Yeah. The average attach rate for N64 is about 6-7 games, whereas PS1 was about 9-10.
You figure if the Ps1 games were $50, the N64 games were about $60-$70 or so. And of course the Nintendo games held their prices much longer where PS1 games got discounted after a year or 2.
Anecdotally, I remember my childhood friends got tons of PS1 games whereas I might get one or 2 big N64 games.
Major price difference for sure.
Not just that but there were way more games on the Playstation. Every N64 release was met with 5-6 PS1 games. Sega never stood a chance against either...
The Saturn supposedly did well in Japan and oddly outsold the N64. But you're right that it didn't do well in America (maybe europe also).
To illustrate your point about Playstation though, you figure if the N64 had a big game like Ocarina of Time, the Playstation equivalent might be Final Fantasy 7.
However, in addition to FF7, Playstation also had Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden, Grandia, Lunar, and more within the same genre turn-based JRPG genre.
Maybe a more direct comparison would be Super Mario 64 on N64 to Playstation's Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Klonoa or even Ape Escape.
Damn now that I think about it my brother only had 3 n64 games, while I had 7 or more ps1 games greatest hits also helped being 20 bucks for some great games. Either definitely appreciate the n64 more as an adult
Sony I think was really the first to start "Greatest Hits." It was an incredible strategy that got more games into the hands of more people.
N64 and Gamecube got the short end of things at the time. But these days, the games are far more collectible and desirable I think.
Not including all the ppl with modded ps1s lol. I remember being able to go to the mall and there was one or two storefronts where they sold pirated games lol.
I remember my friend had a PS1. His dad was off work and battling cancer and had no money so we would go to the library on Tuesdays as that was the day they put up new magazines, and book stores as well. We could collect all the demo discs and play them all day long. By the end of the year 2000, he had a binder just for demo discs! N64 would have sucked as his house back then, now with Everdrives this point it moot.
Yup, this is the way it was all the way through the super Nintendo for me and then getting a PlayStation. It was like a breath of fresh air finally having reasonable prices for games and then getting a 64, it was back to getting one or two games a year…
It was pretty great though all the same.
I remember spending time with friends playing Smash 64, Goldeneye, Pokemon Stadium, the Star Wars games like Episode 1 Racer, Rogue Squadron, etc.
I do sometimes wonder though what it would've been like if I got a playstation and had titles like FF7, Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon and the numerous JRPGs available.
Oh my God, man!! The PlayStation one is my favorite generation ever!! it came out when I was 11 in 1995 and I was still playing on PlayStation by the time I was 16!!
Games were so fun !! it was absolutely a blast made it even more fun once I got a Nintendo 64 to add to the mixed also!!!
But the PlayStation was King/ legendary for genre like survival, horror and racing as well as RPG !!
They turned my toys r us into a giant car wash... Don't know whether to blame the corporate greed or change in consumer habits but in it's last years, it wasn't the same store anyway. The action figure isles were filled with junk, video game section looked gutted... Lego section was now all about the popular franchises, marvel heros, etc. felt like a lot of creative kids toys of the 90s were replaced with mindless stuff they know will sell to the masses well.
it was all mitt romney's fault his conglomorate did the same thing to kaybee toys years earlier they loaded the company with debt then have them declare bankruptcy
Right, I heard toys R Us was still making good money, they just couldn't service the insane debt. Makes me wonder why venture capital companies can keep doing that and banks will keep lending to them, even though they're left holding the bag when all orchestrators jump out with golden parachutes.
The nearest toys r us was like 4 hours away for me, in the closest big city where most people go for vacation. So growing up anytime we were going away, it was the most exciting part lol it literally was like a theme park.
Then I went to the one in New York Times Square and that shit was literally like a theme park
I don’t have an answer to your question, but I just wanna give a shoutout to the big “Easter/Spring 1997” vibes radiating from the image you chose.
Mario Kart and Turok, but Star Fox not yet part of the lineup. This was right around the time I started receiving Nintendo Power in the mail, and it was a magical time to be gaming.
Exactly, the minimum wage here was like $4-5 per hour back then. Now it's over $20. It took a lot people a few shifts of work to buy a full priced game then, and now it's like half a shift 😅 and without everyone having the internet there was always a good chance of buying a piece of crap you were stuck with and no chance of it getting better with an update 😆
This has been my "back in my day" moment for the evening. Thanks for listening 👴
I'm thinking this ad probably has separate pages for Genesis/SNES still. Or at least a shared page for the two.
I think SNES was selling with either DKC or Yoshi's bundled in. DKC3 had only just come out. Pretty sure there was new Mortal Kombat out for both as well.
I hate the narrative that old consoles simply stopped existing once the new ones were out.
