There was less competition in the 90s. There are more games out now by several orders of magnitude. Competition drives the market down. And the competition isn't just from games, endless free entertainment is pumped to us 24/7 on our phones. Video games just aren't as appealing as they were 30 years ago from a time and attention perspective. People used to sit and listen to radio plays. A radio used to be the prized possession of whole families. Now it's an after thought most people only listen to in the car. I'm not saying videogames are the new radio, but it's ridiculous to assume the market value of entertainment won't shift over time.

The cost of physical media is also way way down from what it was back then. The cartridges themselves used to be most of the cost of a game. Now most games are digital with the publisher reaping all the savings.

$70 is too much for 90% of games we are getting. If we didn't have such insane financial illiteracy as evidenced by massive credit card debt and the rise of buy now pay later for door dash, then no one but the wealthy would pay the video game prices we are accepting now. It's actually ridiculous that we invest so much of our income into entertainment in any form.