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)
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)