A major portion of this discussion is rather or not home consoles are responsible for the death of the beloved arcade. Well, I think in many ways they are, but in more indirect ways. I have seen many people say that with power machines like the Dreamcast and so forth that console machines can play the same level of games as the Arcades. This is a valid point. But there is more than that.
Inflation doesnt translate well in quarter intervals.
50- 1.50 is a lot for a game that you might suck out at and die in a couple of minutes. Anyways the one obvious point I havent seen anyone make is that home console gaming has changed games themselves. The kind of games we like to play and the way we play games has evolved with the popularity of home consoles. It used to be fine to go and punch in a quarter and shoot alien after alien after alien after alien after alien with no end in sight. Now people expect an ending.