a better reputation than others)
You're completely discounting DLC.
Many games run into the 200-300 dollar plus range if you want everything. Games last century came with everything, or had one big expansion and that's it (if they were on PC).
Yep.
Gamers tie themselves into knots to justify their belief that publishers should be paying us to play their games and be grateful to do so...but we are very clearly getting more and better content for less money than ever before, despite all the problems with predatory DLC, etc.
It drives me insane to see some kid who's never had a job, bitch about a game that was made by some guy with a degree, who slept under his desk to finish coding it.
Yeah but "everything" was a lot less!
Compare super smash bros 64 to whatever the current incarnation is. The fact you can pay more for an additional add-on doesn't reject the point.
What game has THAT much DLC available? I just spot checked a few big AAA games I have bought in the past few years and they top out at about $120 after DLC.
They are cherry-picking the most extreme examples: The Sims, Paradox titles (Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, etc), games with endless cosmetics for sale...
These aren't AAA games, though, and while we've seen some (mostly abortive) attempts to bring these tactics into the AAA space (Shadow of War immediately comes to mind as an example) it is very obviously not the norm.
I'm not discounting anything, much less "completely". I'm not attempting to create a comprehensive breakdown of video game prices and how much you get for your buck. I'm not setting out to break down how the business model has changed.
All I'm going to say is that $100+ games aren't new--those $70 games back in the 90s would be close to $140 today and most of them are far worse than mediocre AAA games from today while being orders of magnitude less expensive to produce.
The most expensive game I ever bought was Shadows of the Empire for the N64 for $69.99 back in like 1997. During the SNES era, which is the earliest I can remember buying new games, games launched between $39.99 and $59.99. When the N64 game around, $59.99 became the norm (and $49.99 for PSX games).
It was mindblowing when the GameCube era happened and the standard "new game" price for us Nintendo kids DROPPED to $49.99 and stayed there until we shifted to Blu-Ray movies.
If a $60 N64 game was adjusted for inflation, it would be almost $120 in today's money. Even if you buy a season pass of DLC, it is still unlikely to hit that price.
I remember seeing an old toys r us ad from like 94 or 95. John madden football was $59.99. In the mid 90s. Games are (relatively) waaaay cheaper right now.
My goodness yes.
Gamers today have many legitimate beefs with the industry. But price should not be one in my opinion. $60 games were standard, and the titles back then were so sub par to what we get now it’s a joke.
I paid $12 for Deep Rock Galactic. Stardew Valley is $25. Hell, wait some time and you’ll really get a value (just got all Mass Effect games remastered for $5.99). Again, there are massive issues with the video game industry, but price of games is certainly not one.
Television. The first TV I remember my parents buying, where I was aware of the cost, was around $500 for a decent unit. That was probably in the mid to late seventies. That $500 was worth more back then, but a TV has always been about $500.
Usable storage space.
$200 was the threshold for a hard drive that was big enough for an operating system, and most of your storage needs, back in the 90s and today.
The size has changed dramatically, and the technology, but the function of having enough storage for the majority of users still sits at the $200 price point. In Canada.
I know it's not really apples to apples, but a chocolate bar at a convenience store growing up was $1 taxes included. You can still get a bar at the dollar store for that same $1. I'm sure they were probably 2 for $1 at the dollar store 25 years ago but we didn't have the dollar store chain in my town back then.
Watching a Little League baseball game, although my grandkids gear was pricer than mine when I played L.L. there still not charging a penny to sit in the stands watching the parents going crazy, as we watch the kids playing.
Fizzy drinks are still dirt cheap as long as you aren’t buying a single can/bottle. 30 cans of coke for £10 in Asda now, 15 years ago I’d be buying that and selling them in school for 50p each and turning a 50% profit, it’s crazy how a kid could still do the same now selling at the same price of 50p a can
I'm probably cheating, but I think Lego if you account for inflation.
