A $400 console? No thanks.
Of course, rumors said that the PSP would cost more than it did (to buy)... but the question really is, how much does Sony want to lose? $97 is a pretty significant sum...
It's not just significant, it adds up. You must remember, we're talking about companies here. Companies that will skimp out on a small plastic bit because that's 5 cents less profit total.
Sony makes a lot more money on liscensing than anything else though, but is that enough for them to lower it to $350 or possibly $300?
They bring up that the SNES was being sold for $100 or so at the time the PS1 first came out, but the problem with that logic is people were ready to move on to a new system at the time. The PS1 wasn't the SNES's rival, it was the succesor, and everyone knew that. The SNES started out being sold for a pretty penny (I can't remember how pretty that penny was though, did it start out at $200 or $300?). Now on the other hand, until I learn otherwise, it seems the 360 is pretty much the equal to the PS3.
Note their clever wording regarding the PSP. It sold out sure, but last I checked the GBA is still outselling it, and I'm talking sales AFTER the launch of the PSP, not including before.
Anyway, not quite $600 or higher like some message boards have been claiming about... whoever they don't like at the time. It's still up there though.
I think they may take the loss in the end though. After all, the next generation will really need to work to convince the average buyer who just joined in this generation to upgrade. It's just not screaming "amazinating" enough. Remember when we saw all those clips of new game footage when all we had were our N64s, PS1s, and horridly outdated PCs? (Okay, the last one was probably just me, but at the time I couldn't afford to update, prices are still too high with the latest components costing more than entire game machines.) We all were drooling about it, because it was the jump from "blocky" to "smooth" that we all wanted. Things had actual features now. This just adds more detail, from what I can tell. As a tech head, I'm impressed, but the casual gamer part of me just says "that's not that much more, certainly not $300-$400 more...". That's what it will come down to. Is this enough of a jump to warrent the cash people will be plunking down?
Here's a hilarious situation, imagine the massive system launches, somehow they all get the launch date in the same week in freakish competition. Advertising blitz, the works. Starts out dreamcast sales and trickles down to nothing once all the hardcore have bought their systems, and casuals start asking them when new Gamecube or PS2 games are coming out. That would certainly be at least an exxagerated prediction one could draw from the problem I'm suggesting, and if the sales are amazinating, then my problems are just my own and really don't reflect the majority.
But really, who here is all that motivated to get the new systems? I'm still stunned by the looks of the new Zelda game, and I saw pics of that NEXT TO Killzone pics. I'm not saying it's technically better, I'm just saying I like the look better.
And no, HD is not a big deal to me, not even close to being in the same league as the jump to 3D.
Eh, I don't know... I really don't see these selling very well if they actually have to charge 400 or more for the systems. I guess that's what I'm saying. The majority of people might just end up holding on to their old systems until the price goes down. Still, wouldn't it just be weird if the price drop was Virtual Boy style?
Quote:But really, who here is all that motivated to get the new systems? I'm still stunned by the looks of the new Zelda game, and I saw pics of that NEXT TO Killzone pics. I'm not saying it's technically better, I'm just saying I like the look better.
I agree here... not technically, but artistically for sure. :)
Quote:Eh, I don't know... I really don't see these selling very well if they actually have to charge 400 or more for the systems. I guess that's what I'm saying. The majority of people might just end up holding on to their old systems until the price goes down. Still, wouldn't it just be weird if the price drop was Virtual Boy style?
$400 is, historically, on the upper end of where system prices have started, but it's not unheard of... it is true that consoles don't usually succeed at that price, though. Anyone remember the Saturn? :D
It has one big thing going for it that you forget, though. The PlayStation name. And that counts for a LOT.