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[Iacobellis]

I wonder if the people who spent $199.99 for any of those terrible early Neo Geo games, pictured in this ad, feel any regret today.

Why the hell were the games $199?

 

[disappeared]

first party N64 games like Mario and Pilotwings were $59.99 but third party stuff was $69.99+ IIRC. Also back then didn't EB/Babbages/Software Ect. randomly charge an extra $5 on top of MSRP?

They did. I remember those rare trips to those stores and always remember the prices being awkwardly higher than what I was used to at K-Mart or Sears.

 

[Kung Fu Grip]

Everything just seemed more "magical" (if that's the right word) at that time, I think mostly due to ignorance I had about the gaming world, so many possibilities, everything felt fresh and exciting haha.

I hope to one day to find that feeling again in the future.

I agree. I think it's because we're older now and we get spoon fed information every day.

I forgot all about the wii u launch. It just came and went. Not a huge fan of nintendo but the launch of PS3 and wii in Nov. 06 was way more exciting.

I hope the launch of PS4 and 720 has that epic gaming feel of old days.

 

[MrFortyFive]

The true nostalgia in those pictures is saving up for weeks or months just to buy a single game. Still, the thought that all those systems and games were once available in one place brand new blows my mind. That's a lot of gaming goodness.

 

[VICI0US]

a handheld console for $59.99, insane

handhelds have always taken off at low price points

GB was out so long the prices got absurdly low. the GBA launched at $99. DS Lite took off at 129.

sony and nintendo really shot themselves in the foot with their $250 launch prices this gen.

 

[grap3fruitman]

Why does Riding Hero have Riding Hero written on top of Riding Hero? Is the game Riding Hero: Riding Hero?

I just noticed that apparently Neogeo invented 4D before Sony with the PS3!

 

[Data West]

Last Nintendo console I ever got hyped for.

 

[benjipwns]

And let's have some name drops here for the informed (and I am uninformed). Can anyone name the athletes featured on the cover of:

[*]NBA 97

Mitch Richmond.

[*]The madden 97 announcer

No clue.

 

[Respawn]

Best thread this month. Great memories op. Thanks

 

[Iacobellis]

I agree. I think it's because we're older now and we get spoon fed information every day.

I forgot all about the wii u launch. It just came and went. Not a huge fan of nintendo but the launch of PS3 and wii in Nov. 06 was way more exciting.

I hope the launch of PS4 and 720 has that epic gaming feel of old days.

Same. Launches recently haven't been that exciting as they were when we entered the seventh gen. The big marketing blitz weeks in anticipation, big name sites doing special streams of the console and its launch lineup, etc..

I remember the original Jump In. campaign for the 360 in 2005 and the White Room ads for the PS3. The Wii U had these generic commercials of people playing the console with dubstep music in the background. Vita barely had anything and the 3DS I am unsure of.

 

[Data West]

Nowadays, those controller colors would be 2. Play-Doh Yellow and Fisher Price Red

 

[AZ Greg]

You guys are joking about not knowing who is on the Madden cover right?

 

[Aquamarine]

This very well may be part of it. Information is all over the place, we're over saturated with content, and footage of games before we even play them, it's not surprising that nothing lives up to our expectations as much anymore. I still think part of it is the kind of games that were being produced though. Look at the N64 in this flyer...system only launched with 2 friggin games, but they were 2 of the best games you could ask for. Pilotwings maybe didn't stand the test of time as much, but it was still mindblowing, and played really well. Super Mario 64 is still one of the best 3D platformers ever made, and they were smart to have it their on launch day.

Another part of the "magic" is that, back in '96, the games industry was relatively immature.

In general, the farther we go back in time with things, the more "mythic" they become.

The '70s was the birth of the video game, the '80s was the golden age with lots of experimentation...and the '90s was the birth of 3D technology where console turnover was rapid.

It's like movies from the 1920s or TV from the 1960s...it was still a very new medium.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

My dad paid about $85 for Street Fighter 2 Turbo at Sears when the game first came out on SNES.