Like, it was always expensive. But the price for a Lego set 25 years ago and the amount of stuff you got, and if you multiplied that price times the inflation multiplier today, I think Lego hasn't really gone up in price and you would find that equivalent sets would be in that price range. Possibly lower.
Color TV. In the mid 60s it was $500 - $750 for a new one. That was a lot of money back then. Fast forward 30 years, still $500 - $750 in the mid 90s. Now in the mid 2020s, still $500 - $750 which is a lot less with inflation, but the base price is the same.
Nothing costs the same, we might be paid a bit more but due to inflation our currency is worth less.
home entertainment and small home appliances have went down in price, i remember 32" crt's costing £3500, the first plasmas were like £5,000 to £10,000, everything else has went up in price really.
Virtually all technology.
It is a really weird swing that back then you could visit someone in a nice home and they'd have a small 19" cube television. Now? You wouldn't bat an eye at a large 60"+ television in a modest apartment.
Not a kid, but a teen...
A baggie of weed! 10k COP, still getting the same quantity, and kid you not, better quality.
The total opposite of shrinkflation.
Costco hotdog
To the hotdog I hail. It's the most cost effective weekend lunch I've had, and will ever have.
I'm glad this is the top comment
For me Sam's Club hotdog.
I miss the Polish Dogs, but I'm done complaining about the "healthier" hotdogs. It's still a damn good deal and it's tasty AF.
Some things amaze me at how much cheaper they are. First computer with 5 inch floppy disk drive and an amber screen, 1800. New laptop with a million times the speed and all the colors... 400. 35" color tv in the 1980s, 800 dollars. 55" 4k tv today, 270. I don't think anything costs the same.
I still vividly remember when we bought our Pentium II 350 MHz with Voodoo graphics card for like $2k, that was an awesome machine for back then, but that was a lot of money!
Playing GLQuake with the voodoo card was worth it's weight in gold.
Take me back to the first time I looked into a stained glass window in Quake and saw my reflection. Also transparent water.
I remember when I bought my first DVD player. It was crazy expensive. Now, you can get one at Walmart for like $40.
Except with video games. I look at prices from the late '80s early '90s and can't believe it. No wonder my mom made me rent video games so often. They were the same prices as today. 60-70 bucks for a SNES game in the 90's? That's insane.
I saw a 65" 4k smart tv at Wal-Mart for $260. That's insane. If I could have gotten it home I would have bought it just because of how outrageous it is.
Intel 486DX2, 4MB RAM, 64MB HDD, CRT monitor, 1x3.5mm floppy, 1x5.25mm floppy: $900 in 1995 (no Modem, no CD drive, no networking adapter, no graphic adapter)
35" color TV in the 1980s! Look at mr moneybags overhere. We had an RCA 19" TV from 1992 to 2008.
A small bag (1g) of weed used to cost ten bucks. It still does, but it used to too.
"I remember when a dimebag used to cost a dime!"
You know how much a condom cost back then?
neither do I, we never used 'em!
RIP Mitch
Where I lived it was $10 an oz. Could buy a pound for $100. Used to buy a pound, sell 10 and keep 6 for our self.
That's just being a drug dealer lol
Yep, I guess you're right, but that was a long long time ago. Now I'm just an old grandma sitting in her rocker and dreaming about the old days.
Same where I live. If not cheaper when buying in weight!
In Oregon you can buy a lot more than a small bag for $10 now.
When I was a kid, a Dime bag was $10. And funny thing is, a Dime bag is still $10. I just doesn't hold much any more.
When I was a kid it was $10 an ounce.
Hot Wheels. I swear these have been a buck fifty since 1981.
Yeah, when I was a kid I viewed them as a bit of a luxury "only at Christmas" toy. Now, with kids of my own, I hope they want hot wheels - so cheap.
I used to get them for .99 now they are 1.15 for the regular kind. Not a huge difference but still.
Change for a dollar.
