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[Matlock]

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/06/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/index.htm

Or so this fellow says...hrrrm.

And I did do a search, with no results. :-|

 

[Shogmaster]

http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=30717

 

[jenov4]

$400?! I'll wait for PS3 instead.

 

[Matlock]

Well, I'll be goddamned. That didn't come up in the search at all.

 

[EndR]

I dunno..
MS should utilise their advantage of releasing first way better. By having an "attractive price", they can sell more machines in a shorter period. The thing is that PS3 will sell a whole lot when released, probably doing like PS2 or maybe better in Japan (depending on supplies).
By selling more hardware, more software can be sold (and more XboxLive subs can be sold as well, so it makes sense to have an attractive price)

I will take a guess and say... at highest $349 (but still think and hope for $299)

 

[DJPS2]

If this is true, MS is taking a big chance by shattering the $300 glass ceiling. Sure... I'm interested in the new XBox, but I refuse to pay more than $300 for it.

 

[Stinkles]

Video game analysts are often forum goers with suits.

 

[Deku Tree]

It'll be $300 or less by the time the PS3 comes out. I think I'll wait.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I'd be shocked if it came out at a price higher then $300, which has longed been held as the ceiling for any consumer electroncs project to reach a mass audience appeal. I'd also be surprised if the majority of games went to $60. I can see some some premiere titles getting to that point, as they have on the PC lately, but $50 seems to be the sweet spot there as well.

 

[Nightbreeze]

Next gen is going to hurt with those prices. I'm so used to paying as low as $20 for new games right now...

 

[Shogmaster]

Read the stupid article before pressing the reply button people.

The article was stretching things for Xenon price specualtion by saying "At least one analyst believes so".

Basically to support the main thesis that all the prices were rising, the author found one analyst that would say something that supports it, although really, even that was a little misleading since the analyst was implying that there would be several versions of the Xenon: Base @$300, Deluxe with PVR function @$400+ etc..

 

[Catchpenny]

Wouldn't surprise me if they offer an Xbox with more media features and a hard drive for $400. If the base unit is that much, Microsoft fucked up.

As for $60 games, that might work for a select few titles. Note to Activision: Tony Hawk isn't one of those titles anymore. Most publishers that try this will get burned, there is too much competition right now.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

If this is true, MS is taking a big chance by shattering the $300 glass ceiling.

Didn't that already get shattered by the 3DO and Jaguar? Oh, those were the times...

 

[DJPS2]

Didn't that already get shattered by the 3DO and Jaguar? Oh, those were the times...

Yes... and the Neo-Geo, CD-i, and the ever-popular Sega Saturn (which launched at the low, low price of $400!).

 

[The End]

anything higher than $299.99 and MS will wind up with egg on its face when it has to drop to $299 when the PS3 is released.

 

[u_neek]

Well, the PS2 launched at $700 in Scandinavia

 

[DJPS2]

anything higher than $299.99 and MS will wind up with egg on its face when it has to drop to $299 when the PS3 is released.

Unless, of course, Sony was to follow suit. Not that they would, mind you...

 

[fse]

ah, the Saturn

 

[Azih]

HardDRIVE standard kplzthnx.

Edit: everybody's a dang funnyman on these boards.

 

[kikonawa]

anything higher than $299.99 and MS will wind up with egg on its face when it has to drop to $299 when the PS3 is released.

well the 299$ of a few years ago is the 399$ of today. you guys forget the US$ lost 1/3th of his value..
:lol

 

[heavy liquid]

I dislike the idea of $60 games more than the $400 console. And this means that the "special edition" games will probably be $70? No thanks.

 

[The End]

this much is true, but you know better than that. Exchange rate is only one factor in determining price point.

