There are multiple reasons for that. The PS2 generation was probably the largest leap in technical capabilities that we've ever seen in a new console generation. So the games felt especially mind blowing because the tech leap was especially large. Also, that was a time of great growth for the industry. Games were getting a bit more expensive to make on the newer much more advanced hardware but that was overshadowed and compensated for by the rapid growth of the market. Finally, that was a Goldilocks time period in of development costs. Games still cost a very reasonable amount of money to develop at that time because they were still relatively basic compared to what we see today. All of those factors created a perfect storm scenario where the industry was able to deliver some stunning (for the time) projects while being able to flourish at the $50 price point. Well, those days are behind us. But I think going up to $80 or $100 would aid in getting us back to that era. I mean, spending $50 back then felt like spending $100 anyway. I would also keep in mind the concept of rose tinted glasses. The majority of games even from the PS2 era have difficulty holding up today.

If you're on minimum wage then games aren't something you should necessarily be focused on. Same was true in the 80s and 90s. Like the article mentions, video games have ALWAYS been a luxury. They are comparatively cheaper these days than they were back then. I when I was a kid in those times I would get maybe 1-2 games per year, and my parents were definitely NOT minimum wage people. Because they were EXPENSIVE for the time. If it weren't for Blockbuster, I would have hardly played any games. Pricing them at $100 today would simply put them at the exact same level of financial commitment that they carried 30+ years ago. But the issue is everybody wants to get something for nothing these days. Or as close to dirt cheap as possible. All the while ignoring that nobody NEEDS video games to survive. It is not the responsibility of a publisher to provide these things at a bargain basement price.

Here's the thing though, game pricing not budging over 3 decades has put most publishers/developers in a scenario where they're kinda chasing their tails. They try to spend as little as possible in development because they KNOW they're going to be undercharging for the game. So then the name of the game becomes speed of development and (hopefully) massive sales numbers. Just look at older generations. Look at all the weird ass games that came out on N64, PS1, PS2, GCN. Developers were less pressed to generate something with huge massive success. They could have moderate success and still exist as a business. These days all it takes is one or two games with less than amazing sales for a studio to be shut down. The relatively higher price point of games back in the day provided a buffer that allowed more devs a freedom of creativity and freedom of financial stability that allowed them to take more chances and dedicate more effort into their projects. And if a project had soft sales, then no big deal we'll get em next time. These days every release is a make it or break it scenario because the $ coming in per unit does not go nearly as far as it used to.

Part of the reasoning for that is the sky high expectations that people have. If game development, along with what people (yourself included) expect to see in new games wasn't constantly on the rise and advancing, then it would be reasonable to expect perfectly solid games to launch. And to an extent I agree with you. Games should launch mostly solid if not ideally completely solid. But then it becomes even more unreasonable to not expect prices to rise on these gargantuan, mind bogglingly complex projects. You want a game that provides dozens of hours of gameplay in a meticulously detailed massive world to cost the same or less than a port of an arcade beat em up would have cost 30 years ago. The numbers just don't work

LOL if anyone thinks we're getting a THUG remake, they're unfortunately a bit delusional. Activision apparently didn't think it necessary to even properly build a THPS 4 remake. The story mode of THUG is that on steroids. If we couldn't get a proper THPS4 then it's HIGHLY unlikely we'll see THUG. At best we'll see a THUG DLC for 3+4