I think there’s probably a hasty assumption that either this article is (it’s not) or that it could be used for (it probably will) judgment type musings about how young people are irresponsible and are the cause of their own struggles, similar to the avocado toast commentary.

The article itself is just the result of a survey that happened to focus on young people, and I agree it’s more appropriate to think of it related to a relatively new form of gambling/manipulation that’s causing problems

General inflation doesn’t quite translate directly in all cases and is just a reference. In video games, costs have increased, but revenues have increased primarily through micro transactions and a growing market/sales. There’s virtually no marginal cost to produce additional units with software, so the revenues become a balance of price, demand, and supply (for hardware). They are expecting that the price increase won’t result in a significant drop in demand so that revenue increases. If they’re wrong, this will be a huge business mistake. If enough people purchase anyway, like you, then they’ll increase revenues and this will be considered a great business decision

Console price doesn’t bother me so much, but these game prices really instantly killed my hype. Can’t wait to not buy the Wii U 2