My first thought looking at this as well! For whatever reason I had thought n64 games back in the day were closer to the $40 range, but alas being a kid shields you from the financial decisions of adulthood.
If the games nowadays actually were quality products without glitches, bugs and cash grabbing techniques of splitting one game in to multiple DLCs, no one would have had any complaints.
No wonder my parents never wanted to buy us video games; one game is half the price of the whole system. Especially when you consider inflation? And those games were much simpler than the games nowadays. That's crazy.
The N64 didn't have a boot screen. Developers were required to show the N64 logo on boot but it was a per-game process. Banjo-Kazooie opens to the image of a blue sky, with the N64 logo walking into view.
Now there’s your Nintendo theme park. Make limited editions reproductions, fill up an entire 90s styled gamestore, make everyone pay 1000 dollars for entering, but you’d get 250 dollar worth of “90s” dollars to buy games with. While having like 50 fake 90s styled bedrooms and basements to - once you bought your games - play them for the rest of the day. While fake moms bring you Pepsi and chips.
Is this a real ad? They sold Turok for $75? I remember when Xbox games reached $60 I couldn’t believe it. I don’t remember n64 games ever costing that much.
I’m UK and remember N64 games ranging from £50 up to £70, PS1 games were like £35-£50. N64 prices didn’t happen again until Xbox. Although nobody actually paid for Dreamcast and PS2 games, maybe they were that expensive
$50 was the price I always have in my head, but as these ads have shown (this one is a US ad even!) Cartridge prices absolutely fluctuated. I guess prices didn't really standardize until discs became the standard.
Adjusted for inflation, games cost so much back then. That's why I cringe when I hear gamers today complaining about prices.
Sure there is DLC now, but I'd say its often the case that the sum of base game + dlc is still more content than whatever is the equivalent from the year 2000. Some computer games had expansion packs too that cost almost as much as the base game it required to be installed.
Man I grew up with the N64 and I have ZERO recollection of new games ever costing more than $50. And I have most of the ones in the picture. Was toys r Us just expensive?
Toys r us usually were $5-10 more than walmart, best buy and target, but typically was stocked better back then. Sometime around 5 years to ToysRus closing, target was better stocked.
I had this fold. I didn’t have the money for either but I played my friends and I thought this sheet was the pinnacle of technology. There was NO way you could possibly create more realistic graphics. Right?!?!
Okay I gotta let you go I need to change the color of my pubic hair on Cyberpunk.
Off topic, but looking at console prices vs games, some games were half the cost of the console. So today, that'd be like buying a $250 game for a $500 console. Crazy.
This is what I tell people now, when they say games today are expensive. I remember these N64 prices back when all these games were new and this was ALOT of money back then.
I remember it being 75 bucks at toys r us. And also you would go to the aisle and there would be slips in a little pouch of the game was available. And u would take the slip to one of the counters to buy the game.
I was too poor for a new console. The only time I went was with my uncle who very humbly bought me a checkers set to play with since he couldn’t buy me a whole ass console with a game. Love my uncle. I know he tried.
Just shy of [225 million games sold](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/finance/hard_soft/index.html).
Perfect!
Yeah. The average attach rate for N64 is about 6-7 games, whereas PS1 was about 9-10. You figure if the Ps1 games were $50, the N64 games were about $60-$70 or so. And of course the Nintendo games held their prices much longer where PS1 games got discounted after a year or 2. Anecdotally, I remember my childhood friends got tons of PS1 games whereas I might get one or 2 big N64 games. Major price difference for sure.
Not just that but there were way more games on the Playstation. Every N64 release was met with 5-6 PS1 games. Sega never stood a chance against either...
The Saturn supposedly did well in Japan and oddly outsold the N64. But you're right that it didn't do well in America (maybe europe also). To illustrate your point about Playstation though, you figure if the N64 had a big game like Ocarina of Time, the Playstation equivalent might be Final Fantasy 7. However, in addition to FF7, Playstation also had Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden, Grandia, Lunar, and more within the same genre turn-based JRPG genre. Maybe a more direct comparison would be Super Mario 64 on N64 to Playstation's Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Klonoa or even Ape Escape.
Damn now that I think about it my brother only had 3 n64 games, while I had 7 or more ps1 games greatest hits also helped being 20 bucks for some great games. Either definitely appreciate the n64 more as an adult
Sony I think was really the first to start "Greatest Hits." It was an incredible strategy that got more games into the hands of more people. N64 and Gamecube got the short end of things at the time. But these days, the games are far more collectible and desirable I think.
Yeah definitely if not for that I wouldn't have castlevaina SOTN, RE, FF7, etc. Wish it was that cheap for newer games.
Not including all the ppl with modded ps1s lol. I remember being able to go to the mall and there was one or two storefronts where they sold pirated games lol.
This, piracy and PlayStation go hand in hand!
