SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Those were the exception, not the norm. Usually the really high meg games would hit $70. Virtua Racing on Genesis took the cake with it's special chip, that bumped the game up to $100.
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90's Toys R Us Holiday Ad
- Thread starter fluffydelusions
- Start date
Those were the exception, not the norm. Usually the really high meg games would hit $70. Virtua Racing on Genesis took the cake with it's special chip, that bumped the game up to $100.
Alot of good SNES and genesis games gave much more playability and storytelling then 99% AAA games out today.
I'd say they are worth those prices more then today's games are
evilromero
Member
I don't care what anyone says- nothing compares to getting games pre-media overload days. The best sources we had were EGM and Nintendo Power (or Sega Vision, Megaforce, etc). They were so carefully crafted to build the maximum amount of hype without giving too much away.
I can't even express how much time I spent pouring over the Doom 64 issue of Nintendo Power- fantasizing about all the dark and evil landscapes awaiting to be explored. The rich purples and reds from the screenshots would jump out of the page and light my imagination afire. I still pull out my NPs, which takes me right back to those days.
I can't even express how much time I spent pouring over the Doom 64 issue of Nintendo Power- fantasizing about all the dark and evil landscapes awaiting to be explored. The rich purples and reds from the screenshots would jump out of the page and light my imagination afire. I still pull out my NPs, which takes me right back to those days.
All if those are worth that price too
bumpkin
Member
Kids...
But yeah, I remember paying close to $80 for Super SF2 on the SNES. Something similar for KI Gold on the N64 years later, too. When Sony priced its first party games on the PSOne at $40, it was a godsend.
It is hard to believe that a company would be able to get away with this ever year.......good thing it stopped........... oh wait.
Arthr2ShdsJcksn
Banned
This is bullcrap. I've seen several breakdowns on the cost of manufacture a PS4 controller and they seem to all be in the ballpark of about $18 to make. All the console manufacturers are making a good chunk of profit off their controllers.
Here is the first link I could find, but even if this is wrong, there are many others with similar breakdowns:
http://allthingsd.com/20131119/teardown-shows-sonys-playstation-4-costs-381-to-build/
Bacon_Boss
Member
These ads were the only way i ever knew what games existed in the 90's. Granted i was born in 89 and my brain was still pretty soft for most of them, but seeing sales on mario all stars and remembering that the box-art on zelda made it unappealing to me back make it pretty obvious i was dropping the ball on a regular basis.
MrCunningham
Member
$89.99 for Earthbound in the giant box with the Nintendo Power Players Guide... I actually had that.
I can;t beileve we used to pay over $90.00 for game catridges in Canada, back in the day. And once you ad the dreaded PST and GST, prices would easily go over $100.00 at retail.
IAmRandom31
Banned
yeh thats why I have been confused when people talk about gaming prices today. They've always been around this price. I've always paid 40-60$ per game depending upon the title.
I got a cool toy from there once.
Indeed. I remember all of the hype I had for Final Fantasy 8 and pouring over every detail in my EGM. Man I miss picking up a new EGM, taking it to the bathroom and just dwelling in. I'd read every section too, except the sports one.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
About six years ago while cleaning out the basement we had some items wrapped in old newspapers. There were ads for Atari 2600 and Intellivision games, and they were $50 a pop!
I really should've scanned and posted them, as I didn't realize they were so expensive back then since I was a kid. The only games I recall prices for were Pac-Man at $30 (2600), and River Raid or Kaboom on sale for $20.
You get that kind of markup on any hardware. You do realize that right?
Those $15 controllers cost like $3 to make.
A $20 t-shirt at the store cost $1.75 to make.
A $500 GPU costs WAY less than $500 to make (I'd guess $100-$150 based on older data).
A lot of stuff we buy is sold for 3-10x manufacture cost per item.
$50-$60 for an $18 manufacturing cost falls in line with that.
Well... we were younger and felt safer with our parents in a way we will never feel again
Honestly at the time this ad was out it's pretty likely that you could've found NES games at Toys R Us on clearence, especially some late NES games like Wario's Woods.
DudeWithNoName
Member
It's crazy. I remember in my pre-Internet days calling Toys R Us almost every day asking if they got the N64 Shadows of the Empire in. I think I paid $60 for it back then.
MrCunningham
Member
MMaRsu
Banned
I think I bought it for that price. I hated that game.
