Well, let me tell ya, back in 1990, buying a game wasn’t like it is now. No sir, it was a whole different story.

Prices for Games Back Then

You see, back then, them video games, they cost a pretty penny. I remember my boy, he was always pestering me for the latest Nintendo games. And let me tell you, those things weren’t cheap! We’re talking about, oh, around 50 dollars, sometimes even 60 dollars! Can you believe that? Fifty or sixty dollars for just one game! That was a lot of money back then, I tell ya.

For those little NES games, the ones with the blocky pictures, well, they were about 40 or 50 dollars. Sometimes even more, depending on where you went. And if you wanted something fancy, like a new Game Boy, well, that was a whole other story. Those things were expensive when they first came out, though I can’t rightly recall just how much they cost. But it was a lot, I tell ya, a lot! My neighbor’s kid got one, and he was the envy of the whole street.

Comparing Prices to Today

Now, you might be thinking, “Fifty dollars? That ain’t so bad.” But you gotta remember, fifty dollars back then was like a hundred dollars or more today. Things were different, you know? Money was worth more. So, when you shelled out fifty dollars for a game, it really felt like you were spending a fortune. And for some folks, it was!

• NES games: Around $40 to $60
• Newer games: Sometimes even more, up to $60 or so

Where You Bought Your Games

And it wasn’t like you could just go online and buy a game, no sir. We didn’t have none of that fancy internet stuff. You had to go to a store, a real store, to buy your games. Most towns had a video store, and they usually had a few games for sale. But sometimes, you had to drive a ways to get to a bigger store if you wanted a good selection. It was a whole day trip sometimes, just to get a new game!

The Games Themselves

Now, the games themselves, well, they were different too. They didn’t have all the fancy graphics and explosions and stuff that they have today. But they were fun, you know? Real fun. My boy, he loved those games. He’d spend hours playing them, and sometimes I’d even sit down and watch him. Some of them games were right confusing, if you ask me, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

The 90s: A Time of Change for Games

The 90s, that was a big time for games. Things were changing fast. They started making games with better pictures, and even started making games in that 3D stuff, like you was really in the game. It was somethin’ else. It was like watching magic happen right in front of your eyes, all those little blocky figures turning into real looking people and places. And then there were all these new kinds of games comin’ out. Shooting games, games where you had to build things, scary games. It was a real exciting time to be a kid, I tell ya.

And let me tell you, buying a Nintendo game in the 90s was a big deal. The Super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64, those were the hot items. Most of those games cost ya about 50 or 60 dollars. That’s like, 90 or 110 dollars in today’s money! Can you imagine? Spending that much money on a game! But we did it, ’cause that’s what the kids wanted, and you wanted to make ’em happy, you know?

Game Boy Pocket: A Little Thing That Cost a Lot

And then they came out with those smaller Game Boys, the Game Boy Pocket they called ‘em. They came out in Japan first, then over here a little later. Those were real popular, but again, I don’t rightly recall how much they cost, other than they weren’t cheap. Kids were always wanting the newest thing, and it was hard to keep up sometimes. But we did what we could.

So, yeah, games in 1990, they were expensive. But they were fun, and they brought a lot of joy to folks. It was a different time, that’s for sure. But it was a good time, a real good time.

Tags: [Video Games, 1990s, NES, Nintendo, Game Boy, Pricing, Retro Gaming, SNES, N64, Game Boy Pocket]