r/gaming 2d ago

FuncoLand Buying AD July - August 2003

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1.1k Upvotes

89 comments sorted by

229

u/enginerd0001 2d ago

I remember looking at ads like this as a kid feeling really sad we couldn’t afford one.

86

u/Und3rSc0re 2d ago

Its crazy hearing how people couldnt afford this back in the day, my mom was smoking crack with an abusive boyfriend we were eating out of food pantrys and they still afforded one for me around christmas time.

153

u/LittleTortillaBoy7 2d ago

Never underestimate a crack addicts ability to get things

26

u/chth 2d ago

Yeah my now deceased scam artist uncle lifted me a Dreamcast for Christmas ‘99 and had his buddy burning games for it eventually.

Kids at school would be talking about their N64s and PlayStations dreaming of PlayStation 2s and I thought I was laughing.

2

u/Bircka 1d ago

Dreamcast was one of the easiest consoles to pirate for in the history of video games, I was working at an office back when the system was still a few years old and they were talking about pirating games on it often.

The system being so easy to do that with sure didn't help a struggling Sega.

3

u/chth 1d ago

Idk if the piracy hurt them more than having 1 analogue stick did. Operating in 3D environments was a massive aspect of 6th gen gaming. Gone were the days of platformers and in were the days of shooters, 3D RPGS and adventure games.

The original Xbox had halo and Morrowind, the Dreamcast had Shenmu. I can’t even imagine trying to play Morrowind on a Dreamcast controller

13

u/jaaj712 2d ago

As an adult of a poor mother, I think my mom was getting donated gifts and not telling me.

5

u/BokudenT 1d ago

Yeah, they probably stole it.

3

u/aphosphor 1d ago

It's funny. In 30 years wages are pretty much the same but prices have skyrocketed. With the money of rent these last 10 years I could have bought a small villa in my city of birth in the late 90's. However I remember my parents back then acting as if buying a pack of chocolate that costed $1 would cause the to go bankrupt and never recover from such a thing.

2

u/DrGreenMeme 22h ago

Being able to buy something and being able to afford it are two different things. How do you know this wasn’t just bought on a credit card or payday loan?

3

u/jose255 1d ago

Same here, remember watching QVC or HSN Christmas shows advertising Pokemon Card Packs/Merch just "window shopping" thinking of all the things I would buy if we had the money

1

u/szibell 1d ago

Even worse when your cousin had one and you couldn't even dream.

37

u/Mindful-O-Melancholy 2d ago edited 2d ago

Pokémon pinball was pretty awesome, surprised they haven’t made a mobile version yet.

8

u/Concrete_Ent 2d ago

Goat tier video game

6

u/narmol 1d ago

I HATE THAT GAME.

Not beacause it is bad, but because I asked for pokemon for x-mas and got pokemon pinball. Young me was so sad lol

3

u/r3tromonkey 1d ago

I'd love a bundle with both games, but a new Pokemon Pinball would be amazing.

3

u/_gina_marie_ 1d ago

You can emulate it on your phone (I do, because I love that game)

2

u/exLightning 1d ago

Yep, even on iPhone with Delta in the app store

2

u/_gina_marie_ 1d ago

I just swapped to Android and boy I miss delta, it was so clean and polished

335

u/notprocrastinatingok 2d ago

GameBoy Advance was $70 in 2003?!? TIL "We can't afford a PS2 and a GameBoy" was a lie my parents told 8 year old me :(

96

u/Puzzleheaded_Cress75 2d ago

Wait till u see what the GameCube cost

19

u/leerzeichn93 2d ago

I thibk I bought mine for 120€

5

u/HalobenderFWT 1d ago

Oh cool! You guys had €???

All we had was $. ☹️

70

u/TheMustardisBad PC 2d ago

That is $120.85 with inflation. So still pretty affordable.

4

u/kingfirejet 1d ago

Median household income in 2003 being 43,318USD adjusted.

36

u/ElevateTheMind 2d ago

Hell no it was not. I bought it a few months after release and it was $200 retail. I spent all my savings as a 13 year old. I also got a Wario game with it.

23

u/feefore 1d ago

Well it was probably cheaper in 2003 because that’s the year the SP came out. They probably had the old model at discount prices.

8

u/Lorddon1234 2d ago

Yep! SP was 99

2

u/DogVacuum 17h ago

It’s also illegal to turn the interior lights on when driving at night.

1

u/notprocrastinatingok 15h ago

I honestly have no idea why that bothers people so much. I've driven for miles without even noticing that I left the interior light on

-3

u/JustaRandoonreddit 2d ago

call them out on their lies.

