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Console gamers need to recalibrate their pricing expectations from here on out

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
We are consumers, we have the right to be "entitled." It's money we busted our bums for. With bills to pay, families to take care of, and inflation everywhere, people can and should search for the best ways to spend their money and consider the value of it for the product they are getting.

Okay? Then don't buy the high-end console. We aren't all entitled to it. But it's silly to act like it's some kind of affront to your livelihood that it exists.

Please enjoy your $700* machine that will be irrelevant in 3-4 years so you can replay some ps3 and ps4 re-remasters.

*does not include tax, disc drive or vertical stand.

If you read my OP, you'd know I'm not buying a PS5 Pro.


You drunk?

Running: shoes for $50, you’re done
Tennis: racket for $100, you’re done
Music instrument: instrument for $50-500, you’re done
Art: whatever art supplies you need, sub-$100, you’re done

Gaming: console $500, paid online $50-100 per year, new releases $40-70 per release Day 1

First of all, it's really damn hard to find a well regarded running shoe for $50. Second, shoes costs like $3 to manufacture. Same goes for tennis rackets. How much does something like the PS5 Pro cost to R&D/design/manufacturer/support?


And I'm a hobbyist musician and my wife is a hobbyist artist and I can confidently say you have no idea what you're talking about in regards to those subjects. A $50 musical instrument.... lmao
 
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Stooky

Banned
No

Price is determined by how much it cost to make plus how much people are willing to pay. Don't buy over priced products ( looking at you pc gamers ) and they won't stay overpriced.
they sell every console at a lost for the first 2-3 years with a small profit margin after that. what other product on the market does that?
 

Bond007

Member
i agree with alot of those points.
The difference to me is also having to cater to children.
So while i partake in many of those extra hobbies listed...no kid is clamoring for a Home Theater system, a boat, car, etc.

Gaming has to fall within a sweet spot for attainability to children- or rather parents willing to spend that kinda money.
Then the other half is working adults clamoring for top tier shit. Essentially what we are seeing now with standard and Pros. Its just a matter of how good that "Pro" is over the "Standard" at the price point.
 
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bundylove

Gold Member
How do you win?
I want a 400 console. Oh no it has no power. I want sony to give me more power and raise the price so i can play 60fps.

Here you go fans here is power at 700.

What the fuck , 700 fuck you i want that power for 500.

2kvrqpg.gif
 

ap_puff

Banned
No

Price is determined by how much it cost to make plus how much people are willing to pay. Don't buy over priced products ( looking at you pc gamers ) and they won't stay overpriced.
aren't you a nintendo guy? they make the cheapest and shittiest hardware, nintendo is the last company to lecture anyone on overpriced products considering they are the only console makers to profit on their hardware and they have never once dropped the price. People will buy what they want, whether it's overpriced or not is for the market to decide... not a bunch of people on forums.
 

ReyBrujo

Member
Because there should always be a cheaper option on the table. Right now, PS5 slim is the cheaper option.

PS6 Pro will be 799 without disc drive though.

PS2 launched in 2000 for $299 (adjusted for inflation, $546). PS3 launched in 2006 for $499/$599 (that would be 779/935). PS4 launched in 2013 for $399 (adjusted for inflation, $539). PS5 launched in 2020 for $499 (606 adjusted for inflation). In other words, all their main consoles costed about 550 at minimum. I don't see them releasing a PS6 for less than 599.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
aren't you a nintendo guy? they make the cheapest and shittiest hardware, nintendo is the last company to lecture anyone on overpriced products considering they are the only console makers to profit on their hardware and they have never once dropped the price. People will buy what they want, whether it's overpriced or not is for the market to decide... not a bunch of people on forums.

lol did I say everything except Nintendo ? You guys are look for validation so hard that everything is a direct attack. 🤣
 
I kinda get it. There is an unspoken agreement that Sony subsidizes the hardware and in exchange, they get to lock you into their digital store and charge you to play online. Well, that equation has changed and Sony now wants a piece of every pie including hardware.
 

analog_future

Resident Crybaby
i agree with alot of those points.
The difference to me is also having to cater to children.
So while i partake in many of those extra hobbies listed...no kid is clamoring for a Home Theater system, a boat, car, etc.