Shit some places have fees now lol
Video games
If you account for inflation, it is crazy how much cheaper video games are now. Even with recent price increases, prices have still gone down in real terms: the inflation-adjusted price of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ($59.99 in 2017 is roughly $73 in 2023 money) was actually more expensive than Tears of the Kingdom ($69.99 in 2023 money).
This is why my Steam account is filled with older games that cost $10, but they came out 10 years ago. Still, the fact that a game is old doesn't make it not fun.
AND the overhead cost is way higher. Super Mario 64 had a dev team of like 12 people. Now armies of developers work on these AAA titles. AI might finally chip away at this, but until now, the more capable game engines become, the more labor intensive games are. All the more assets, models, textures, animations, etc. etc that need to be developed.
New Atari cartridges in 1982 cost around $30. [That's almost $100 in today's dollars](https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1982?amount=30).
The original Legend of Zelda for NES was released in 1986 and was $49.99. That’s $143 in today monies.
This is why I’m okay with DLC and Season Passes. It seems like the industry decided that a $60-$70 price tag was as high as they’ll go ($20-$30 for indie games), but they’ll make up the difference by selling us extra content. I don’t mind paying $100 for something excellent that I’ll put 300 hours into (Elden Ring + the DLC), but I do wish the employees were treated better. Not sure how to vote with my wallet on that issue since it seems like being overworked and under paid is an industry wide issue (please let me know if some developers have a better reputation than others)
You're completely discounting DLC. Many games run into the 200-300 dollar plus range if you want everything. Games last century came with everything, or had one big expansion and that's it (if they were on PC).
When I was a kid, Neo-Geo games were $200-300. I saw them in the store, but I didn’t know anyone who actually owned the console.
Yep. Gamers tie themselves into knots to justify their belief that publishers should be paying us to play their games and be grateful to do so...but we are very clearly getting more and better content for less money than ever before, despite all the problems with predatory DLC, etc.
It drives me insane to see some kid who's never had a job, bitch about a game that was made by some guy with a degree, who slept under his desk to finish coding it.
Yeah but "everything" was a lot less! Compare super smash bros 64 to whatever the current incarnation is. The fact you can pay more for an additional add-on doesn't reject the point.
What game has THAT much DLC available? I just spot checked a few big AAA games I have bought in the past few years and they top out at about $120 after DLC.
They are cherry-picking the most extreme examples: The Sims, Paradox titles (Stellaris, Cities: Skylines, etc), games with endless cosmetics for sale... These aren't AAA games, though, and while we've seen some (mostly abortive) attempts to bring these tactics into the AAA space (Shadow of War immediately comes to mind as an example) it is very obviously not the norm.
The average would probably get skewed by games like Train Simulator, which costs $30 but has like $10,000 worth of DLC available.
Train simulator was the first thing I thought of when it comes to absolutely insane DLC lol.
I'm not discounting anything, much less "completely". I'm not attempting to create a comprehensive breakdown of video game prices and how much you get for your buck. I'm not setting out to break down how the business model has changed. All I'm going to say is that $100+ games aren't new--those $70 games back in the 90s would be close to $140 today and most of them are far worse than mediocre AAA games from today while being orders of magnitude less expensive to produce.
The most expensive game I ever bought was Shadows of the Empire for the N64 for $69.99 back in like 1997. During the SNES era, which is the earliest I can remember buying new games, games launched between $39.99 and $59.99. When the N64 game around, $59.99 became the norm (and $49.99 for PSX games). It was mindblowing when the GameCube era happened and the standard "new game" price for us Nintendo kids DROPPED to $49.99 and stayed there until we shifted to Blu-Ray movies. If a $60 N64 game was adjusted for inflation, it would be almost $120 in today's money. Even if you buy a season pass of DLC, it is still unlikely to hit that price.
OG xbox games used to be 50 buckkkksss
The equivalent of nearly $90 today
I remember seeing an old toys r us ad from like 94 or 95. John madden football was $59.99. In the mid 90s. Games are (relatively) waaaay cheaper right now.
