What’s funny is that this scene is just a joke by the developer and the game it’s from was more expensive than 20 bucks.
Kumlekar
So adjusted for inflation $38 today?
jrobles396
Like 50 adjusted for inflation
super_bros
Unless it’s Expedition 33!
Bicone
Good luck playing some indies meanwhile the whole world will be playing GTA 6, Borderlands 4, the new DOOM game and other outstanding titles.
Happy_Canadian
For Canada $20.00 in 1990 is now $42.17 in 2025 with inflation, which is more than I pay for the majority of games I purchase; I am a patient gamer who for physical games pay no more than $30 unless it’s my one ‘full-price game per year’ I allow myself. Digital I will not pay more than $15 personally.
Huge-Nerve7518
I think it’s funny that people thought video games were going to be that price forever. Games are massively more expensive to make it’s crazy that they took this long to do it.
I’m more upset about DOC being the “rest” of the game and micro transactions.
69WaysToFuck
Ah yes, let’s make good games unprofitable so we boost the live service shit even more. Buy the games based on the value you find appropriate.
Ghost403
“Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!”
sk8wrld
While price increases obviously suck, I think we are lucky that we had the same prices for so long, they didn’t go up with inflation for what, 20 years?
BeardedGrom
Ah yes, wise words from my favorite pirate!
Speaking about games… i think i overheard something about an awesome game named Loom earlier. Gotta go back to the bar, maybe someone there has some details on this.
PayaV87
That’s 50$ in today’s money.
KitchenNazi
$20 was a joke because the game was way more. Popular Atari 2600 games were $20 in the 80s. Monkey Island was $40-50 back in 1990 like most other games.
Press release says suggested retail price was $59.95 which sounds a bit high. I pirated it back then as a kid – so I know I didn’t pay that much!
LUCASFILM GAMES’ NEW GRAPHIC ADVENTURE DELIVERS SWASHBUCKLING MYSTERY AND SALTY HUMOR.
CHICAGO, IL — June 2, 1990 — Lucasfilm Games today announced the Fall, 1990 release of THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND(TM), a comedy set during the “golden age” of piracy in the Caribbean. The game’s twisty plot leads our hero, fresh from the Old World, on a hilarious, complex, swash-buckling search for the fabled secret of Monkey Island. Like other Lucasfilm Games graphic adventures, THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND features cinematic storytelling, high resolution graphics, and a unique point ‘n click interface.
The late 1600s were the best of times for pirates. Secure in their Caribbean strongholds, they amassed huge fortunes, plundering shipments of New World gold. Tales of pirate wealth attracted many adventurers, among them our hero who lands in the port of Melee with high hopes, no money, and an insatiable curiosity. If he’s clever enough, he will win the confidence of Melee’s pirates and soon find himself blown by the winds of fate toward the terrifying and legendary Monkey Island — an adventure that would chill the bones of even the most bloodthirsty buccaneer.
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND is Lucasfilm Games’ most ambitious graphic adventure yet. Like its award-winning predecessor, INDIANA JONES(R) AND THE LAST CRUSADE, it features high resolution graphics and special animation. In addition, MONKEY ISLAND has proportional scaling in character animation, innovative “camera angles,” and significant streamlining enhancements to the acclaimed interface.
The player is treated to a wide variety of original entertaining puzzles. Some take the form of dialogue, in which the player has to unravel hidden meaning in hilarious repartee. “The one-liners are more lethal than the bad guys,” explains Ron Gilbert, the game’s designer. Others are puzzles in which clues and objects from diverse locations combine to advance the player toward end game. Intriguing visual puzzles contribute as much to the atmosphere of the game as they do to the challenge.
The first few puzzles in the game are relatively easy. More subtle ones follow. “A first-time adventure gamer won’t feel too frustrated by MONKEY ISLAND,” according to Gilbert, “and will experience the same level of complexity and challenges in game play as in MANIAC MANSION(TM) or INDY, for example.”
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND will release in the fourth quarter of 1990 for IBM, Amiga, Atari St, and Macintosh personal computers. Suggested retail price for all versions is $59.95.
Lucasfilm Games, a division of LucasArts Entertainment Company, is a subsidiary of Lucasfilm Ltd., a leading entertainment and feature film production company.
mudokin
Adjusted for inflation that’s 50$
when going from the original price they themself took in 1990, that was about 60$ it’s now 125$
GuybrushThreepwoodPK
Turn off your computer and go to sleep!
Coast_watcher
Funny and sad at the same time is that because release prices have gone up, so has my sales “floor” . Now I might up it to at least $ 30 or it might take me a decade before I play any big release .
I haven’t heard many complaints about the new doom’s price.
Zoraji
I’ve got several on my wish list waiting for a >$20 price. No Mans Sky has been on my list for years but still the lowest was $27 on Steam after 9 years. I think it was briefly lower on one of the 3rd party stores but I prefer to buy on Steam.
SirSabza
And remember, if all of us buy games at $20 there will be no more games!
Except for indie ofc.
WMan37
I know the original thing was a joke as many have pointed out, but following [Monkey Island Inflation’s](https://fineleatherjackets.net/monkeyinflation) rule of thumb is genuinely useful advice, because anything above that threshold is either incomplete, boring, or grifting you somehow in my experience. Hell, when I bought Expedition 33 on launch, it was on sale at a price within this threshold.
orient_vermillion
Me as a member of r/patientgamers
Jackielegs43
No, I’m definitely still going to. I’d like to play games, so my hands are tied.
