XBOX 360 To Retail for $299?

Originally posted by Yarcofin

The PS3 will retail at $700. Parts wise is costs $1000! They will regain lost profit from the games sales which I hear will be very expensive. The XBOX 360 is the way to go, Revolution not so much but keep it in mind.

Please try to think about what you're saying before you say it. If a console costs $1000 to make, they aren't going to sell it for $750. That would be essentially paying people $350 to take it away. No smart company will take on a financially unviable concept like that. And if they do, I guarantee bankruptcy before next June.

Say a game costs $70 a piece... that means they have to sell you five games before they BREAK EVEN.

There isn't a product out there that you can buy that hasn't been marked up. That isn't anything to do with the "System Wars"... that's just basic economics. Say what you will... but I refuse to believe it. And if it is happening... dumbest-companies-ever. (and would also mean your games would probably be marked up 200%...)

[edit on 22-10-2005 by Yarcofin]

Well, that's true and false. Almost every console has sold at a loss hoping to make up the money in licensing of games. Every game published is licensed for a fee -- the last time there was an unlicenced game released, it was Tenchu Tetris by an Atari executive, who eventually lost a lawsuit to Nintendo and the game removed from shelves.

Sony and Microsoft both took losses on their machines (which has decreased over time due to cheaper technology) but Microsoft lost 2-4 billion dollars with the Xbox. The PSP also sells for less than manufacturing.

But this coming generation, Sony and Microsoft are not going to be willing to lose money substantially. Any amount that would take upwards of a year to make up is out-of-the-question. That value would historically be in the area of $150 and up. Sony is in financial troubles with increasing debt, and Microsoft is in this to make money (they only lost so much on the Xbox because they are in it for good as well as the fact that the Xbox didn't sell at its original $399.99 price-point).

It is definitely looking at a minimum of $399.99 for the PS3, and maximum of $499.99 with cost of production in the upper $500 range. I would estimate the latter, but I'm not sure exactly how company finances work or what it costs to license a game for Sony, so it's a tough call. But Sony isn't stupid, it's not going to cost $750.

Revolution is a near guarantee to be $199.99 just like every other Nintendo console launch price. They've been continually stating that the Revolution will be the most consumer friendly in terms of pricing.

As far as "the way to go" it is completely impossible to pick which console will prove to be the most worth your investment because the consumer is fickle and publishers go with the consumer. That and personal preferences range just as greatly. I, for one, refuse to pay $400 for a video-game console; especially considering that game prices are set to rise $10. Why are the game prices rising? Because of those development costs for the graphics in the $400 machines everyone keeps arguing so much about. That's not to say the Revolution is underpowered -- it's coming out later than the 360 and Nintendo is notoriously efficient (and haven't cluttered their machine with multimedia components unrelated to gaming). And I'll mention that there is the Xbox 360 "Core" package that is unanimously toted as "useless" in the eyes of gamers. No harddrive, wired controllers, no Xbox Live headset etc.

With the Revolution controller providing new gaming possibilities when, for the first time ever, power alone cannot add new genres or altogether new gameplay, as well as being 50% less than the competitors, it has my money.

[edit on 22-10-2005 by Zurahn]