Gaming has to fall within a sweet spot for attainability to children- or rather parents willing to spend that kinda money.
Then the other half is working adults clamoring for top tier shit. Essentially what we are seeing now with standard and Pros. Its just a matter of how good that "Pro" is over the standard at the price point.

... but when a platform holder attempts to price some of their hardware in that "sweet spot" (the Series S), everyone also acts like it's an affront to their livelihood and that gaming as we know it is doomed.


Like seriously, most gamers are a bunch of whiny little fucks that can never be pleased.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
First of all, it's really damn hard to find a well regarded running shoe for $50.
Bro, I run marathons, you don’t need carbon played super shoes. 50 years ago people were running 2:30 marathons in what would today be considered scraps. Shoes will give you a few minutes max, the rest is training.

For the instrument - I meant used, which you don’t need to buy new when starting out. Fine, double it to $100. For pianos you can get one for free, people don’t want to move them and are giving them away.
 

ergem

Member
I don't see them releasing a PS6 for less than 599.
I can see them doing that. Console business is about selling as much units as possible in order to sell games and receive royalties. A budget option will always exist sold at cost or at a little loss.

The pro version is an option. There’s no point selling it at a loss. It’s purpose is not to reach the mass market.
 

Nonehxc

Member
Just to add something interesting:

One of my go to shops(biggest in Spain) have emailed me a questionaire about PS5 Pro asking what I thought and if I would buy or not. One of the answers was 'No, it's too expensive ', other 'Maybe, after a UGE price drop'.

That tells me they're calibrating their buying even before preorders open.

Sony must be veeery careful. Last time they pulled shit like this, it was in 2006, cost 599€ and they lost me and my +30 games per year PS1-PS2 era for 12 years until November 2018, and it only got me back the absolute deluge of GOTYs from 2017-2020. Misscalibrating me(and lots like me) for a few hundred euros will have a much harder cost for them. 😇
 

DryvBy

Gold Member
Are you aware it's optional? Kind of like upgrading your phone every year to watch YouTube on it.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
And I'm a hobbyist musician and my wife is a hobbyist artist and I can confidently say you have no idea what you're talking about in regards to those subjects. A $50 musical instrument.... lmao
Guess he shops at WalMart for his guitars which is one of my passions, I have way too many hanging on the walls

My pride is a 1967 Gibson ES 355 on a nice Mesa Boogie amp
 

Gexxy1

Member
Okay? Then don't buy the high-end console.
Okay? I'm not.

We aren't all entitled to it. But it's silly to act like it's some kind of affront to your livelihood that it exists.

No, what's silly here is to start whining about other people complaining about prices.

I wouldn't have bought this thing even if it was $500. But I don't make lengthy OP posts whining about others whining about overpriced products. The lecture on video games being "one of the cheapest hobbies" was especially ignorant.
 
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FeralEcho

Member
Console manufacturers need to recalibrate sales expectations from here on out.
This!

I bought all PS consoles up until now,I won't buy a Pro or a PS6 if the pricing is as ridiculous. If someone like me that buys hundreds of games in their ecosystem says no to their offer,what do you think the normies will do?

All I can say to Sony is
Morgan Freeman Good Luck GIF
 

ergem

Member
I kinda get it. There is an unspoken agreement that Sony subsidizes the hardware and in exchange, they get to lock you into their digital store and charge you to play online. Well, that equation has changed and Sony now wants a piece of every pie including hardware.
Only for pro versions because the pro was not created to reach critical mass market. It’s not its purpose but that of its little brother.

I don’t see a reason why the budget option will not be sold at cost or at a little loss to reach as much consumer as possible. The bigger business is still in the games sold and microtransactions.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
The amount of simping for Sony over the past few days has been unreal 😂. OP telling people to empty their wallets and take it on the chin, sheesh.
It can be read that way. But I think what he means is that the damage is already done, so this is what is coming.

As he said, when consumers rejected Gamepass and a Series S and any attempts at competing against Sony they really locked themselves into this fate. In the past, a system launching for $100 less was a huge deal. Consumers responded and changed systems entirely. Now, they don't reward that at all. PS5 went up in price and sales just shot up anyway. Their games went up in price and sales shot up. The writing was on the wall a couple years ago for all of this.
 