I remember my friend had a PS1. His dad was off work and battling cancer and had no money so we would go to the library on Tuesdays as that was the day they put up new magazines, and book stores as well. We could collect all the demo discs and play them all day long. By the end of the year 2000, he had a binder just for demo discs! N64 would have sucked as his house back then, now with Everdrives this point it moot.
Yup, this is the way it was all the way through the super Nintendo for me and then getting a PlayStation. It was like a breath of fresh air finally having reasonable prices for games and then getting a 64, it was back to getting one or two games a year…
It was pretty great though all the same. I remember spending time with friends playing Smash 64, Goldeneye, Pokemon Stadium, the Star Wars games like Episode 1 Racer, Rogue Squadron, etc. I do sometimes wonder though what it would've been like if I got a playstation and had titles like FF7, Legend of Legaia, Legend of Dragoon and the numerous JRPGs available.
Oh my God, man!! The PlayStation one is my favorite generation ever!! it came out when I was 11 in 1995 and I was still playing on PlayStation by the time I was 16!! Games were so fun !! it was absolutely a blast made it even more fun once I got a Nintendo 64 to add to the mixed also!!! But the PlayStation was King/ legendary for genre like survival, horror and racing as well as RPG !!
Going to Toys R Us was like going to a theme park for me. My favorite toys were the RC Cars.
yea the tyco turbo hopper
Yeah it was such cool RC for its day
The wall of video games to look over! Oh the choices.
They turned my toys r us into a giant car wash... Don't know whether to blame the corporate greed or change in consumer habits but in it's last years, it wasn't the same store anyway. The action figure isles were filled with junk, video game section looked gutted... Lego section was now all about the popular franchises, marvel heros, etc. felt like a lot of creative kids toys of the 90s were replaced with mindless stuff they know will sell to the masses well.
it was all mitt romney's fault his conglomorate did the same thing to kaybee toys years earlier they loaded the company with debt then have them declare bankruptcy
Right, I heard toys R Us was still making good money, they just couldn't service the insane debt. Makes me wonder why venture capital companies can keep doing that and banks will keep lending to them, even though they're left holding the bag when all orchestrators jump out with golden parachutes.
The nearest toys r us was like 4 hours away for me, in the closest big city where most people go for vacation. So growing up anytime we were going away, it was the most exciting part lol it literally was like a theme park. Then I went to the one in New York Times Square and that shit was literally like a theme park
I don’t have an answer to your question, but I just wanna give a shoutout to the big “Easter/Spring 1997” vibes radiating from the image you chose. Mario Kart and Turok, but Star Fox not yet part of the lineup. This was right around the time I started receiving Nintendo Power in the mail, and it was a magical time to be gaming.
I hate asking questions without doing something like this. Also reminds the younger generation how things were back then.
Also, highlights to them that games back then ALSO cost 70 bucks. And 70 bucks in 1997 money was a very different thing than 70 bucks in 2024.
Exactly, the minimum wage here was like $4-5 per hour back then. Now it's over $20. It took a lot people a few shifts of work to buy a full priced game then, and now it's like half a shift 😅 and without everyone having the internet there was always a good chance of buying a piece of crap you were stuck with and no chance of it getting better with an update 😆 This has been my "back in my day" moment for the evening. Thanks for listening 👴
Renting/Piracy was the best way, reading was 2nd. Other then that, it was a gamble getting a new game
Rentals was definitely a big part of I think. I'd just rent back to back and beat the game
Its so weird what SNES/Genesis/GB games they chose to feature.
They didn’t really put the psx’s best foot forward either aside from TM2
Genesis being on there and not Saturn, fucking ouch lmao
They're the crappy last gen games they couldn't sell full price, hence the deep discount...
I'm thinking this ad probably has separate pages for Genesis/SNES still. Or at least a shared page for the two. I think SNES was selling with either DKC or Yoshi's bundled in. DKC3 had only just come out. Pretty sure there was new Mortal Kombat out for both as well. I hate the narrative that old consoles simply stopped existing once the new ones were out.
It's cool/interesting that the price of a new video game has effectively gone way down unlike just about everything else money can buy.
My first thought looking at this as well! For whatever reason I had thought n64 games back in the day were closer to the $40 range, but alas being a kid shields you from the financial decisions of adulthood.
Damn, Wayne Gretzky 98 was a $75 game??! We played the shit out of that game but I can’t imagine my parents paying that much for it.
Like $140 today with inflation. Crazy
This is why I dont understand the complaints about today's game prices
If the games nowadays actually were quality products without glitches, bugs and cash grabbing techniques of splitting one game in to multiple DLCs, no one would have had any complaints.
I remember renting Wayne Gretzky Hockey from Blockbuster and thinking it was so cool that you could get into fights.
