Game Deflation

[Vivaldi]

I just recently purchased an Atari 2600 with all the trimmings (controllers, games, cords) for $20 American. I was happy to get a retro piece of awsomeness for such a good price (considering I got 35 games with it).

Out of curiosity, I researched the Atari and found the origional price in (circa)1977 was around $200. I found an interesting chart about money inflation and its effects on games and such. Here it is:

http://curmudgeongamer.com/2006/05/history-of-console-prices-or-500-aint.html

I read it and discovered some interesting things like the retail cost of an Atari 2600 should be about $700 right now with inflation being what it is. I just thought w=that was interesting, what do you guys think?

Are all games and systems doomed to be sold for $20 someday? Is this what our super-awsome mega graphic engines will be reduced to?

 

[Omnidum]

what do you guys think?

Well, my thought is that inflation is a funny thing. It makes people take their money out of the banks and hide them under the bed, effectively screwing over the monetary value. And they make the games and consoles cheaper to prevent just that, so I think we shouldn't spare a single coin, for our respective countries sake.

 

[Jursa]

The moment the PS4 hit the market the PS3 will be rendered obsolete, thus it's price will go down like a meteor because it won't be open to advance anymore. It's like buying a gun for which bullets are no longer made, you still have a great gun but it's gonna be cheap as hell because it can't be used as anything else than a blunt weapon.

 

[DC_Josh]

My Playstation 2 makes an awesome paperweight, doorstop, holds windows open, etc. I even used it as a theft deterrent device (I threw it at a guy outside my apartment).

Did it survive to be used again?

 

[Isaac Dodgson]

Those charts are missing several aspects of the video game market, namely that the advent of new technology will always drive the cost of old consoles down, down, down...

 

[cleverlymadeup]

yeah i think they are a bit flawed, considering those parts for the old consoles are rather cheap to manufacture now

 

[DC_Josh]

My Playstation 2 makes an awesome paperweight, doorstop, holds windows open, etc. I even used it as a theft deterrent device (I threw it at a guy outside my apartment).

Did it survive to be used again?

It was broken before it served its great purpose of protecting my sweet pad.

I meant as a doorstop

 

[leafsnail]

Basically, when you buy a new game/ console, you're not just buying the game, you're buying the fashion, the right to play it at the same time as your friends, the right to talk to other people on forums about it. You lose this if you buy it later at a cheaper cost.

 

[JMeganSnow]

Well, my thought is that inflation is a funny thing. It makes people take their money out of the banks and hide them under the bed, effectively screwing over the monetary value.

Eh? It doesn't matter where you store your money, inflation is going to get you just the same. It is a silent tax that reduces the purchasing power of your money. At least if your cash is in the bank you get a slight interest payment to help offset the inflation. Doesn't help much when your interest earnings are taxed, though.

Reductions in prices of obsolete equipment are due to the fact that demand for such things is very low. It doesn't always happen: with the "retro" craze some old games are actually worth *more* now than they were before, kind of like baseball cards.

Computer equipment tends to be a depreciating asset because newer, better stuff is always being produced and put on the market. (That, and it wears out over time.) You can bet that it'd become an appreciating asset if there was some sort of catastrophe and the newer, better stuff stopped being made, however.