History of Consoles Prices 1976-2006

[Dr Julz]

http://curmudgeongamer.com/2006/05/history-of-console-prices-or-500-aint.html

Considering how much everyone is complaining about the cost of the consoles this generation (especially the PS3) I found this to be really interesting.

There are two charts, one with absolute prices, and the second with relative prices. It doesn't make Sony look so bad now.

[Master Chief]

Over the past 10 years the PS3 really stands out though =P

[Dr Julz]

Yes, well with a Blu-Ray player, more power and more harddrive space you kind of expect it to.

Then even with all of that thrown in it still has a better price than what other companies have asked for in the past.

Point I'm making? It could be worse, get over it.

[thug]

will see what price they are when GTA comes out.......

might have to buy a 360 instead.

[moodycj]

A better price than companies pre 1982. To be honest I think that graph more highlights the exsesive price.

[nshady]

The thing is, though, that over time as technology and production methods improve, certain components should become cheaper. This includes hard drives, etc. So just because it has more hard drive space doesn't mean you can excuse a higher price. If you had $150 to spend on a hard drive today, you could buy more space than you could five years ago.

[Master Chief]

The thing is, though, that over time as technology and production methods improve, certain components should become cheaper. This includes hard drives, etc. So just because it has more hard drive space doesn't mean you can excuse a higher price. Fortunately, unlike the Xbox 360, you can purchase a laptop hard drive and chuck it in your PS3 for a much cheaper price than the $229RRP slapped on the Xbox 360's 120gb HDD.

[nshady]

Yeah, I don't understand the Elite at all.

[Napoleon Insists]

... I think it does show that the PS3 is excessive.

The only ones that are more or nearly the same price are those that have failed pretty miserably or generally faded into obscurity. Plus, there are many others that fall under that price range, considering inflation as well, that had more need. In my opinion the inclusion of a DVD player was more necessary than a Blu-ray player and a harddrive which you can find on pretty much anything these days.

DVD over VHS: Actual size is much smaller, quality is a much greater improvement, size was a necessity and it was generally able to be used by a wider variety of devices. It is still the premier recording device now. Blu ray? Do you have a Blu-ray burner? Do you need one? Does it offer any huge advantage over the DVD?

Not really.

[Dr Julz]

Still while it is more expensive than the 360 and Wii it's not overly priced, that's the thing. While it is closer to the range of the consoles that did fail the difference with the PS3, which I hope means it at least won't fade into obscurity, is that it's the 3rd of a series and not the first launch console of a company. People already know how a PS works, etc.

The difference between Blu-ray and VHS might not be that big but it took a while for DVDs to take off, maybe the same thing will happen with this new HD generation. Considering the amount of HD capable TVs that are being bought now it wouldn't be surprising that people will then want to take advantage of the system they just bought. That doesn't mean that people will then buy the PS3, but blu-ray players or something in the least (I personally don't think HD-DVD will win... or rather don't want it to).

I actually think the PS2 was more expensive than it needed to be, moreso than the PS3 considering the capabilities, and it still did well. You never know.

I'm not trying to say the PS3 is inexpensive, I'm just pointing out trends that could have seen it be worse considering it's at the forefront of technology in comparison to the competitors.

Like I've mentioned before, I don't want to see Sony out of the game for competition sake and the main reason it will fail is because of people who have no idea where the money is going and think the price-tag is somehow unjustified.

[nuttyson]

If you want an XBox360 to match a PS3, you need to buy extras such as the HD player and hard drives. They probably add up to more than the cost of a PS3 so it really isn't as expensive as people make it sound.
The Wii is cheap because it is only used for novelty purposes.

[Napoleon Insists]

Like playing games?

And yeah, 360 is the master of the hidden costs. I've had to pay A LOT more than I wanted too in the end.

[nuttyson]

Novelty as in, it plays games that are from previous generations and new games that use a unique controlling style. If you want a proper game to sit down and play for a long time, you probably aren't looking to the Wii for it.

[Batman]

Novelty as in, it plays games that are from previous generations and new games that use a unique controlling style. If you want a proper game to sit down and play for a long time, you probably aren't looking to the Wii for it.

I look to the Wii for gaming in general, even including the "proper" games that I can sit down and play for a long time.

Am I doing something wrong?

[nshady]

Novelty as in, it plays games that are from previous generations and new games that use a unique controlling style. If you want a proper game to sit down and play for a long time, you probably aren't looking to the Wii for it.

I look to the Wii for gaming in general, even including the "proper" games that I can sit down and play for a long time.

Am I doing something wrong?

Apparently. Hey, I was wondering, are your titular turtles in some kind of formation?

[nuttyson]

Novelty as in, it plays games that are from previous generations and new games that use a unique controlling style. If you want a proper game to sit down and play for a long time, you probably aren't looking to the Wii for it.

I look to the Wii for gaming in general, even including the "proper" games that I can sit down and play for a long time.

Am I doing something wrong?

I'm just saying that people who play games often and a lot probably won't be looking to the Wii. The odd game is will probably be perfect for that but the majority will be made for casual gamers imo.

[nshady]

Novelty as in, it plays games that are from previous generations and new games that use a unique controlling style. If you want a proper game to sit down and play for a long time, you probably aren't looking to the Wii for it.

I look to the Wii for gaming in general, even including the "proper" games that I can sit down and play for a long time.

Am I doing something wrong?

I'm just saying that people who play games often and a lot probably won't be looking to the Wii. The odd game is will probably be perfect for that but the majority will be made for casual gamers imo.

I agree with you regarding its state now and for the next few months, but I definitely believe it has potential to be the home to plenty of in depth 'hardcore' games. See Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime, Smash Bros, Pikmin yada yada yada. Whether that potential will be filled is a different question. I wish Nintendo would get their frickin stuff together and release the new content on the Wii Channels. And a hard drive too kthxbai.

[Master Chief]

I guess I'm a bit annoyed at the PS3 at the moment.. the online marketplace hasn't changed since I got it yet Sony are still sending me e-mails about it saying how good it is.  Meanwhile there has been a stack of stuff put on the Xbox Live marketplace.

[Napoleon Insists]

And weekly VC updates for the Wii

[Master Chief]

And weekly VC updates for the Wii

Yep, there's that, but it would be nice if we could get some demos on the wii marketplace.

[nshady]

Make that DS demos, too.

[Napoleon Insists]

Yeah, though I haven't downloaded any demos or videos or anything from Live anyway. It would be nice, but I'm not fussed.