With a new generation of consoles being ushered in at the end of 2013 with the Xbox One and Playstation 4, gamers will be discussing the “expensive” consoles; but is that really the case?
Ars Technica put together a game price and console comparison, looking back at the trends of the gaming industry’s pricing history.
According to the launch prices of consoles in the US, the Xbox One and PS4 will be among the lowest-priced consoles when they launch at the end of this year.
The $399 and $499 console price for the PS4 and Xbox One respectively lies under the price of the PS3, the Atari 5200, the Intellivision, the 3DO and Neo Geo when they launched.
The price point of the PS4 is the same as that of the Sega Saturn ($399) which launched in 1995.
Of course, these consoles were released a while ago, and with the influence of inflation, the comparison adjusts the price-points in relation to today’s exchange rates.
While it is hard to gauge a comparison over different generations, the prices show that the Xbox One and PS4 would not be the most expensive consoles at launch.
The Neo Geo is by far the highest, as with the exchange and inflation adjustment, would be priced at $1,111.
Check out the comparison for yourself and make of it what you will:
Console price comparison chart
Source: Arstechnica
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I reckon consoles should still cost no more than $200 on launch like the Megadrive, SNES and Dreamcast did. The Xbox One will cost over R7000 on launch here which is ridiculous. Consoles are meant to be about just having fun, they shouldn’t be major investments. How many South Africans can afford either a PS4 or Xbox when the monthly cost of living has to be taken into account?