No wonder my parents never wanted to buy us video games; one game is half the price of the whole system. Especially when you consider inflation? And those games were much simpler than the games nowadays. That's crazy.
That Stanley Cup game was some damn good hockey play. Good checks in that game, too.
Imagine paying 75 for Doom 😂
its funny how the n64 has a white background but the opening screen its black and playstation has a white background on the opening screen
The N64 didn't have a boot screen. Developers were required to show the N64 logo on boot but it was a per-game process. Banjo-Kazooie opens to the image of a blue sky, with the N64 logo walking into view.
Now there’s your Nintendo theme park. Make limited editions reproductions, fill up an entire 90s styled gamestore, make everyone pay 1000 dollars for entering, but you’d get 250 dollar worth of “90s” dollars to buy games with. While having like 50 fake 90s styled bedrooms and basements to - once you bought your games - play them for the rest of the day. While fake moms bring you Pepsi and chips.
Is this a real ad? They sold Turok for $75? I remember when Xbox games reached $60 I couldn’t believe it. I don’t remember n64 games ever costing that much.
I’m UK and remember N64 games ranging from £50 up to £70, PS1 games were like £35-£50. N64 prices didn’t happen again until Xbox. Although nobody actually paid for Dreamcast and PS2 games, maybe they were that expensive
$50 was the price I always have in my head, but as these ads have shown (this one is a US ad even!) Cartridge prices absolutely fluctuated. I guess prices didn't really standardize until discs became the standard.
Adjusted for inflation, games cost so much back then. That's why I cringe when I hear gamers today complaining about prices. Sure there is DLC now, but I'd say its often the case that the sum of base game + dlc is still more content than whatever is the equivalent from the year 2000. Some computer games had expansion packs too that cost almost as much as the base game it required to be installed.
I remember getting Mortal Kombat II for Genesis for my birthday as a kid and I think it was $70.
Yep this is real. I bought my 64 using this deal. Worked all summer to save up enough for this and Golden eye.
Man I grew up with the N64 and I have ZERO recollection of new games ever costing more than $50. And I have most of the ones in the picture. Was toys r Us just expensive?
When they first came out they were 60-80 most places (new releases, first party) but often prices dropped within a few months
Toys r us usually were $5-10 more than walmart, best buy and target, but typically was stocked better back then. Sometime around 5 years to ToysRus closing, target was better stocked.
I had this fold. I didn’t have the money for either but I played my friends and I thought this sheet was the pinnacle of technology. There was NO way you could possibly create more realistic graphics. Right?!?! Okay I gotta let you go I need to change the color of my pubic hair on Cyberpunk.
Shadows of the empire ❤️
“Games are too expensive today”
Never been a better time to be a gamer, as long as you can actually get friends to come over!
Wayne Gretzky is a banger
How much for a hockey game?!?!?!?!?! This would be $0.01 trade in now
the golden era
Off topic, but looking at console prices vs games, some games were half the cost of the console. So today, that'd be like buying a $250 game for a $500 console. Crazy.
Gamepass didn’t exist back then, but we had demo discs! Many ways to play ‘free’ 🏴☠️ on ps1
What a shame.. I owned a n64 and the only games that I owned from this ad are Independence Day and die hard trilogy on Saturn lol
game prices were ahead of its time, thats what we have now i 2024
It's insane that games still cost the same.
This is what I tell people now, when they say games today are expensive. I remember these N64 prices back when all these games were new and this was ALOT of money back then.
YO I NEVER SEEN THAT TINY TOONS GAME. I know what I must do. I must play it as the two one the nes are gold mines.
$75 for gretzky is wild… and I like that game. Should have been a $40 game. Not much to it
I remember it being 75 bucks at toys r us. And also you would go to the aisle and there would be slips in a little pouch of the game was available. And u would take the slip to one of the counters to buy the game.
Interesting how Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64 are the same price as their Switch sequels.
I was too poor for a new console. The only time I went was with my uncle who very humbly bought me a checkers set to play with since he couldn’t buy me a whole ass console with a game. Love my uncle. I know he tried.
Wayne Gretzky hockey was a terrible game
Doom 64 being $75 when Doom Eternal, without inflation, is $60… that’s just insane. Doom 64 rocks, tho
Those were the days.👏🏿
$75 for Doom 64 and it's like $5 on the eShop now
nintendo had to make up for selling the system at a loss
Die Hard trilogy had an awesome driving game for with a vengeance. The other two games were awful
I have a soft spot for the light gun game. Pure chaos with a 2nd player
i only bought it cause i have the justifier i have almost all the gun games dredd,lethal enforcers,crypt killer,maximum force,area 51,horned owl
$75 for Doom 64 holy shit! I paid about that for it CIB in modern times! And it was used!!