How did console games stay around the $50-$60 price point for so long, despite inflation?
Economies of scale. They managed to maintain the price point long before the concept of microtransactions existed, through economies of scale. As we know, piracy isn't theft, and an expansion on that concept is a fundamental reality: The cost in making games, is in making the game. Not in making copies of the game. Those are effectively free, by comparison. If a ninja sneaks into a warehouse of CDs and steals one, the company is out a penny, not fifty bucks.
A mediocre game would get a mediocre reception. It wouldn't sell much, and the makers wouldn't earn much. A good game would sell a lot, and therefore the makers would earn a lot.
You can't run away from inflation forever, but it can be offset by the increases in communications technology and consumerist culture to purchase that which you like.
And not just inflation, but ballooning development team sizes and complexity of technology.
Economies of scale. They managed to maintain the price point long before the concept of microtransactions existed, through economies of scale. As we know, piracy isn't theft, and an expansion on that concept is a fundamental reality: The cost in making games, is in making the game. Not in making copies of the game. Those are effectively free, by comparison. If a ninja sneaks into a warehouse of CDs and steals one, the company is out a penny, not fifty bucks.
A mediocre game would get a mediocre reception. It wouldn't sell much, and the makers wouldn't earn much. A good game would sell a lot, and therefore the makers would earn a lot.
You can't run away from inflation forever, but it can be offset by the increases in communications technology and consumerist culture to purchase that which you like.
That's a damn good point.
I remember games like King's Quest in the 80s costing at least $40, and certainly some back in the 80s/90s costing $50 or even $60.
That's a lot of years with no price increases, all while the number of people needed make a large game has multiplied exponentially!