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We’re well into the 8th Generation of gaming. With the high price-tags on consoles today, many have wondered how our prices compare to consoles of the past. Well, it turns out, consoles have always been expensive.

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Below is a complete list of major gaming consoles along with their launch year, launch prices (USD), and the gaming generation they belong to. 

Console

Launch Date

Launch Price
(Original/Inflation)
(USD)

Gen Magnavox Odyssey Aug 1972 $99.99/$561.48 1st Farichild Channel F Nov 1976 $169.99/$701.07 2nd Atari 2600 Sep 1977 $199.99/$774.62 2nd Intellivision Jan 1980 $299.99/$854.54 2nd ColecoVision Aug 1982 $199.99/$486.45 2nd Atari 5200 SuperSystem Nov 1982 $269.99/$656.71 2nd Nintendo Entertainment System July 1983  $199.99/$471.31 3rd Sega Master System Oct 1985  $199.99/$428.30 3rd Atari 7800 June 1986 $139.99/$299.81 3rd TurboGrafx-16 Oct 1988 $199.99/$413.22 4th Sega Genesis Oct 1988 $189.99/$376.96 4th Neo-Geo Jan 1990  $649.99/$1,167.31 4th Super Nintendo Entertainment System Nov 1990  $199.99/$359.16 4th Phillips CD-i Dec 1991 $699.99/$1,206.34 4th Atari Jaguar Nov 1993 $249.99/$406.08 4th Neo-Geo CD Sep 1994  $299.99/$475.13 4th Sega Saturn Nov 1994 $399.99/$633.51 5th PlayStation Dec 1994 $299.99/$487.30 5th Nintendo 64 June 1996 $199.99/$299.18 5th Dreamcast Nov 1998  $199.99/$287.99 6th PlayStation 2 March 2000 $299.99/$408.91 6th Nintendo GameCube Sep 2001  $199.99/$265.21 6th Xbox Nov 2001 $299.99/$397.82 6th Xbox 360 Nov 2005 $399.99 – $299.99/
$480.73 – $360.54 7th PlayStation 3 Nov 2006 $599.99 – $499.99/
$698.57 – $582.14 7th Wii Nov 2006 $249.99/$291.06 7th Wii U Nov 2012 $349.99 – $299.99/
$357.81 – $306.69 8th Ouya June 2013 $99.99/$100.75 8th PlayStation 4 Nov 2013 $399.99/$403.02 8th Xbox One Nov 2013 $499.99/$503.78 8th

Moral of the story? We probably shouldn’t be complaining so much about console prices. It seems as though consoles have always had a relatively similar price range, but when considering the adjustment due to inflation, today’s consoles are drastically cheaper.

This is especially true when compared to the Phillips CD-i and Neo-Geo, which take the first and second place for most expensive console, respectively.

The cheapest of all, with inflation considered, is the OUYA micro-console. This makes sense, as it has relatively low specs and was designed to run processor-light Android-based games.  

However, when focusing on base-price alone, Ouya ties with the first home console ever released, the Magnavox Odyssey. It’s nice to see that $99.99 price point has returned, even if it was attached to a micro-console. Could we see this price re-adopted into traditional home consoles in the future? I sure hope so. 

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