Let's put it this way: Why was the content of Final Fantasy 6 - the actual game itself - worth $150 dollars, but Final Fantasy 15 is only worth $60 despite having a hundred times the complexity and content?
Because the industry still had growing pains and charged what they think their game was worth. It wasn't until until Gen 7 with online connectivity and normies flooding the hobby that the "$60 standard" was cemented into public consciousness. From then on, it became quantity > quality, copies sold over revenue.
And for all of your durr-hurring about MUH INFLATION ADJUSTED DOLLARYDOOS, you forget video games are a luxury. Unless you're so fucking old you remember voting for Jimmy Carter, stagflation is a bitch. The games industry will have to seriously wrestle with increasing MSRP when people are paying $20 for a dozen eggs or $1,300 a month for heat.
Because the industry still had growing pains and charged what they think their game was worth. It wasn't until until Gen 7 with online connectivity and normies flooding the hobby that the "$60 standard" was cemented into public consciousness. From then on, it became quantity > quality, copies sold over revenue.
And for all of your durr-hurring about MUH INFLATION ADJUSTED DOLLARYDOOS, you forget video games are a luxury. Unless you're so fucking old you remember voting for Jimmy Carter, stagflation is a bitch. The games industry will have to seriously wrestle with increasing MSRP when people are paying $20 for a dozen eggs or $1,300 a month for heat.