Top 10 Most Expensive Video Game Consoles EVER

Top 10 Most Expensive Video Game Consoles

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Well, it’s certainly not a cheap hobby. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the Top 10 most expensive video game consoles. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most expensive gaming consoles of all time and ranking them based on their American price. We won’t be ranking the consoles based on their initial price at time of release, but their price when adjusted for inflation. We also won’t be including the $2,500 Halcyon, as that console was never officially released to the public.

$180 (Adjusted: $640)

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The Magnavox Odyssey2 goes by many names. In Europe it was the Philips Videopac G7000 (which, may we say, is a very catchy name), in Brazil it was the Philips Odyssey, and in Japan it was simply Odyssey2. Released in 1978 in Europe and 1979 in North America, this console was a direct competitor to the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. It was also the cheapest option of the three at just $180. We say “just,” but that is the equivalent of about $650 today! Despite being the cheapest option, it never sold as well as its competitors, and the Odyssey quickly faded into history and obscurity.

$400 (Adjusted: $680)

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The Saturn’s launch in North America was an unmitigated disaster. They were massively upstaged by Sony, whose PlayStation was $100 cheaper. Sega had also failed to notify major retailers like Best Buy and Walmart of the surprise release, and KB Toys essentially told Sega to pound sand by refusing to sell the console. The Saturn’s premature release also meant that it launched with just six games. Even worse, the Saturn’s killer app (being “Virtua Fighter”) was never super popular in North America, so no one really cared. All this combined into a historically disastrous launch, and the Saturn was steamrolled by the PlayStation just four months later.

$270 (Adjusted: $720)

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Now if you want to talk about unmitigated disasters, let’s talk about the Atari 5200! When it was released in 1982, the Atari 5200 cost $270, which is roughly the equivalent of $720 today. This certainly wasn’t unheard of, as most video game consoles at the time were ridiculously expensive (including its famous predecessor). But absolutely no one was paying $270 for this. It was ugly, it didn’t have any good games, it wasn’t backwards compatible with the 2600, the analog controller was terrible, and it couldn’t compete with the ColecoVision’s library. In short, people were perfectly happy with their 2600, and they were unwilling to fork over the equivalent of $700 for this mess of a console.

$170 (Adjusted: $770)

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What is the Fairchild Channel F, you ask? Well, it’s a piece of gaming history! This was actually the very first ROM cartridge-based video game console, and it was released throughout North America in November of 1976. Despite its historic status, the Fairchild Channel F was quickly dwarfed by the Atari 2600 when it was released in September 1977. Upon release in 1976, the Channel F (which stands for Channel Fun) was priced at $170 - about $770 when adjusted for inflation. It’s not a bad price by any means, considering how novel the technology was at the time. That said, it’s still a lot of money, as will be proved by our next entry…

$600 (Adjusted: $770)

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The PS3 disaster proves the importance of an inviting price point. Sony was the ruler of the gaming landscape throughout the sixth generation, as the PS2 was an unprecedented success. And that all came crashing down at E3 2006. This was a historically embarrassing showing for Sony, as nearly every facet of the conference was memed and ridiculed. Perhaps worst of all was the price unveiling, which was met by a painfully uncomfortable silence by the palpably disappointed audience. Of course, you could buy the 20GB model for $500, but the $600 60GB model was the only one to feature WiFi capabilities and an HDMI port. Sony’s reputation crumbled, and the PS3 suffered a calamitous launch.

$200 (Adjusted: $850)

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The Atari 2600 is arguably the most iconic video game console in history, yet this beast cost the equivalent of $850 in 1977! That said, the 2600 wasn’t an immediate success, and it wasn’t until 1980 that it really took off. That was when Atari licensed “Space Invaders,” which quickly became the console’s killer app. The game instantly doubled Atari’s sales, and “Pac-Man” helped even more when it was released in 1982. A significant price reduction must also be credited for the console’s success, as it cost just $125 by 1982 (about $335 today). In the end, the Atari 2600 sold approximately thirty million units, making it one of the most successful consoles of its day.

$300 (Adjusted: $940)

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Serving as the main competitor to the Atari 2600, Mattel’s Intellivision was released nationwide in 1980, three years after the release of the 2600. And while that console’s price was slowly coming down, the Intellivision launched for an unbelievable $300 - about $940 in today’s money! That said, it had the power and innovation to back it up. It had a 16-bit microprocessor, downloadable video games, the ability to play back voices, and the first controller to offer directional thumb pads, among other innovations. Regardless, it wasn’t nearly as big as the Atari 2600, and it sold just three million units throughout the early 80s.

$700 (Adjusted: $1,250)

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The 3DO was actually created by EA founder Trip Hawkins and was released in North America in October 1993. This was touted as the most cutting-edge and technologically innovative gaming console of its time. And despite being named Time’s 1993 Product of the Year, its launch was a messy one indeed. Developers struggled with the technology, the console launched with just one game, and Panasonic (being the first company to produce the 3DO technology) failed to ship enough units to retailers. All that, combined its egregious $700 price point, was enough to turn away consumers. It sold just two million units over its painfully short 27-month lifecycle.

$650 (Adjusted: $1,290)

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The Neo Geo is an interesting console. It was originally released as a cartridge-based arcade machine called the Multi Video System. However, a home console version was also released. This was called the Advanced Entertainment System, and it had the same raw specs as the arcade machine. This means that it was very, very powerful and very, very expensive. It was only available to rent due to its exorbitant cost, but this changed over time due to high demand. When it eventually debuted as the Gold System in North America, it cost a staggering $650 - just about $1,300 today. Even the games cost upwards of $400 in today’s money! Needless to say, it never broke into the mainstream market.

$1,000 (Adjusted: $1,900)

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Now, the CD-i isn’t specifically a video game console. Rather, CD-i refers to the data storage format. It served as a cheaper alternative to home computers and provided interactive multimedia content such as web browsing, e-mail access, interactive encyclopedias, and all the features of a CD player. Remember when CDs and e-mail were all the rage? The device eventually became known for its many terrible video games, which were played on interactive CD-i discs. The first model for home purchase was the CD-i 910/205, which cost upwards of $1,000 at launch - equivalent to nearly $2,000 today! It just goes to show how much cheaper technology has gotten over the intervening thirty years...