23 Comments
What’s funny is that this scene is just a joke by the developer and the game it’s from was more expensive than 20 bucks.
So adjusted for inflation $38 today?
Like 50 adjusted for inflation
Unless it’s Expedition 33!
Good luck playing some indies meanwhile the whole world will be playing GTA 6, Borderlands 4, the new DOOM game and other outstanding titles.
For Canada $20.00 in 1990 is now $42.17 in 2025 with inflation, which is more than I pay for the majority of games I purchase; I am a patient gamer who for physical games pay no more than $30 unless it’s my one ‘full-price game per year’ I allow myself. Digital I will not pay more than $15 personally.
I think it’s funny that people thought video games were going to be that price forever. Games are massively more expensive to make it’s crazy that they took this long to do it.
I’m more upset about DOC being the “rest” of the game and micro transactions.
Ah yes, let’s make good games unprofitable so we boost the live service shit even more. Buy the games based on the value you find appropriate.
“Look behind you, a three-headed monkey!”
While price increases obviously suck, I think we are lucky that we had the same prices for so long, they didn’t go up with inflation for what, 20 years?
Ah yes, wise words from my favorite pirate!
Speaking about games… i think i overheard something about an awesome game named Loom earlier. Gotta go back to the bar, maybe someone there has some details on this.
That’s 50$ in today’s money.
$20 was a joke because the game was way more. Popular Atari 2600 games were $20 in the 80s. Monkey Island was $40-50 back in 1990 like most other games.
Press release says suggested retail price was $59.95 which sounds a bit high. I pirated it back then as a kid – so I know I didn’t pay that much!
LUCASFILM GAMES’ NEW GRAPHIC ADVENTURE DELIVERS SWASHBUCKLING MYSTERY AND SALTY HUMOR.
CHICAGO, IL — June 2, 1990 — Lucasfilm Games today announced the Fall, 1990 release of THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND(TM), a comedy set during the “golden age” of piracy in the Caribbean. The game’s twisty plot leads our hero, fresh from the Old World, on a hilarious, complex, swash-buckling search for the fabled secret of Monkey Island. Like other Lucasfilm Games graphic adventures, THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND features cinematic storytelling, high resolution graphics, and a unique point ‘n click interface.
The late 1600s were the best of times for pirates. Secure in their Caribbean strongholds, they amassed huge fortunes, plundering shipments of New World gold. Tales of pirate wealth attracted many adventurers, among them our hero who lands in the port of Melee with high hopes, no money, and an insatiable curiosity. If he’s clever enough, he will win the confidence of Melee’s pirates and soon find himself blown by the winds of fate toward the terrifying and legendary Monkey Island — an adventure that would chill the bones of even the most bloodthirsty buccaneer.
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND is Lucasfilm Games’ most ambitious graphic adventure yet. Like its award-winning predecessor, INDIANA JONES(R) AND THE LAST CRUSADE, it features high resolution graphics and special animation. In addition, MONKEY ISLAND has proportional scaling in character animation, innovative “camera angles,” and significant streamlining enhancements to the acclaimed interface.
The player is treated to a wide variety of original entertaining puzzles. Some take the form of dialogue, in which the player has to unravel hidden meaning in hilarious repartee. “The one-liners are more lethal than the bad guys,” explains Ron Gilbert, the game’s designer. Others are puzzles in which clues and objects from diverse locations combine to advance the player toward end game. Intriguing visual puzzles contribute as much to the atmosphere of the game as they do to the challenge.
The first few puzzles in the game are relatively easy. More subtle ones follow. “A first-time adventure gamer won’t feel too frustrated by MONKEY ISLAND,” according to Gilbert, “and will experience the same level of complexity and challenges in game play as in MANIAC MANSION(TM) or INDY, for example.”
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND will release in the fourth quarter of 1990 for IBM, Amiga, Atari St, and Macintosh personal computers. Suggested retail price for all versions is $59.95.
Lucasfilm Games, a division of LucasArts Entertainment Company, is a subsidiary of Lucasfilm Ltd., a leading entertainment and feature film production company.
Adjusted for inflation that’s 50$
when going from the original price they themself took in 1990, that was about 60$ it’s now 125$
Turn off your computer and go to sleep!
Funny and sad at the same time is that because release prices have gone up, so has my sales “floor” . Now I might up it to at least $ 30 or it might take me a decade before I play any big release .
Gaming as addiction.
https://youtu.be/5cruqVmcc5Y?si=AVNN3qy0tsKQ73UM
I haven’t heard many complaints about the new doom’s price.
I’ve got several on my wish list waiting for a >$20 price. No Mans Sky has been on my list for years but still the lowest was $27 on Steam after 9 years. I think it was briefly lower on one of the 3rd party stores but I prefer to buy on Steam.
And remember, if all of us buy games at $20 there will be no more games!
Except for indie ofc.
I know the original thing was a joke as many have pointed out, but following [Monkey Island Inflation’s](https://fineleatherjackets.net/monkeyinflation) rule of thumb is genuinely useful advice, because anything above that threshold is either incomplete, boring, or grifting you somehow in my experience. Hell, when I bought Expedition 33 on launch, it was on sale at a price within this threshold.
Me as a member of r/patientgamers
No, I’m definitely still going to. I’d like to play games, so my hands are tied.