 

[cja]

Saturn launch was a disaster but it wasn't just down to the pricing. May launch, lack of software support, not telling western publishers about their plans, not telling consumers either. A poorly designed and costly machine along with Sony announcing they'd be releasing within months at $100 less, this time Sony can't do that with a western release. Other than the possibility of a $400 price-point there will be no similarity between the two hardware launches. It is a superficial comparison.

With inflation the market could easily bear a $400 price-point, especially with the likelyhood Microsoft are only going to get 1-1.5m out before the end of 2005. By the time demand slackens off at 2-3m around E3 2006 that's when we'd see $300. This scenario would then put Sony in the awkward position of pricing the PS3. Do they go higher with the likelyhood of supply outstripping demand for launch but having to cope with a cheaper competitor available in quantity? More like Dreamcast than Saturn, except this time there's a company who can support the competitive hardware.

This generation more machines have been sold at $300 and $200 than ever before. Sales of PS2 at $300 actually outstripped sales at $180 two years later and $150 last year (though there were supply issues of course). The consumer is showing they'll pay higher prices, with Microsoft aiming to be profitable I think they will price their machine accordingly.

 

[Blimblim]

Xbox 2 will launch at 249 without HD and 349 with HD, at most $50 more. That's my prediction, and only a prediction. I know nothing about MS' pricing plan (yet).

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

It could easily come down to the price to manufacture the hardware as well. So far Microsoft has been willing to take a loss on Xbox hardware to build a brand with future profits in mind, but they may be unwilling to do that in the next round. We really have no clear idea yet on the specs so as to speculate on the cost of hardware, but we could easily see $300 hardware, with higher priced games with the old adage of giving away the razor to make money on the blades.

I guess what I'm saying is that while we may not see much of a bump in hardware prices, we could easily see the software side of things go up. Many developers have already said that next gen is going to be expensive to create games for, and look at how many developers have been gobbeled up by bigger corps. or disappaeared in this generation. We want bigger, better, games with more options, realistic environments, and interactivity, but we're also probably going to have to pay a price for that in the way of inflated game prices.

 

[Particle Physicist]

analysts predicted the PSP to cost over $300.. since when do we pay mind to these fools?

 

[android]

They said the exact same things about the current generation.

 

[Gek54]

Hardware standard kplzthnx.

Hell no.

 

[Kobun Heat]

analysts predicted the PSP to cost over $300.. since when do we pay mind to these fools?

Well, in all fairness the PSP was supposed to cost over $300 -- that's what everybody within the industry and everybody within Sony, save for Kutaragi and a half-dozen other guys, believed. Right up until the announcement.

 

[Ninja of Ketchup]

I don't give a damn how much it'll cost. I'm still gonna buy it. The 400 dollar console isn't much, just start saving now. As for the 60 dollar games, kind of ridiculous.

This basically means I'm going to need to save up 520+ bucks for the console, a controller and a game.

(Great.)

 

[Kobun Heat]

Hardware standard kplzthnx.

Every hardware manufacturer in the world agrees with you.

 

[StRaNgE]

guess it will be time for me to join one of those monthly game rental places where you can pay a monthly fee of so -so amount and rent as much as you want that month for as long as ya want.


i'm hoping the nintendo console is still a game only console and the launch price is 200 or less.

i really could care less about PC connectivity and other non game related things.

 

[element]

none of the next gen machines will have PVR built in.
the addition of a video input to the machine it just a pointless addition. if anything, they will be able to access PVR content via home network and view it.

 

[Shig]

Re: Games = $60

Maddens and Halos perhaps, but other stuff I don't think so. You've seen the sales threads, if people aren't buying B list games at $50, they're sure as hell not going to buy them for $10 more. When are game companies gonna learn that affordability ends up creating a lot bigger, more successful market in the long run?

 

[oldskool]

Ahhhh.... *fondly remembers the $74.99 price tag for Super Metroid at Captron* I can see this happening. Early adopters will purchase the consoles seemingly at any price. Once PS3 is released they can drop the price along with the release of Halo 3.