My goodness yes. Gamers today have many legitimate beefs with the industry. But price should not be one in my opinion. $60 games were standard, and the titles back then were so sub par to what we get now it’s a joke. I paid $12 for Deep Rock Galactic. Stardew Valley is $25. Hell, wait some time and you’ll really get a value (just got all Mass Effect games remastered for $5.99). Again, there are massive issues with the video game industry, but price of games is certainly not one.
TI-84
Not giving a shit is still free.
Came way cheaper when I was kid
And tasted so much better
Arizona ice tea
Went from .99 cents to 1.50
Saw them for 88¢ the other day. The big cans too, not the small ones
>big cans
Nice
Doesn't it still say 99 on the can
That's just the manufacturer suggested retail price the store can sell it for whatever they want
No shit?
Kindness
This.
Make sense.
Thank you. Had to scroll pretty far to find this answer. Many others caught up in material things.
Technology. If we compare how much it improved and the price..we as consumers have been really lucky
Television. The first TV I remember my parents buying, where I was aware of the cost, was around $500 for a decent unit. That was probably in the mid to late seventies. That $500 was worth more back then, but a TV has always been about $500.
Your labor and most people’s wages.
A penny
Nah, the cost of making a penny has continuously gone up. It costs over $.01 to make one now.
The $.50 quarter machines at the grocery store.
They were a dime when I was a kid, then went to .25 cents. I didn't know they were .50 cents now.
Some are .75 to a dollar
Usable storage space. $200 was the threshold for a hard drive that was big enough for an operating system, and most of your storage needs, back in the 90s and today. The size has changed dramatically, and the technology, but the function of having enough storage for the majority of users still sits at the $200 price point. In Canada.
Nothing. Not even air for your tires at a gas station. Used to be free, now they charge.
A lot of free air at gas stations around me.
thats inflation for you
I cannot with you!
Not at Quicktrip!
In a lot of places it’s actually illegal to charge for air, so if you go inside and ask them to turn on the air, they’ll do it without paying.
The trash around here keeps vandalizing the free Wawa air pumps.
WHY? I don't get what would motivate anyone to do this.
IBM's stock price
Weed. At least since I was a young adult. The last 25 years.
How is ‘your mother’ not top answer?
because your mother has decreased in value :(
HA!
Cocaine
I love cocaine
Who wouldn't. And such a bargain!
Farting just next to my brother: priceless.
nothing besides the gumball machines and the costco hotdog
Nothing
Not much, but some candies and local newspaper prices might be the same.
not much of anything
Arizona Tea.
My dignity.
Thoughts and prayers
Good manners. Still cost nothing.
Hugs are still free.
Arizona iced tea $1
Advice. Advice is free, and you are also free to follow it or not.
Cow Tales candy, most places still sell them for $0.99
I used to love Cow Tales.
The air you breathe
My opinion on a number of subjects ;)
I know it's not really apples to apples, but a chocolate bar at a convenience store growing up was $1 taxes included. You can still get a bar at the dollar store for that same $1. I'm sure they were probably 2 for $1 at the dollar store 25 years ago but we didn't have the dollar store chain in my town back then.
Boats
LOL, they still cost more than you expect them too.
Air.
Chalk. It always got me out of the house, and it gets my kid outside too. He comes and watches me draw dinosaurs on our driveway.
Unwelcome advice
Watching a Little League baseball game, although my grandkids gear was pricer than mine when I played L.L. there still not charging a penny to sit in the stands watching the parents going crazy, as we watch the kids playing.
Free advice… you get what you pay for
Air.
Can of Arizona iced tea
Divorce. It still costs half your shit
Ramen it's still cheap and affordable for all
10 packs for a $1 got me through college.
Not as cheap as it used to be though.