Armoured Titan
Member
I look at ads for consoles and games nowadays and they look so minimalist and bland.
Ads of the 90's and early 00's always tried to catch your eye by being, colourful, extravagant, inviting.
Even game stores would have a certain flair about them back then. Now it's just games stashed away in a corner without much fan fair.
Ads of the 90's and early 00's always tried to catch your eye by being, colourful, extravagant, inviting.
Even game stores would have a certain flair about them back then. Now it's just games stashed away in a corner without much fan fair.
Was it in the Holyoke mall?
Fried Food
Banned
oh man, those were the days.
Arthr2ShdsJcksn
Banned
It's still bullcrap and too expensive.
Rollo Tomasi
Member
I think this came out while I was actually working at TRU. So much memories!
Jazzy Network
Member
The Saturn one is decent. The music is ballin.
nightopian
Member
Aw man the GameBoy fanny pack. I wish I still had mine.
Petrae
Member
It sure was!
I spent a lot of time there as a kid during the 1980s, too-- I guess it wasn't surprising that I would end up working at a store there at some point.
I bought my PlayStation from Electronics Boutique at the same mall.
CosmicQueso
Member
Looks like you have identified a market opportunity. I look forward to the product you bring to market to take advantage of this competitive opening!
Extra Sauce
Member
The crazy thing is that the Nintendo 64 and PS1 were being advertised in the same pamphlet. And yet SNES games were still 70$.
Optical discs have been a great factor in bringing down game prices.
bumpkin
Member
How could I forget? I worked at a KB Toy Works (their large "big box" store) for two years during high school ('96-'98) as a sales associate and then again later (2002-04) as an assistant manager. I loved that place. If the pay wasn't so shitty, I would have stayed and tried to climb the ladder more. The holidays were fun despite the chaos, and I'm just a big kid at heart so I loved seeing all the new toys.
IIRC, the discount was freaking sweet too... 35% off toys and 10% off video games (no discount on consoles).
NinjaMouse
Member
I still have the receipt for SF2 on SNES when I bought it from Sears for $84.99. I also still have my Babbages receipt showing $79.99 for SF2: Turbo. Man that was a lot of money back then (honestly, it still is!).
MaximusPayne
Member
Those game prices!!!!
JeTmAn81
Member
Ha, nice! That's a good mall. I like the Red Robin near there. I used to live down in MA (up in VT) and worked for Honda Financial Services near there.
marlowesghost
Member
Bringing it all back home. Nice.
Incitemaybe
Member
HueyFreeman
Banned
My 15 year old Sega fanboy self would be pouring over the Saturn page right now, particularly given nooo internets.
manfestival
Member
man I remember these days, I wanted everything in those advertisements
KingHenrik30
Member
Holy shit @ SNES Alpha 2 for $70!
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
All if those are worth that price too
Absolutely. For all of the advancements in graphics and sound in current era games, there was something really meaningful about bringing home a cartridge- it was much more tangible, for lack of a better term, than games on disc. I'd take a cartridge based console over anything else even today. I'm not even a strict retro gamer. It was just better then.
When you spent that much on a game, with the packaging of that era and the cartridge, it really felt like you got your money's worth. You knew right away that you have something of value, and it would be valuable for a long, long time. It was special. Having Ogre Battle was a cool thing- it was a valuable game to own. Now, we just cycle through discs like they're nothing, or not even care about lasting value at all and just buy a download.
If a console like the SNES came out today, and a cartridge game like Ogre Battle was on the shelves for $100, I'd be happy to pay that. I'd even pay Neo Geo cartridge prices.
PC Master Race couldn't even play good fighting games or arcade action games back then
that awful first gen saturn pad...
Version 3.0
Member
I have one. It's for Descent, and literally nothing else (that I know of). The analog isn't compatible with the later Dual Shock analog. You can't use the analog sticks on a Dual Shock to play Descent, either.
That is to say, you can use it with anything, but the analog sticks only work with Descent.
Version 3.0
Member
Either you were buying them on the black market, or you remember wrong. I literally have the receipts, for those and many other games. MSRP for first party N64 games was always $59.99, with very little wiggle room for any retailer to discount them. 3rd party games had an MSRP of $69.99 standard, with a few above or below that.
Petrae
Member
The S-DD1 chip added expense to the game.
Baron_Calamity
Member
You could still get new in box top loading NES and and Sega Master system III at KB Toys as late 2003.