 

[Nerevar]

Didn't that already get shattered by the 3DO and Jaguar? Oh, those were the times...

huh? Jaguar was $300-$250 at launch AFAIK. I can't imagine them pricing the cart-based system at more than that.

 

[CrimsonSkies]

I'd say that it's $300 for the base unit with a few of the windows media features and $400 for the unit with all the windows media features. $50 will be the price of games. I don't see that changing.

 

[DJPS2]

$50 will be the price of games. I don't see that changing.

Activision has already gone on record in stating that their more notaable games will have higher wholesale pricing come next generation. Since retailers see almost nothing for profit on new software, it's a given that these price increases will be passed on to the consumer.

Although Activision isn't the juggernaut that EA is, don't think for a second that EA isn't considering doing the same-- at least for some of its own franchises.

 

[wipeout364]

I feel current games are overpriced. I will not pay 60 dollars for games which I doubt will be much better than this generation of software. Graphically there will be enhancements but gameplay wise I'm not seeing a revolution happening (look at high end PC's). But I think Activision should maybe give me a discount on their countless rehashed tony hawks which I stopped buying two games ago. I stopped buying EA's yearly full priced updates 4 years ago.

I my opinion these games should be the lowest priced games as they offer little that is new other than refinements of the previous years gameplay. Yet games like katamari have to basically be given away talk about backwards.

The other thing that pisses me off about the higher priced arguements is that though the cost of development has increased without a doubt, the market to sell them has increased by a greater amount in the past few years.

 

[SerialNumber]

I dont see Microsoft charging $400 for a system. In fact, I dont think they would be that stupid...Oh wait...Its Micro$oft. Anyway, If they do charge that much, I will just wait for a price drop or two.

 

[open_mouth_]

Xbox Next = $299.99 on November 9th, 2005
(comes with 2 Gig flash memory drive, HD DVD Drive, and built-in ethernet, no BC support)

Xbox Next HD = $349 in Summer '06 (or around PS3 launch)
(40 gig HD, HD DVD Drive, Backwards compatible)

AAA Games = $55 Initial Sale
AA Games = $49.99
Bargain Games = $19.99 to $39.99

People are too used to the $49.99 price point for new games. Only the few, highest quality games can garner a price jump (Halo's, Mario's, Zelda's, Half-life's, GTA's, Madden's, etc.). Any other game that tries to go there will be hurt on overall sales more than the increase in revenue will make up for.

 

[Link316]

$60 games are good cause slower sales just means that they will come down faster in price

 

[Redbeard]

Xbox Next = $299.99 on November 9th, 2005
(comes with 2 Gig flash memory drive, HD DVD Drive, and built-in ethernet, no BC support)

Xbox Next HD = $349 in Summer '06 (or around PS3 launch)
(40 gig HD, HD DVD Drive, Backwards compatible)

AAA Games = $55 Initial Sale
AA Games = $49.99
Bargain Games = $19.99 to $39.99

People are too used to the $49.99 price point for new games. Only the few, highest quality games can garner a price jump (Halo's, Mario's, Zelda's, Half-life's, GTA's, Madden's, etc.). Any other game that tries to go there will be hurt on overall sales more than the increase in revenue will make up for.

I don't think they'd stagger the launch of a higher-end system. I also don't think they'll have Live available without a HDD; they're going to tie them to one another so that everyone who's online will have one. Of course they'll offer a Live/HDD/ethernet add-on for those who aren't online right away.

Xbox2 Core version- HD-DVD compatible (no playback out of the box), flash memory, no HDD, no ethernet. $249 - $299

Xbox2 Live version - HD-DVD w/playback, HDD, ethernet, and mabye BC if we're lucky. $349 - $399

 

[jarrod]

Microsoft should really shock people and price at $199 for the base Xenon. Then they could price the Xenon HD (with HDD, HD-DVD Playback, PVR, etc) at $399.