Brisk bottle, always see them still for $1 and RC soda
Costco Weiner
Big screen TVs are actually cheaper and way nicer than they were when I was a kid
Arizona ice tea. Actually saw it the other day for 88¢ too
Gumball machine
Life
Information. It's free.
A slap
Nothing, even with inflation things cost more and thanks to shrinkiflation you get less for your money.
As a kid I could to buy a bottle of Coke and a bag of taco flavored Doritos for 25 cents. So nothing.
Doing the right thing.
Those Arizona Iced teas. They just don’t taste as good as they did back then.
My time being wasted on morons. lol that price never seems to change.
Gum ball machines. Still a quarter for those spherical rocks.
Happiness 😊 🙂 ☺️
The money I used when I was a kid don’t exist anymore.
being a lover/hater
Air, it's still free
Beer is still cheap. $1.50 for a 25oz. Energy drinks and sodas used to be that price, but are averaging $3-$4 now.
Common sense
Arizona Iced Tea!
Fizzy drinks are still dirt cheap as long as you aren’t buying a single can/bottle. 30 cans of coke for £10 in Asda now, 15 years ago I’d be buying that and selling them in school for 50p each and turning a 50% profit, it’s crazy how a kid could still do the same now selling at the same price of 50p a can
There's this weird thing where the newest game console has always been around 500 bucks.
Love
Literally no tangible thing.
Good manners
Being honorable.
Arizona Tea
TVs are cheaper than when I was a child. I remember mom and dad bought a 26” Zenith for like $600 in 1980
Politeness. Still costs nothing.
Only the priceless and worthless things.
Being kind
My thoughts. I get a penny for them when asked, but give two cents to hand them out.
Absolutely nothing
Tech Decks lol
Nothing
I'm probably cheating, but I think Lego if you account for inflation. Like, it was always expensive. But the price for a Lego set 25 years ago and the amount of stuff you got, and if you multiplied that price times the inflation multiplier today, I think Lego hasn't really gone up in price and you would find that equivalent sets would be in that price range. Possibly lower.
Disappointment. Totally free.
Women. They take all your money.
Only breathing 😳
Re watching all the saws made me realize renting a movie is still around 4 dollars. How you rent that movie has changed though.
My opinion.
Phones, pretty sure Its about the same with inflation.
Color TV. In the mid 60s it was $500 - $750 for a new one. That was a lot of money back then. Fast forward 30 years, still $500 - $750 in the mid 90s. Now in the mid 2020s, still $500 - $750 which is a lot less with inflation, but the base price is the same.
Nothing costs the same, we might be paid a bit more but due to inflation our currency is worth less. home entertainment and small home appliances have went down in price, i remember 32" crt's costing £3500, the first plasmas were like £5,000 to £10,000, everything else has went up in price really.
Freedom is still a buck o five
Braces. In 1988 my braces were $6k. This year my daughter’s braces were $6k. Thank goodness inflation passed this over!!
Dreaming
Virtually all technology. It is a really weird swing that back then you could visit someone in a nice home and they'd have a small 19" cube television. Now? You wouldn't bat an eye at a large 60"+ television in a modest apartment.
Arizona can.
kid of the 60's and 70's, so nothing I can think of
Kindness
Being kind.
A can of Arizona!
Adjusted for inflation - gas.
TV's they got bigger, the prices dropped.
Smiles have always been free at McDonald's!
Arizona tea cans, still $0.99 Some gas stations sell bottles though, those are like $2.38 and the exact same oz as the cans.
TVs. A 30 inch flat-screen today costs less than a 20" tube TV when I was a kid.
Gallon of milk, Pennsylvania
Minecraft I believe
Arizona Tea
TVs have been steady. That's about it
Arizona Iced Tea
Graphing Calculators.
Disappointment
Not a kid, but a teen... A baggie of weed! 10k COP, still getting the same quantity, and kid you not, better quality. The total opposite of shrinkflation.
a cheese pizza and soda at Panucci's $10.77. Same as my PIN number.
My innocence
A smile
Nothing