PS4, Xbox One Prices: New Systems Could Cost $349, $399 (1 Viewer)

[Kevin Collins]

Investment firm Wedbush Morgan said it has performed an analysis on the two next-generation gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft, and has estimated the launch prices for the PS4 and Xbox One. The firm believes the PS4 will cost $349 at launch, while the Xbox One will run consumers $399 upon release.

Personally, I can't see how XBox One could hit that price target given that they are including the Kinect and a Blu-ray player.

Of course, if that was the price, that would be pretty impressive!

 

[Patrick_S]

If the Xbox One sells for $399 I'll definitely be looking to upgrade sooner rather thean later.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

Those prices seem typical of launch, "losing" $100-$200 per unit to create an install base. Both Microsoft and Sony seem to be stuck. Both current systems are long in the tooth and need an upgrade but the price point for consumers hasn't really changed for consoles or possibly gotten a little lower. Only Nintendo seems to require that their consoles make money from day one and that doesn't seem to be working out too well for them this time around but they have the confidence that if they fail then they only lost the R&D and not also the subsidy per console on top of that.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Both current systems are long in the tooth and need an upgrade

Completely disagree with this idea.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

IMO $400 would be the threshold that stops vast quantities of consumers from taking the dive. $399 is the highest point at which they have a chance at the sales they want.

 

[Edwin-S]

It never fails to amaze me how console gamers have the mentality that a console should never cost more than 300-400 dollars, no matter how powerful it is or what features it has. A person could almost hear the blood vessels exploding over the internet when the PS3 debuted at 600 bucks. I paid the 600 bucks for an original 'fat' PS3 which is still running. The thing has been able to play all of my BDs (without so much as a hiccup) and all of my games. It was backward compatible for most PS2 games and had enough power to allow it to be upgraded to all of the lossless sound codecs plus the ability to play 3D movies. It had an SD card reader and has been upgradeable to handle streaming codecs.

It has been the best 600 bucks that I ever spent on on a "game console", ever. Actually, as far as versatility goes, it has been the best 600 bucks that I ever spent on a piece of consumer electronics. The only reason I'm even looking at a PS4 is due to new gen games.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I had an original fat PS3 as well (it eventually YLoDed, though). "Console gamers" here refers to the general public, not just hardcore gamers. If Sony and Microsoft only cared about selling to hardcore gamers, they wouldn't hesitate to price these things at $600. But they're talking about selling hundreds of millions of consoles.

$600 (plus the cost of games) for a game console would be a very hard sell to the mass market. Especially considering the state of the economy.

 

[Chuck Anstey]

It never fails to amaze me how console gamers have the mentality that a console should never cost more than 300-400 dollars, no matter how powerful it is or what features it has. A person could almost hear the blood vessels exploding over the internet when the PS3 debuted at 600 bucks. I paid the 600 bucks for an original 'fat' PS3 which is still running. The thing has been able to play all of my BDs (without so much as a hiccup) and all of my games. It was backward compatible for most PS2 games and had enough power to allow it to be upgraded to all of the lossless sound codecs plus the ability to play 3D movies. It had an SD card reader and has been upgradeable to handle streaming codecs.

It has been the best 600 bucks that I ever spent on on a "game console", ever. Actually, as far as versatility goes, it has been the best 600 bucks that I ever spent on a piece of consumer electronics. The only reason I'm even looking at a PS4 is due to new gen games.

I think the main reason is very simple: The biggest buyers of consoles are parents for their kids. $600+ is too much to spend on your kids' toys and kids will not be able to convince their parents to make such a purchase as a general rule. Sure as an adult wanting to play games, $600 isn't a huge amount but then as an adult I would rather buy a powerhouse PC gamer with a graphics card that costs $500 that I can upgrade every year or two. I think I spent $700 for my 3DO (still works btw and I have a real joystick and buttons for SSF2T) but I was young and foolish and wouldn't do the same for my kids.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

A couple things on this. First off, the prediction for the prices was based on the actual cost of parts vs. MSRP of the PS3 and Xbox 360 at launch, so these are not just random numbers or thresholds that are picked because consumers want them. Second, the PS4 may or may not come with the PS4 Eye camera, which could affect the price; I believe the $350 number doesn't include it. Third, the aim of all consoles (especially the Xbox One) is to be mass market, non-niche devices, so $400 is absolutely the upper limit of what could probably make them successful.

 

[Sam Posten]

And this is why you don't listen to dumbass analysts... =)
http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/10/microsoft-xbox-one-price-availability/

 

[Dave Upton]

I figured this price was about right. Makes my PC an even better investment

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I liked how the article referred to announcing a $499 price point as "remedy[ing a] mistake."