The consoles are just too expensive this gen. It's why I moved completely to PC gaming. With the $400+ price tag, $60 games, all those peripherals and extra costs (like XBL), and DLC that SHOULD be free, I might as well go all the way and make a kick-ass computer. As for the Wii, only Galaxy interests me mainly because I love platformers. I'm not a fan of Nintendo's kid-friendly games. Oh well, time to wait for my 8800GT to ship from Dell, so I can kick some ass in Crysis.
Explain. Both Microsoft and Sony poured a lot of money into the 360 and the PS3. They aren't going anywhere for a looooooong time.
If gas is $3 a gallon a next gen system can be $300+....the Wii is just a game cube with a few more inputs. DD
I don't think the 360 is advanced enough to compete with PS3 in a few years. Sticking with DVD is really going to handicap the quality of games in the coming years.
Game machines have generally been small in size and relatively cheap -- why did they decide to make this gen so freaking huge and expensive (especially the refrigerator sized PS3) ?
Because there are more money in the game industry. Today's console are giving graphics that are on scale with some of the gaming PC. Game systems back then just weren't that good (NBA LIVE 05 on a good PC was head and shoulders above the console version). When you're putting hadware that can produce something as good as current gen produce, you'll have to charge for it. Still, console systems comes no where close to what a gaming PC costs in price (we're talking $3K plus). In another words, console system at the current price point is to appeal to the mass. People who really wants games with bells and whistles are shelling out 10x that for gaming.
We all know Microsoft has a massive pile of cash, but I can't see them investing another mega-sum to replace the 360. Others have made your point about the comparison of the two systems, but I'm not ready to believe that, yet. A lot of people love their 360s.
We all know Microsoft has a massive pile of cash, but I can't see them investing another mega-sum to replace the 360. Others have made your point about the comparison of the two systems, but I'm not ready to believe that, yet. A lot of people love their 360s.
Whether it is $200 or $300, I think everyone knows that it is important that both consoles drop in price in order to reach the "mainstream" gamer. I think I posted before about how something like 80% of systems were sold at below $200, so Sony and Microsoft (and especially publishers) can't really be satisfied with the they sales they've been getting. Assuming they stay aggressive on cost reduction, I think reaching a ~$200 price is more than possible in less than 24 months. $250 might be more reasonable. Maybe people will realize they don't need a ~$30 memory card, and they'll consider a $250 360/PS3 similar to a $200 PS2/GC (not even mentioning inflation here). They probably won't think things through like that though. Of course, I guess HDTV adoption plays a factor into all of this as well. I'm sure a lot of people interested in 360s and PS3s are waiting to buy a HDTV as well (probably the HDTV before the console). It is hard to reach the mainstream consumer when you (sort of) require them to own another product that isn't quite ready for mainstream consumers. Not sure if Microsoft cares about the 360's size, but Sony will probably redesign the PS3 to make it smaller in the near future. They've already cut down the size of the internal hardware by quite a bit, and it hasn't even been out for a year: I think they gave themselves a lot of extra room with the current design too. Maybe once they get Cell and RSX manufactured at 45nm (late 2008/early 2009 I think?), they'll start working on the "PSthree" or whatever you want to call it. They might even replace the HDD with flash memory if it is cheap and reliable enough. You might want to look at what NBA Live 2001 looked like on the PS2 vs the PC (or even other games released during 2000-2001 or so). I'm guessing NBA Live 14 (or whatever) on a good PC will look head and shoulders above the console versions as well.
I didn't pick up the 360 until 1) there were more than two games I wanted for the system and 2) EB had a great deal which helped me trade in my old XBOX and some old games and get the 360 for like 150 bucks. The Wii I have was actually a Christmas gift. So yeah, you could say I haven't paid much for the new systems.
Microsoft rushed the 360 out because they wanted to get a head start and be the first next-gen system. Because they rushed it (and have very little background in hardware design), they left out a next-gen disc drive and will be handicapped in a few years when games get bigger and bigger. There are already game designers saying that certain games that were made for the PS3 would be impossible to make for the 360 on one disc. No 360 games can say the same about the PS3.
Okay, well the main reason I was looking at a PS3 was backward compatibility... and that's gone at the lowest price point... so I've become the "casual" or "mainstream" gamer/comsumer. BUT - If I factor in the Blu-ray technology and the player... then it becomes worth it to get the 80 gig... Unless someone out there has an older 60 gig for sale on the cheap, it will be awhile anyway, because, as someone mentioned, I have yet to do the "tinman" conversion to an HD tv/monitor. BTW- I'm not a total cheapskate, I bought in to the PS2 at the $299.99 + $50 (x2) wireless controller + $30 memory card + $50 (x3) game price points. My PS2 cost me $580 to get running with just 3 titles (partially justified by the ability to play the original PS titles). But now I need a new tv at $800-$2000 to take full advantage of this "next gen" so I'm still waiting.
It really wouldn't surprise me if neither of the bigger consoles go down to that price point(or very close to it) til the end of the consoles life. But they will go under 300(barely) and have sweeter bundle deals than they've had so far(which have been pretty good in their own right). Despite wii selling out, they will go down to around 150 at some point. It's a way off, but those looking for that price point will find it in the Wii. It'll be a good test for that theory.
OK fine. But even if this is true, Microsoft will reduce the price of the 360 to whatever level is necessary and buy market share before they'll go out and spend billions more to develop another system.
