How much money did NES games cost back in the 80's?

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GamerTron0

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#1 GamerTron0
Member since 2008 • 561 Posts

I dont even know if this belongs here. Even if it does not please still answer. Im curious how much nes games were back then, i know they were not $60 bucks.

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harashawn

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#2 harashawn
Member since 2008 • 27620 Posts
I'm pretty sure they were just as expensive as the games we have now.
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StrawberryHill

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#3 StrawberryHill
Member since 2008 • 5321 Posts

NES games were generally sold for $40-50 new...even in the late 1980s. Video games have always been expensive, upon their initial release. Then, after some time has passed, the price of said games drops dramatically.

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FPSunionOWNS

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#4 FPSunionOWNS
Member since 2007 • 2030 Posts

chrono trigger for the nintendo 64 was 100 bucks on its release.

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mattykovax

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#5 mattykovax
Member since 2004 • 22693 Posts

First off it belongs here. S

econd,NES games cost on average between 45-60 dollars. The SNES games went as high as 70-80 dollars depending on the title. Even the N64 games were really expensive at first. The reason the PS2 era games lowered a bit was that PS1 standardized the disc,which is cheaper to manufacture than cartridge. But now disc type has changed,and everything else costs so much so prices are rising. But since you might pay 70 dollars for a ffVI for SNES,and 60 is standard,add in inflation,and games are actually cheaper now.

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GamerTron0

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#6 GamerTron0
Member since 2008 • 561 Posts

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

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GTA_dude

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#7 GTA_dude
Member since 2004 • 18358 Posts
Back in the late 90's new games were like, $45 for a new N64 game. When the NES was new, my parents bought the Power Pack for about $100
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mattykovax

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#8 mattykovax
Member since 2004 • 22693 Posts

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

GamerTron0
Guy they did. Ask any older gamer. I am 31. take this to GGD where it belongs and anyone old enough will tell you the same thing. i know I paid 70 dollars for FFVI (three in the states) at sears,they did not even have game stores like you know them now then,the closest thing was waldensoft,where i got MKII which cost at LEAST 50 dollars.
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BumFluff122

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#9 BumFluff122
Member since 2004 • 14853 Posts

whenever I went to the store I always looked behind the sliding windows for the cheapest game and soemtimes ended up buying it. The chea[est one cost about #30 while the most ex[ensive oens cost upwards of $50.

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SpaceMoose

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#10 SpaceMoose
Member since 2004 • 10789 Posts
Generally they costed $50. Obviously development costs were a lot less back then, so it's kind of funny. It is worth noting though that cartridges were considerably more expensive to manufacture at the time than the next-to-nothing that it costs to mass produce stuff on optical disc media.
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gobo212

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#11 gobo212
Member since 2003 • 6277 Posts
New games in the 8 and 16 bit eras were generally between 40-70 dollars. Just because they seem "primitive" now doesn't mean they didn't cost a lot back then.
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SpaceMoose

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#12 SpaceMoose
Member since 2004 • 10789 Posts

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

GamerTron0

Final Fantasy III (which would be called FF VI today) was $80 at release, due supposedly to its size. That was certainly not the only game to cost more than the norm due to needing a cart with more memory, but I don't think too many others ever hit that high of a price.

(As I just said in my post above this one, carts were expensive to manufacture.)

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gobo212

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#13 gobo212
Member since 2003 • 6277 Posts

[QUOTE="GamerTron0"]

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

SpaceMoose

Final Fantasy III (which would be called FF VI today) was $80 at release, due supposedly to its size. That was certainly not the only game to cost more than the norm due to needing a cart with more memory, but I don't think too many others ever hit that high of a price.

(As I just said in my post above this one, carts were expensive to manufacture.)

That game was completely worth the extra cash too.
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pinneyapple

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#14 pinneyapple
Member since 2005 • 5566 Posts

chrono trigger for the nintendo 64 was 100 bucks on its release.

FPSunionOWNS

Sorry, what? Chrono Trigger was never released on N64.

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mattykovax

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#15 mattykovax
Member since 2004 • 22693 Posts
[QUOTE="gobo212"][QUOTE="SpaceMoose"]

[QUOTE="GamerTron0"]

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

Final Fantasy III (which would be called FF VI today) was $80 at release, due supposedly to its size. That was certainly not the only game to cost more than the norm due to needing a cart with more memory, but I don't think too many others ever hit that high of a price.

(As I just said in my post above this one, carts were expensive to manufacture.)

That game was completely worth the extra cash too.

Yeah it was. And In my posts above I was not trying to say that they all cost that,but the highest priced games did,and when you add inflation that means they cost a lot more. Thats another thing,unlike today,there was no standardized pricing for games. Now yeah,every new release does cost 60,even the crap games,but the good games do not cost more either. there is pretty much a set price point.
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btaylor2404

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#16 btaylor2404
Member since 2003 • 11353 Posts
Nearly the same as they are now. I remember getting my NES, I went in halfs with my neighbor & best friend. We worked all summer to be able to afford the NES & the Mario game. I got Zelda for my birthday. Oh the days before memory cards...
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mattykovax

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#17 mattykovax
Member since 2004 • 22693 Posts
Nearly the same as they are now. I remember getting my NES, I went in halfs with my neighbor & best friend. We worked all summer to be able to afford the NES & the Mario game. I got Zelda for my birthday. Oh the days before memory cards...btaylor2404
Battery packs. They were better than the crappy password systems a lot of games had back then. Even though you had to be REALLY careful with LOZ if you did not want to erase all your saves.
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StrawberryHill

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#18 StrawberryHill
Member since 2008 • 5321 Posts

Nearly the same as they are now. I remember getting my NES, I went in halfs with my neighbor & best friend. We worked all summer to be able to afford the NES & the Mario game. I got Zelda for my birthday. Oh the days before memory cards...btaylor2404

I remember those days as well. Good times. I still have my NES. It's in storage. Megaman and Metroid ftw!

