You ever see someone complain about the price of modern video games?
“£70 for a new game?! Robbery! Daylight robbery!”
Cue dramatic fainting onto a pile of unopened Funko Pops and Monster cans.
But here’s the plot twist, friends: games have always been expensive. We’ve just collectively chosen to forget.
Let’s take a pixelated stroll down memory lane, shall we?
The Great Gaming Price Mirage
Let’s hop in our time machine (powered by a Game Boy and sheer nostalgia). It’s the 1990s. You’re wearing a shell suit, you’re eating a Push Pop, and you’re begging your parents for Street Fighter II on the SNES.
Price in the UK back then? Around £49.99–£59.99.
Adjusted for inflation in 2025? That’s £105–£125 in today’s money.
For one cartridge. One. No DLC. No patches. No refunds. Just vibes.
And Sega wasn’t giving out discounts either. Sonic & Knuckles? £59.99 back in 1994, or around £120 in today’s money. That’s basically a limited-edition vinyl and avocado toast per level.
But PC Master Race was Cheaper, Right?
Nope. A game like Command & Conquer would still cost £34.99–£44.99, which now converts to roughly £70–£90. And let’s not forget we had to install from 14 floppy disks and pray our sound card worked.
Bonus Round: Per-Hour Value
We didn’t even get hundreds of hours back then. You finished a game in 6 hours and just replayed it over and over until you could do it with your eyes closed and one hand on a Capri-Sun.
Nowadays, you get a 100-hour RPG with stunning graphics, a full orchestra, and an existential crisis built into the storyline.
So £70? That’s a steal, my friend. A steal.
Final Boss: Nostalgia
The truth is, it’s not that games are getting expensive. It’s that we are getting old. And jaded. And broke.
So next time someone whines about the cost of games, hand them a Mega Drive cartridge and a calculator, and say:
“Back in my day, we paid more for less. And it was glorious.”
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