My take…The AI/Cloud revolution is causing more competition in acquiring foundries for chip creation. Spencer said at the beginning of the gen that console price drops really were not on the horizon throughout the generation. Primarily because of this, gaming is now competing against an enterprise market with much larger demand than just a few years ago and foundries are booked out years in advance. Enterprise is gonna win because it has way way way more to cash to offer. As much as we’d like to say hey because Xbox isn’t really much competition so they can do whatever the hell they want I don’t necessarily believe that’s entirely the case because the market trend is going up everywhere else for these types of services and goods. There’s really no way they would be able to escape it separately. Are they selling it for profit? Sure, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be, because there’s really no reason to introduce it if it’s gonna be sold as a loss when they already have a PS5, but the margin is probably not as great as everybody is thinking.
 
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proandrad

Member
You drunk?

Running: shoes for $50, you’re done
Tennis: racket for $100, you’re done
Music instrument: instrument for $50-500, you’re done
Art: whatever art supplies you need, sub-$100, you’re done

Gaming: console $500, paid online $50-100 per year, new releases $40-70 per release Day 1
$50 running shoes?
Robin Williams What Year Is It GIF
 

hemo memo

You can't die before your death
Gaming is one of the cheapest mainstream hobbies in existence
This is not only a ridiculous statement but it’s completely false.
• Swimming
• Gardening
• Photography
• Baking
• Card Games
• Running
• Painting
• Reading
• Yoga
• Puzzle Solving
• Music
• Walking
• Fishing
• Cooking
• Board Games
• Dancing
• Writing
• Drawing
• Cycling
• Hiking
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
PS6 will remain low priced probably at 499 without disc drive. Pro versions will cost more because a cheaper option is already available for those who simply want to get into the ecosystem and play games without the extra effects and frames.

There is absolutely no chance. How do you expect a console a few years after the ps5 pro blow it away in specs and be considerably cheaper.

Say hello to sonys new future.
 

Fbh

Member
I like the current model of a cheaper base system and a more expensive and powerful one. If that's the model we get moving forward I don't have an issue.
If we move into the territory of even the base system being $800+ then I'll probably just end up moving on to PC or staying on last gen consoles for way longer, and I think many other people will too.

To be honest though I'd rather devs focused more on making cool games for the hardware we have now instead of chasing increasingly more expensive tech.
IMO some of the best games this year don't even need specially powerful hardware: Infinite Wealth, Stellar Blade, Balatro, Astrobot, Unicron Overlord, SMTV Vengeance, Shadow of the Eardtree and soon stuff like YSX, Metaphor and more.

This is not only a ridiculous statement but it’s completely false.
• Swimming
• Gardening
• Photography
• Baking
• Card Games
• Running
• Paintingg
• Reading
• Yoga
• Puzzle Solving
• Music
• Walking
• Fishing
• Cooking
• Board Games
• Dancing
• Writing
• Drawing
• Cycling
• Hiking

Almost all of those can be as expensive or more expensive than gaming if you get into the enthusiast level gear.
You know how expensive stuff like cameras, fishing gear, bicycles or gardening gear can get ?

I know the obvious counter argument is that you don't need a $1.5K camera with a $1K lens to be a photography hobbits.but you also don't need a $700 console to be a gamer.
 
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reinking

Gold Member
I'm happy to eat crow if this is just the new reality of the world, but the buying power of consumers is in the shitter, and now we are within spitting distance of a comparable PC build that lets you enjoy games you bought on it forever, along with being 10X more useful for productivity as a device.

I have a mini-ITX with a 4070, all told cost about $900 to build siting behind my TV tv and functions just like a console. A console really doesn't want to be competing in this space, especially when I have to also pay to play online.
You guys still argue that PC and console gamers are the same. They are not. Can consoles gamers eventually get fed up and move to PC? Absolutely, but shouting “my PC” has little effect on the larger base of console gamers. They are not reading message boards and wanting to play on PCs. Much less build one.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
I like gaming hobby but it’s just a hobby, there no way in hell spend $950 CAD + 100 for upgrade version of old system.
 

BigBeauford

Member
This!

