Are games too expensive these days? Is $59.99 too expensive for a new game?

In the 16-Bit era, I can remember paying around $80.00 for Final Fight 3 from Best Buy, and I had no problem with it because I knew it was durable, it came with cool artwork in the instructions, and I'd always have it. My friends bought Final Fantasy III and Chrono Trigger for similarly high prices. Even later, I had no qualms about paying just as much for Resident Evil 2 and an Expansion Pak for the Nintendo 64. Back then, it was worth it because cartridge production wasn't cheap. Now, however...

Given how cheap it is to press a DVD/Blu-Ray, combined with the fact that physical versions no longer even come with manuals, I believe video games now are absolutely overpriced. It's insulting that digital versions of games are NOT cheaper than physical versions of games (which are actually tangible). If shipping costs and logistics are no longer being figured into the price of the digital version of a game, then why is it still the same price as the physical version? More importantly, you cannot lend an invisible game to your friends, and no pawn shop or game store can accept a game stuck on your console's hard drive for trade.

"Well, you don't play the box or the manual!"
This argument, in particular, holds no weight, and never has.

Why? Because:

Physical media = you own it, so you could sell or trade it

Digital = you don't own it, so you cannot sell or trade it

End of story.

Fine, rising development costs; I can see that. Digital versions should at least be cheaper, though, since the owner's freedom of usage is greatly limited. Bottom line, if I am PAYING for something with MY MONEY, I better have the freedom to do what I want with it. With the economy the way it is these days and money decreasing in value, we better be able to sell a game if we need to, trade it if we want to, or generously lend it to a friend. This is just how the exchange of currency goes, and always has. One side gives currency, the other side gives the item as part of the exchange, which is referred to as a purchase. A purchase means to buy something (not to rent it).

Back in the day, it wouldn't fly if a merchant told someone, "I'll take your money, but the item isn't actually yours; you may use it, but you are not allowed to sell it or trade it, and I can completely restrict your use of it." The equivalent of DRM would have been if the merchant had kept the product in their possession instead of the buyer's, dictating usage. Back then, such a thing would be considered completely ridiculous, and wouldn't fly. Yet, somehow these days it is accepted. The line between a purchase and rental has become blurred.

Some games are works of art (Capcom's, especially). They deserve to be preserved as such, and are worth $59.99...in physical form. Video games not in physical form should ultimately be considered as rentals or services.

(This article was originally a 2016 post on Capcom-Unity at Capcom.com.)