 

[soundwave05]

Weren't a lot of N64 games like $59.99 US? And that was back in '96/'97, that'd be more like $70 a pop these days.

I could see a raise in software pricing. I mean for instance if EA sells Madden NFL 2007 for $59.99 a pop, who's gonna stop them?

I do think Microsoft will be willing to take a loss on the Xenon upfront. This is not the same as the XBox though, because with XBox they were locked into contracts for the Nvidia GPU/sound chip and the HDD, which kept the hardware consistently unprofitable.

If the hardware is $350-$450 to manufacture, I think they'll just eat the losses and sell at $299.99 US.

 

[Mooreberg]

Weren't a lot of N64 games like $59.99 US? And that was back in '96/'97, that'd be more like $70 a pop these days.

They were also on catridges. Maybe $59.99 really is what publishers will go for next gen, but outside of games like Halo, GTA, and Gran Turismo that people wait years for, people seem to be waiting for games to drop to lower prices this gen. Even Madden dropped to $19.99 fast but I guess that won't be problem for EA now that there's no competition... :-\

 

[soundwave05]

Yeah I realize N64 games were on cartridges, but most consumers didn't really understand the economic differences between CD-ROM and cartridge production. They still bought N64 games by the millions.

Higher production costs on top tier games may force some developers to charge an additional $5-$10 for software.

These games are not getting any cheaper to produce.

I think people will still pay $59.99 for a game, especailly the top tier stuff.

 

[Mooreberg]

They had the advantage of people being used to games at that price from the 16bit generation. I remember most Genesis and SNES games were $59.99, and it wasn't ucommon for something like Mortal Kombat or NBA Jam to be $69.99

Last gen, people started getting used to games being more reasonably priced, and that doesn't even factor in $19.99 GH/PC/PH lines, or first party games being sold for slightly less (SCEA does this).

It's been even more prevalent this gen because publishers have been horrible on release date timing. Onimusha 2 came out the same week as SOCOM, Madden, Mario, and the Network Adapter and the price was cut on it very fast. Last year Prince of Persia needed to be packed with Splinter Cell, and BG&E hit the bargain bins fast. Even if publishers don't want the prices to drop that fast, retailers don't have much choice if there's a ton of games coming out and they need shelf space.

The reason sites like cheapassgamer.com are so popular is because more and more people realize you can get great games for low prices. Publishers are free to price stuff however they please next gen but I don't see many people jumping on higher priced games unless it's the blockbuster titles that sell like crazy anyway. As far as production costs, consumers don't really care. Games are ultimately worth what people are willing to pay for them.

 

[soundwave05]

That's true games are worth what people are willing to pay. I'm not that sold that people wouldn't be willing to pay $59.99 US.

I mean even up until 2000, new N64 games still cost that much, and that's not that long ago.

People and bitch and moan about rising movie ticket prices (which is tied in part to higher budgets for movies), but in the end they end up paying it anyway.

 

[Error Macro]

That's true games are worth what people are willing to pay. I'm not that sold that people wouldn't be willing to pay $59.99 US.

I mean even up until 2000, new N64 games still cost that much, and that's not that long ago.

People and bitch and moan about rising movie ticket prices (which is tied in part to higher budgets for movies), but in the end they end up paying it anyway.

I would be curious to find out how many people have stopped going to movies, or at least have slowed down their theatrical movie-going considerably. I know I have. I used to go to the movies all the time. Seemed almost like every week. Now, I don't see any movies in the theaters. It's just ridiculous. High prices, crowded, noisy, germ-ridden, and the movie theaters for the most part have shitty audio and video quality. I am most content with waiting for a movie to come out on DVD and renting it, and watching it on my home theater, which I get much more enjoyment out of.

Also, I hardly ever buy new games anymore. It's very rare. Unless it is some GOTTA HAVE IT NOW AAA TITLE! I will just wait until it hits the inevitable 20-30 dollar price point.