The Price Was Always Wrong

The first time I can remember purchasing a game system was a Sega Genesis. Now, I had a Commodore 64 and an NES before the Genesis, but for the life of me, I can't remember going to the store to buy those machines. Like it's been blocked for whatever reason in my mind. However, the Sega Genesis is fresh enough that I can recall certain things that happened that day.

After asking for a Genesis for a month or so, I was finally able to get one. I ran to the shelf to grab a box and made sure it came with Sonic the Hedgehog so I had at least one game to play. Being a kid who wanted a backup plan, I pushed my luck to get another game, Altered Beast. Luck was on my side that day and I went home with a new console and two games.

When I was blissfully enjoying my Sega Genesis, I was unaware that the price of those fantastical carts was expensive. It took me longer than it should have, but when I figured it out, I realized that videogames were always expensive. Since I wanted to play the newest games as soon as they released, price was a little annoyance that I dealt to lose myself into that games digital world.

Now, with all the news surrounding the Nintendo Switch 2 games pricing going up as well as companies taking advantage of the price hikes to raise their product prices to match, the hot topic of videogames being too expensive is back on the menu for all the angry gamers. On one side you have the argument that videogames has always been expensive and that if you want to play the new releases, you'll find a way to pay for it. The other side is that the price gouging is now pushing out people from enjoying the hobby of videogames and that the only option is to use subscription services or piracy in order to enjoy some of the latest titles.

Honestly, I don't think things change with how it is today. As long as people keep spending ridiculous amounts of money just to play a game earlier than release date, the publishers won't care about all the noise of higher games prices. Maybe this is a good thing that will force people to be more selective of their game choices like it was in the 8bit and 16bit era. Maybe more gamers will check out what the indie studios have to offer and more innovative games will be made to match the influx of interest. Or maybe this whole thing is just another flash in the pan for the angry mob to have another thing to argue about with random people.