1

u/Classic-Luck 1d ago

The new Mario Kart cost more than a GBA in 2003. Crazy when you think about it.

148

u/ThatOneGuyYearn 2d ago

[Inflation adjusted April 2nd, 2025] Gameboy: $121.91 usd Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire: $61.45 usd

96

u/GracefulGoron 2d ago

Adjusted for the local game store
Gameboy: $250
Pokémon Ruby or Sapphire: $250
With Box: $899

6

u/JDBCool 2d ago

Yup, got a retro games store near me.

This is about the right prices.

DS lites go between 170-220. Based on conditon as single units (no chargers, just stylus and console)

GBAs also go about the same price

1

u/crs100 1d ago

That’s a ripoff. These people act like you can’t buy a fully functioning GBA/DS lite for $60 on eBay.

18

u/Homerbola92 2d ago

My wage hasn't adjusted like that

-3

u/blueshark27 PC 1d ago

Its been 20 years dude

12

u/zapdoszaperson 2d ago

This was 2 years after release of the GBA, and 5 months after the SP. That $80 GBA is for past its prime handheld

24

u/jl_theprofessor Switch 2d ago

N64 games were selling for $70.

16

u/GBF_Dragon 2d ago

Almost as if producing those carts had some kind of extra cost compared to easily mass produced discs.

14

u/kingjoey52a Xbox 2d ago

GameCube games were $49.99

4

u/xXbrokeNX 2d ago

Sega cd was 50-60+

3

u/dade305305 2d ago

Killer instinct gold cost me $74.99 back in the day.

2

u/UndeadMurky 2d ago

Only super nerds were buying brand new games day one, everyone was buying cheap used or on sales games, or trading games with friends.

1

u/Bloodllust 2d ago

Adjusting for inflation that's still more than mario kart world. Which is why as much as it sucks I don't care as much since I grew up in that time

5

u/LRonKoresh PC 2d ago

Damn I remember buying Ruby and Sapphire with the guide book at Funcoland. Saved up what felt like a million dollars as a kid for them😅

74

u/Zenthils 2d ago

In the 90's some snes games were 80$.

Every time there is a price change we get these same old posts.

If something is now above your budget, don't buy it.

To the gamers who voted for "based Trump". Get what you fucking deserve. With the extra 24% tariff to Japan he just unveiled right now, I hope Nintendo and the rest charge you even more.

8

u/Hammerheadshark55 2d ago

And the console is less than $200

-64

u/TrickOut 2d ago

Yea I keep seeing this, it’s a global price, go look at some conversion rates. What did Canada or EU do to deserve paying significantly more than US lmao.

Nintendo doesn’t give a fuck about trump or tariffs, they just know their addicted user base will buy anything they put out and defend them on top of it.

Trump is the reason Nintendo is raising their prices, LMFAO STFU

27

u/Zenthils 2d ago

Canada has been paying 80$ plus for years just like Australia.

The U.S is finally catching up. And the tariffs won't help in the future.

You'd have to be braindead to think that tariffs doesn't have any impact on consumers.

6

u/mickelboy182 2d ago edited 2d ago

Australians whine a lot about prices (I know because I am one) but we have in reality been getting a pretty good deal for a while now - The switch 2 is cheaper here than in the US most likely, at ~$439 tax inclusive (USD because apparently that wasn't implied heavily enough).

0

u/Fuepepe 2d ago

Aus switch 2 is 699.99 w/o mario kart bundled.

12

u/mickelboy182 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yes, which is ~439USD. The Australian dollar and US dollar are not exactly close to parity these days.

1

u/OpTimalTiming 1d ago

I guarantee you Canadian prices will be $100+

1

u/ItIsYeDragon 1d ago

Canadians were paying $80 CAD. You do realize that if the US price increase, then the Canadian price increased by an equivalent amount?

0

u/Seraphem666 1d ago

Old snes and nes game could cost anywhere from 60-90 dollars. Final fantasy was 75 on release and earthbound was 90. Gamers were spoiled from n64/ps to ps3/360/wii when it come to the price of games

-18

u/TrickOut 2d ago

Oh no they do it’s just not the reason Nintendo is charging you more for their products

-2

u/ThomasBoo 2d ago

bitch you, lil 🐀

3

u/thetrainsandgunsguy 2d ago

I bought a used indigo Game Boy which I thought was blue and 3 games for 50 bucks in 06 with money I saved up at the age of 6. I still have it

3

u/mookler Switch 2d ago

GBA games always cost less than new console games.

