1996 Nintendo, PlayStation ad reminds us games have always been horrifyingly expensive

If you think gaming is expensive today, you should see the prices from the 1990s. Not a lot has changed, gaming has always been an expensive hobby.

If anything, gaming is technically cheaper nowadays, at least when it comes to owning games.

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Back in the 90s at least we had Blockbuster or a local rental place to ease the strain, but this advert recently posted on Reddit shows that owning games, even then, was pricey.

“Every Friday after school, trip to Blockbuster for a weekend rental. Good old days.” said cptcitrus in reply to the thread.

The ad shows a selection of PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games. Titles like Die Hard Trilogy for the PlayStation were priced at 54.99, and if you think that’s a lot, DOOM 64 was 74.99.

This advert from Toys ‘R’ Us is likely from the US and if we adjust for inflation, that would mean that DOOM 64 costs the equivalent of $150 today.

“Now I remember why I didn’t have many video games growing up, holy s**t that’s expensive,” said RBarron24 in reply.

Another Redditor, by the name of ajrdesign, said, “I think I had less than a dozen N64 games by the time the console "retired" but holy hell did I play the s**t out of each and every one.”

I remember buying my PlayStation in 1996. I could only afford one game to go with it and Woolworths didn’t have a great selection, so I went with DOOM. It was £55.

I got it home and had the worst motion sickness while playing it as I wasn’t used to the graphics. Thankfully I could return it and not lose out on a chunk of cash.

While reading these comments, one hit me in the gut, from fmsmic, who said, “My parents paid $75 for Turok….I was so ungrateful and didn’t even know.”

At least consoles were cheaper back then, $150 for a PlayStation is a steal.