Hah, stuff like this is why I just shake my head when people complain about on-disc DLC or $20 champion editions for Capcom fighters. Kids these days have no idea.

 

[Data West]

I remember FF7 being 70 dollars at Service Merchandise, and that's where you got the DEALS.

 

[Big Papa Husker]

EA College Football '97 has a QB that I'm fairly certain went to the CFL.

It's Tommie Frazier. He played 1 game in the CFL and then blood clot issues resurfaced and he ended up retiring.

 

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

$60 for one of the best supported consoles well into it's life span. Stocking stuffer.




edit


Note the game prices next time people say that games have gotten too expensive.


And look at all those choice games. Damn. That was a good Christmas.

goldtamagotchiomg

 

[Coldnoodle]

Gameboy's for $59,99? Goddamn son.

 

[antitrop]

I remember FF7 being 70 dollars at Service Merchandise, and that's where you got the DEALS.

Holy fuck, Service Merchandise.

That's where my parents bought our family CD-I from.

I'm not joking. My friends all had a Super NES and I had a CD-I. I spent a lot of time at their house and I still poke fun at my parents (respectfully, I mean they did spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars with good intentions, even if the CD-I is what it is) when I get the chance.

They were tricked into buying a CD-I instead of a Super NES by the Service Merchandise salesperson who said that the CD-I had more educational games. It makes me depressed just typing this. I was able to reclaim my lost gaming childhood eventually, though.

I still have the CD-I (in working conditions, although none of the controllers function any longer) and all of the games (all three Zeldas, Hotel Mario, and a bunch of others) in my closet.

 

[Tagg9]

handhelds have always taken off at low price points

GB was out so long the prices got absurdly low. the GBA launched at $99. DS Lite took off at 129.

sony and nintendo really shot themselves in the foot with their $250 launch prices this gen.

Inflation and all that, I guess. Also having to compete with overpowered smartphones.

 

[Muku]

I remember paying like $90 for HYP! for the 64. Thought it was expensive back then and still do. But, it was really interested in the voice recognition stuff they had for it, which is why I was willing to shell out for it.

My inner child still screams out for wanting all that stuff in the ads. :x

 

[Azure J]

Gameboy's for $59,99? Goddamn son.

Bestest best bomba.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

I haven't forgotten that games used to be more expensive back then. Look at the flyer though...the games that are $60+ on that ad are all cartridge games. I don't think all of us have forgotten, but cartridge games were more expensive to produce, which is why we saw so many of those late gen SNES and Genesis games cost more money. They had to keep expanding the memory in games.

Look at the CD games though, especially the Playstation ones. All under $50. CDs were cheaper, and faster to produce, just like DVDs games are on today are cheap to produce.

The Saturn games are also CD, and many are discounted to $53. So MSRP was probably $55-$60. Also, just being on a disc (or download) doesn't somehow guarantee there are no costs to making and distributing a game. Weren't Bluray production costs higher than DVD?

 

[hwy_61]

Jesus. Look at those ads! I got excited looking at them! These days the ads are a damn joke.

 

[sixteen-bit]

I saw a sealed Toys R Us gold N64 controller sell for $200 on eBay.

 

[hachi]

Awesome but still way too recent, you youngsters. Let's turn the clock back to Christmas of 1988.

Bonus from the same catalog:
Golden years of LEGO
I always wanted this awesome marble thing.
Welcome to my porn at that age.

 

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

Neo Geo never had a chance.

 

[TheBryanJZX90]

Hey wow, the upper end for NES games in 1988 was also $85 in today's money.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I would love to get my hands on a sears catalog from 1996/7

 

[benjipwns]

I've always liked the last bullet point on this one:

 

[Big Papa Husker]

Awesome but still way too recent, you youngsters. Let's turn the clock back to Christmas of 1988.



Bonus from the same catalog:
Golden years of LEGO
I always wanted this awesome marble thing.
Welcome to my porn at that age.