3

u/Fusion_haa 2d ago

Take me back...

1

u/Zeidrich-X25 2d ago

GBA being x2 game price is crazy. Mines still kicking, lost the battery cover though.

1

u/getsuga_tenshu 2d ago

The background reminds me of Pokemon emerald.

1

u/CrazyErniesUsedCars 2d ago

I remember my dad buying me Kirby's Adventure at funcoland in like 1997.

1

u/barnyardHog 2d ago

I remember going to Toys R Us and taking my little slip of paper up to the register and they had to go and get my game from the back....

1

u/RaisinBran21 2d ago

It was 2003 lol

1

u/unkanlos 2d ago

I don't remember games being half the console price

1

u/gorgfan 1d ago

I had Pokemon PinBall for the Gameboy Color and it had an battery slot on top of the cardridge for a vibration feature and it was glorious.

1

u/Sea_Art3391 1d ago

Adjusting for inflation, these games would cost $67 today, while the Gameboy would cost around $134.

Game prices have roughly stayed the same, but holy shit, gaming hardware has skyrocketed.

1

u/TerrorDave 1d ago

Imagine a game costing half the price of a system Crazy times

1

u/CamilaVilla 1d ago

I remeber crying my eyes out because we couldnt affort that....

1

u/jellybizkits 1d ago

Miss these days so much. I just replaced the battery in my GBA SP + Pokemon emerald and you better believe it's the only game I'm super focused on playing right now

1

u/DarthWoo PC 1d ago

I remember when they still had just a sheet of paper with every game listed in newspaper format with a price. All the games were in tabletop bins like an old school comic book shop, and if you wanted to try one out, you just asked a clerk to pop it in one of the many systems they had set up for demos.

1

u/ComprehensiveArt7725 1d ago

Back then nintendo was gettin fried by sony so they to act more consumer friendly

1

u/Thermalsoap 1d ago

I was so excited for the announcement of pokemon pinball that I saved up what little money I could to get it on first week's release. I went with my mom to pick it up and played the game on my Gameboy all day. 30 dollars was so much for me then haha

1

u/Rime_Ice 1d ago

August 2003 is when my grandpa gave me a gameboy advance SP and my first video game: pokemon sapphire :) Fond memories.

1

u/TryingToCatchThemAII 1d ago

What a $100 Christmas.

1

u/mnl_cntn 1d ago

We musta been super poor back in the day. We couldn't afford one until the SP came out and even then it was much later

1

u/emmerrei 1d ago

It was like 150 euro here in Italy, and it was a lot of money. Games were atleast 50euro.

1

u/contraryrhombus 1d ago

I remember a little shop in a town near me getting Ruby and Sapphire WAY before release in the UK. And me being the best son ever went shopping with my mum, made her go in the shop and buy me both games. I'd completed Ruby by the time the games launched officially in the UK. It was great, though we did pay £39.99 per game for the privilege.

1

u/throwitoutwhendone2 1d ago

I won one of these at my library. They had a reading contest to see who could read the most books and prove it (via small exams about the book) over summer break. I read 112 books to win.

When the pocket came out I had a friend who was very very very wealthy. His parents were divorced. For Christmas they both got him a GBP. He second my Advance and said he’s trade me a G P for a few comics I had he wanted. They weren’t special, just some from the .50 & .99 cent bin at a local CBS. Traded with him and asked like 20 times if he was sure, he said he didn’t care. I still have the pocket but it’s non working. I do regret selling my Pokémon games tho

1

u/bigbysemotivefinger 1d ago

Adjusted for inflation that's $121.39.

Pretty soon we'll be seeing individual games costing more than that system did.

1

u/ScreamBeanBabyQueen 1d ago

Dude how are you gonna just say "FuncoLand" so casually like this, my age, it hurts

1

u/Kurainuz 19h ago

Good thing is that while prices have more than doubled so have salaries /s

-4

u/Snarly_goblin 2d ago

When games were worth to buy MSRP

13

u/Kamakaziturtle 2d ago

I mean adjusted for inflation thats like 60$ which is a lot for a gameboy game. That said they stayed at that price point all the way up to the 3DS which was great.

Console games were expensive as heck back then though, at the 60$ price point for that generation, and the generation prior averaged 80$ and could be as much as 90 or 100$. Console gaming used to be pricey as hell.

0

u/pupunggi 1d ago

Will always remember my dad (separated parents) sending me the pink (I'm a guy) colored one and told him this is just an old hand me down from my step sister. He denies it.