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View Full Version : Why The New Xbox So Expensive.



Nato King
08-19-2005, 12:23 PM
NEW YORK - If life was more like videogames and you could make money smashing boxes, plucking flowers or stomping bad guys, then gamers wouldn't have to worry about the price tag for Microsoft's hotly anticipated new console, the Xbox 360. But this is the real world, and Bill Gates won't take payment in power crystals.

On Wednesday, Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) announced that the new system, due this fall, will retail for $399. That version comes with most of the features that Microsoft has been hyping for months: a hard drive, wireless adapter and membership to the Xbox Live online gaming community. A stripped-down version of the console without any of those features will sell for $299, the same price as the original Xbox in 2001. Other systems have been just as costly. The Sony (nyse: SNE - news - people ) PlayStation 2 in 2000, the original PlayStation in 1995, and even Mattel's (nyse: MAT - news - people ) Intellivision console in 1980 all initially retailed for $299.

Sure, some boxes are cheaper--the Nintendo (other-otc: NTDOY - news - people ) GameCube, released in 2000, initially sold for $199. But maybe that's just Nintendo's magic number; it's the same price as the N64 in 1996, the SuperNES in 1991, and the original Nintendo Entertainment System in 1983.

Meanwhile, the prices of many other consumer electronics have plummeted. Ten years ago, a DVD player could easily set you back $1,000. Today you can get one for as little as $25. Personal computers, cell phones, flat-screen televisions and CD players have all come down dramatically in price, but not videogames. What gives? Thirty years after the first videogame consoles appeared, we're still paying the same price. Is this some sort of conspiracy dreamed up by King Koopa, Sephiroth or the evil alien Covenant?
Read more (http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/19/videogame-prices-xbox-cx_de_0819videogame.html)

Duke
08-19-2005, 12:26 PM
yes and the atari when it first came out in 2005 dollars would be roughly 7-800

besides that, the price point is not set by the companies, it is set by the consumer.

Ninjermy
08-19-2005, 12:28 PM
I don't see a big deal with the price staying relatively the same. Look at how each systems technology advances so much every generation. If anything I thought system prices would escalate! but they've stayed the same so it seems like an A-OK deal to me :cool:

George89
08-19-2005, 02:01 PM
I don't see a big deal with the price staying relatively the same. Look at how each systems technology advances so much every generation. If anything I thought system prices would escalate! but they've stayed the same so it seems like an A-OK deal to me :cool:


yeah i agree. Even though it's expensive, the games we'll be playing will have much higher quality standards, and the consoles will do more than ever before.

blonks
08-19-2005, 05:09 PM
serg, i thought over the years, you'd learn a little bit... what did you get with the orginal package for the xbox.... did you get a headset? a wireless controller? HDTV cables? a dvd remote?

Nato King
08-19-2005, 05:39 PM
serg, i thought over the years, you'd learn a little bit... what did you get with the orginal package for the xbox.... did you get a headset? a wireless controller? HDTV cables? a dvd remote?

No I didn't get all that and if you read over my thread that's not my opinon it's what I found on the web.

OC Noob
08-20-2005, 11:46 AM
I don't like spending $400, but I would have spent $30+ on the HD cables $25+ on an extra controller, $25+ on the remote, $20+ on the headset, etc... anyway, so that package is pretty attractive for all you get.

Nameless
08-20-2005, 12:47 PM
I'd love to pick this up for only $399. I'm guess its gonna be more around $499 for us Canadians. So stop complaining.

Nato King
08-20-2005, 03:40 PM
I'd love to pick this up for only $399. I'm guess its gonna be more around $499 for us Canadians. So stop complaining.


I know what you mean Nameless I am from bermuda and it would cost me about $800 here if they sell it. That's why I am sending the money to my cousin who lives in the USA. So he can pre-order it. I can't wait.

NoLLiO
08-20-2005, 05:14 PM
I don't think the prize is too bad, but that might be because i live in norway and i'm not used to the consoles costing as little as it does in other countries.