Actually, inflation is a measure of the relative cost of goods. A dollar buying you more or less of a good would appear to mean (if the good hasn't changed) that the dollar is worth more or less. The dollar itself doesn't inflate in value, it is a standard to which the value of other things is converted. Inflation in the dollar is a merely a reflection of the value of other goods. A dollar for a match yesterday is the same as the dollar for a match today. I'll leave the time value of money out of it for now.
Now if a game was $50 and is still $50 then there hasn't been any inflation there. You could argue that the quality of games for the $50 has increased and therefore the game is 'cheaper' than what it would have cost for such a game in the past but that is iffy (well arguable).
It is only when you try to compare the costs of goods relative to each other that you have o bring in dollars and thus the dollars value can appear to inflate or deflate but the fact remains that $50 to someone making $50G in 1985 is the same as $50 to someone making $50G in 2005, i.e. a certain fixed portion of their income. Whether that gets you better or different goods is where inflation comes in.
Since games' sale price drops over time (people won't pay the original price after a few years in most cases, even if the game is brand new, unopened) and the good itself hasn't changed (it doesn't spoil like milk say), it can be said that the pricing and the value are not necessarily bound together. Then it is very hard to claim that games have gotten cheaper because of inflation since the the charge relative to a person's income has not changed (for new games). Whether the dollar gets you more or less of other goods is immaterial.
Inflation as used by the government is an overall average and doesn't take into account a lot of other factors which is why some people claim it is fake. Fact is, if something costs more, it does and if it doesn't, it doesn't. Period. Milk costs more, DVDs cost less, and games cost the same. All pricing is an arbitrary human invention, based on perceived values and inflation is just an attempt to measure the relative change in these perceptions.
Games aren't cheaper unless we all agree that we'd exchange a lot less of some other goods for them, which I haven't seen any evidence of. Or we see a price drop
This comment was edited on Oct 1, 19:31.