Is that a Sears catalog?

 

[Tagg9]

I've always liked the last bullet point on this one:

3DO in high definition? Something tells me the meaning of that phrase has changed over time.

 

[hachi]

Is that a Sears catalog?

Correct. More online where that came from, by the way.

 

[Pharros]

Pilotwings 64 <3 The nostalgia is too much in this thread.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

It's pretty amazing to see that ad and to think how many of those games I've played over the years. Which is a LOT.

God, I'd love to be able to walk into a store today and see games like this on the shelf. And of course, buy them. For me, that is the golden age of video games.

 

[terrisus]

3DO in high definition? Something tells me the meaning of that phrase has changed over time.

The Sega Genesis had High Definition Graphics as well

"High definition" has pretty much always just been a buzzword.

 

[outunderthestars]

God, I remember being blown away by the N64 when I first played it. I felt like I was living in the damn future.

 

[Tunavi]

Super Mario land 2 for 20? Fuckin deal!

 

[KalBalboa]

The OP brought a real smile to my face. I love seeing things that are so devoid of flame bate and kind of bring a community of similarly-aged gamers together.

 

[DidntKnowJack]

Kind of an aside, but I made the mistake today of delving into some of Giant Bomb's old subscriber only videos and watching their 5 or 6 hour "We play SNES games" extravaganza. So now every 5 minutes I find myself scanning through ebay for prices of games like F-Zero and Uniracers.

More and more I'm going back into the archives and playing games from this and the 32/64 bit systems. Absolutely adore games from these eras.

 

[jbueno]

Why would you buy an N64 for $199 when you can get it with a gold controller for $149?

That golden controller promo was a TRU exclusive in late 1997 after the first price drop of the N64, golden GBP and the advertised Tamagotchi would also indicate a 1997 ad. The rest of the ads seem to be from 1996.

 

[Macho Madness]

Damn.

 

[hoverboarder]

Never realized what my parents were paying per game.

If Super Mario 64 was $59.99

then...

 

[Gaogaogao]

And people are bitching about this generation's prices.

at least the consoles were cheaper

 

[oneils]

In a few years...1996 will be TWO DECADES ago. Oh god...20 years...

It's the year I graduated high school. Blew my mind when I tried to do the math and figure out how long ago that was. Really? 16 YEARS?

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Those prices were a lot higher than I remember from back then. Still probably my favorite era of gaming. Either that or the PS2 run.

 

[RoninChaos]

Weren't cartridges vastly more expensive to produce then CDs? That was part of the reason PS1 could get away with charging 40 bucks for brand new games, as opposed to 70 for SNES and Genesis. So the whole 'omg 85 dollars for a game!' doesn't really hold any water. Costs have come way down, so they would never need to charge that to make the same profit.

Exactly. I say this same thing in everyone of these threads when it comes up. The media the games were on used to be THE biggest cost to developers. When CDs came around that dropped the price of storage from like 36 bucks per cart to a dollar for a cd.

 

[i-Lo]

Awesome but still way too recent, you youngsters. Let's turn the clock back to Christmas of 1988.



Bonus from the same catalog:
Golden years of LEGO
I always wanted this awesome marble thing.
Welcome to my porn at that age.

Don't be ashamed if you jerked off to that. I did something similar as well. At least unlike me, I assume it wasn't out of time.

Also, I am laughing my ass off after watching this from your collection. "Lifelike graphics". Oh the semantic, passage of time and evolution of technology:

Also, it's coincidental (or is it) in the world of consoles that the number 7800 appeared twice (Atari, PS3's RSX) in gaming and will likely appear again (PS4's Pitcairn).

 

[hunnies28]

15 bucks for an SNES controller !
Nostalgia won this round.

 

[Otheradam]

15 bucks for an SNES controller !
Nostalgia won this round.

Yeah, controllers in general were way cheaper back then- like priced appropriately for an accessory. They pretty much have been a price of a game ($60) this gen and has never dropped.