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Poedon

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#19 Poedon
Member since 2002 • 2594 Posts

i paid $80 for chrono trigger for the SNES at ToysRUs back in the day. But i think $50 was the most common price point.

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btaylor2404

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#20 btaylor2404
Member since 2003 • 11353 Posts

[QUOTE="btaylor2404"]Nearly the same as they are now. I remember getting my NES, I went in halfs with my neighbor & best friend. We worked all summer to be able to afford the NES & the Mario game. I got Zelda for my birthday. Oh the days before memory cards...StrawberryHill

I remember those days as well. Good times. I still have my NES. It's in storage. Megaman and Metroid ftw!

@Matty, I guess I never caught onto that. We just turned it off and that was that. One stinkin word CONTRA!!! My god that game was hard. @Strawberry, me too, mines in the attic with the intellivision. I've got all the NES & SNES games on my PC now with some emulator software, good diversion from time to time, especially when I'm out of town.
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mattykovax

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#21 mattykovax
Member since 2004 • 22693 Posts
[. One stinkin word CONTRA!!! btaylor2404
Yeah but at least there was the code. Worked on Gradius too.
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StrawberryHill

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#22 StrawberryHill
Member since 2008 • 5321 Posts

[QUOTE="StrawberryHill"]

[QUOTE="btaylor2404"]Nearly the same as they are now. I remember getting my NES, I went in halfs with my neighbor & best friend. We worked all summer to be able to afford the NES & the Mario game. I got Zelda for my birthday. Oh the days before memory cards...btaylor2404

I remember those days as well. Good times. I still have my NES. It's in storage. Megaman and Metroid ftw!

@Matty, I guess I never caught onto that. We just turned it off and that was that. One stinkin word CONTRA!!! My god that game was hard. @Strawberry, me too, mines in the attic with the intellivision. I've got all the NES & SNES games on my PC now with some emulator software, good diversion from time to time, especially when I'm out of town.

You have the Intellivision system?!! That is so cool. That thing is hard to find. When I was a kid, my next door neighbor had the Intellivision system and we used to game on that. Also, I've read about that NES emulator software. It looks like it could be fun, but I've just never taken the time to download it.

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deactivated-5d25ae64ef918

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#23 deactivated-5d25ae64ef918
Member since 2008 • 8101 Posts
About 50$, even during the early SNES era. Worth every penny.
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deactivated-60f1af3fad202

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#24 deactivated-60f1af3fad202
Member since 2003 • 48 Posts

I remember when Strider for Genesis came out and it was around $75. Because it was the very first home game with "8 MEGA MEMORY".

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LadyBlue

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#25 LadyBlue
Member since 2012 • 4943 Posts

I never asked my parents.

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danjammer69

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#26 danjammer69
Member since 2004 • 4331 Posts

IDK where most of the people here are getting their info from, but most NES games were between $29.99-$39.99.

I never paid more than $40 for an NES game ever. Thats because they didn't cost that much.

You could get games as cheap as $19.99.

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worlock77

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#27 worlock77
Member since 2009 • 22552 Posts

IDK where most of the people here are getting their info fromdanjammer69

Personal experience. Yeah, you could get games as cheap as $20. And you could get games as pricey as $60-70.

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GummiRaccoon

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#28 GummiRaccoon
Member since 2003 • 13799 Posts

Like 40-50 bucks, but that was when money actually was worth something, I think a tank of gas was like 5-10 bucks.  I think it'd be the equivalent of 200 bucks now.

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ad1x2

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#29 ad1x2
Member since 2005 • 8430 Posts

The most I've ever paid for a SNES game was around $60, which is what I paid for when I bought both FF6 and Chrono Trigger. Not counting the Neo-Geo games, the most I've seen a cartridge game cost in the US was $100 for Virtua Racing. I remember SMB 3 for the NES being 49.99 at Circuit City.

Looking back, when you factor in inflation you actually pay less for games now than back then if you don't count DLC. I remember paying $2.99 for an extra value meal in 1998 and today I'm paying close to six dollars for one. While at the same time most games are still $60.

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MrPraline

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#30 MrPraline
Member since 2008 • 21351 Posts
>mattykovax, GTA_dude, BumFluff122, Spacemoose, btaylor204 :{ Shame this is a thread from 2009.
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#31 Riverwolf007
Member since 2005 • 26023 Posts

Ok i really really doubt SNES game costed 70 to 80 dollars.

GamerTron0

street fighter on snes was $80 because it had four 4 meg chips in it to make it work.

there were plenty of other like that too.

anyway games have been $50 forever.

atari 2600 games were $40 to $50.

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whipassmt

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#32 whipassmt
Member since 2007 • 15375 Posts

that's before my time. If I remember correctly from my younger years ps1 games were about $20, then PS2 and Xbox games were $50 (or maybe $49.99) with Gamecube games a little cheaper (and the cds for gamecube were a good deal smaller). 360 games are $60, and I think the same goes for PS3, maybe Wii is a bit cheaper.

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whipassmt

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#33 whipassmt
Member since 2007 • 15375 Posts

>mattykovax, GTA_dude, BumFluff122, Spacemoose, btaylor204 :{ Shame this is a thread from 2009.MrPraline
I didn't notice that. Are all those guys you named users that haven't been around for a while?

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#34 Opi0us
Member since 2013 • 172 Posts

I don't know about NES games but I have a copy of Road Rash II that still has a £29.99 price tag on it from about 1992.

From what I understand thirty pounds then was like £60 now.