There has been a ton of buzzing around the release information regarding the Xbox One, and PS4 as of late. With the release dates of these next gen consoles still being speculated there is however one bit of news that would probably be more important.
And that is the price in which these consoles will be placed at when they get launched to the public.
Money is a big thing now a days. With tons of people getting laid off jobs, finding work to pay the bills and feed families is starting to become a little harder now a days. That being said if we take a look back at the prices of past consoles we start to see a trend that seems to feed the notion that people are full of money.
When the original Xbox was launched back in 2001 the retail price of it ran to about $299.99. This price was nothing when the Xbox 360 came out in with a staggering $399 for the initial launch and even at one point he Xbox Elite (same console with an upgrade storage capacity) was going for $479.99
Meanwhile lets take the PlayStation family and look at those prices over time. In 1995 the original grey box PlayStation came in at $299. Then PS2 came and somehow kept the same price when it was released back in 2000. But that all changed with the introductory price for the PS3 which came out with a whopping $499 to $599 upon release.
The main reason for the PS3's downfall from being known as a gamer's system was the fact that its price tag got so high. I understand the idea that new technology was part of the reason why it was so expensive but there is a difference between making a profit and just being a damn fool when it comes with business choices. I'm not an expert on the subject by any stretch, but if your target demographic is a community where many of the people (ones I've known) are not making huge sums of money to doll out for a console that is over $600. And that is just for the console itself. There is off course the prices of games that usually run to about $50-60 a pop on new releases. So after crossing the t's and dotting a bunch of I's your coming to quite a pretty penny
And that was one of the reasons that PS3 had actually performed terribly in regards to market sales. The mixture of the high pricing and lack of quality games made it a double knock out punch that left many people going to the Xbox camp instead.
Now with these prices in mind I started doing some digging of my own into the Xbox One, and PS4 prices. It doesn't come to a shock that some of the prices I've found to be ridicules in stature. Some of the Xbox One prices showed that the console would be $1000. Which begs the question of how much people are willing to spend on a gaming console?
Recently analysts have been listing that the prices for the systems will be Xbox at $399 and the PS4 at $349. Which give me a mixed confidence about the release of the new systems. Don't get me wrong I want to pick up these brand new toys and have a go at them like other gamers, but I'm clinging to my wallet knowing that these prices could be changed completely to that high bench mark of 1000
Its a huge gamble when it comes to marketing systems in the gaming industry today it seems. And from what I'm seeing its only going to be a wait and see policy for what these consoles shall bring to us in the later part of the year where they will be showcased. Hopefully we'll get better news in regards to the amount they cost and other things like pricing of games etc. But its all up in the air.
But for right now I think that consoles have to be mindful what they put on the tag.