I bought all PS consoles up until now,I won't buy a Pro or a PS6 if the pricing is as ridiculous. If someone like me that buys hundreds of games in their ecosystem says no to their offer,what do you think the normies will do?

All I can say to Sony is
Morgan Freeman Good Luck GIF
I cannot imagine having a conversation with my wife about this:

Babe, is it cool if I drop $780 on a PlayStation 5.5? No, it's just the same as the PS5, just better. No, no new games, just better graphics.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
I give them room on a Pro console you don't really need to hit the targets and price point they want to

But I'm simply not paying 1000 dollars post tax in Canada for a console. Not going to happen. So if this is a test for sixth gen, I hope they find it hampers buy in too much.
 

Ultros

Banned
I'm fully prepared for this thread to piss a lot of people off, but it is what it is.

Gaming is one of the cheapest mainstream hobbies in existence. Virtually every major hobby out there is a larger monetary investment to the hobbyist compared to what the product cost to produce.

Whether it be:
  • Phones
  • Home Theater
  • Musical instruments
  • Figurines
  • Antiques
  • Jewelry
  • Fishing
  • Hunting
  • Cards
  • Art
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Travel
  • Boating
  • Cars
etc.. etc.. these are all way larger investments than gaming.

So when a PS5 Pro comes out at $700 and the gaming sphere acts like the world is on fire, it comes off as pretty whiny and entitled. The expected performance of the PS5 Pro will likely far outperform any PC anywhere near it's price range. It's undoubtedly a "good value" as far as what you're getting for your money is concerned. And if it's still too much for you? Great! Then just stick with your base model PS5 (which is also a fantastic value).


I'm saying this as someone that isn't buying a PS5 Pro and I'm not even particularly fond of Sony. It just feels like "gamers" need to be oUtRaGeD at literally freaking everything nowadays. Not every new game, accessory, or console has to be some perceived sign of catastrophe and the end of industry as we know it. It's like some of ya'll have a legitimate inability to just enjoy your damn hobby.


Alright, I'm going back to playing the Final Fantasy XVI demo. Good day!
You're not ask thought provoking as you think you are
 

Wooxsvan

Member
How do you win?
I want a 400 console. Oh no it has no power. I want sony to give me more power and raise the price so i can play 60fps.

Here you go fans here is power at 700.

What the fuck , 700 fuck you i want that power for 500.

2kvrqpg.gif
This 1000%. All this outrage just shows how much of a bubble of expectations that console only gamers live in. Be outraged, but it just shows how out of touch your expectations to the realties of tech and the economy are IMO. Id imagine Sony expected this reaction as they know they are only targeting 10% of future PS5 purchases with this SKU. But some of this widespread reaction is acting like it was suppose to be for the majority of future console sales. Its obviously not and its freaking optional!
 
PS5 Pro comes out at $700
It isn’t $700.

It’s missing:
  • a disc drive
  • a vertical stand (for which the console is clearly designed)
  • cloud storage
  • online play
Add those costs on top. In Canada, the console plus all these things costs a whopping $1349 after tax.

Note that the disc drive and vertical stand were included in the original $650 price. Note that PS+ used to be available for ~$36 a year and now it is $95.

ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED FORTY NINE DOLLARS
 
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This is a never ending discussion, if you don't care to pay more then no issue, $70 games is expensive, $700 consoles (which is only in the US, in here it will be more then $1000) is expensive for me.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
It is not the price that bothers me, it is the removal of features which makes the new thing simply shittier than the old thing. I can't even buy this upgrade if I wanted to because I would need a shitty disk drive hanging off of it which I refuse to do.
 

Wooxsvan

Member
Sony should go for top end and mid tier next time at launch. Give us a 5080 PS6 Pro and a 5060 PS6 Peasant
 
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bundylove

Gold Member
I Am not sure what the average age here is but if you have a job and pay bills you do know how much more everything else costs.
I dont think those people complain about the price.
And no sony wont throw you a bone on a niche console thats an upgrade and not a must.

This is not next gen you aint missing out on any games.

Didnt wr have people here getting such a hard on i had to replace my screen twice from their erection about how they want the next xbox to go all out for 1000 plus dollars but now when sony made the first move oh boy is it a big problem .

I cant i just cant. Way to many stupid people out there
 
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