Xbox 360, PS3 prices to fall this summer The price structure of games consoles has been static for a record length of time and will begin to fall this summer in order to keep the gadgets flying off the shelves. Analyst Michael Pachter with US investment house Wedbush said this week that current console prices have remained the same for 18 months. He predicts they …
I don't think they can afford a price cut. Sony are further behind Microsoft in cost-reducing their console and paying off its development costs. At the moment, Xbox is setting the pace for the industry and Sony are playing catch up.
The really significant move will be which company is going to be first to announce the next generation console? This generation has been around for a comparatively long time now, but as yet, there's nothing solid about replacements.
"The really significant move will be which company is going to be first to announce the next generation console? This generation has been around for a comparatively long time now, but as yet, there's nothing solid about replacements."
My understanding was that the release of Move and Kinect is expected extend the current generation by a couple of years atleast. Not to mention the slim 360 came out less than a year ago.
I think I read somewhere that MS expect to support the 360 to 2015, although I'm not sure if that would be along side the replacement for a while, or if that is when they expected to bring in the replacement.
Either way, I'm personally not ready to move on yet, I still think alot more can be squeezed out of the current generation, and there are still alot of games for the 360 that I want to play.
I think both the 360 and PS3 stand up well today, despite their age.
As for the Wii, I don't think it is finished yet. I think Nintendo can still do some cool stuff with it, and I still play on mine fairly often and enjoy it, but I think it will need a replacement sooner than the others.
Take a look next time you pop into your local big name supermarket they are all doing cut price deals on PS3 and Xbox 360. Sainburys are probably doing the most as they are also promoting the DS.
So, the anaysis that console prices have remained static for 18 months is wrong. At least for England it is. Can't comment on the USA.
Pachter is always in the games press commenting and making predictions about stuff. His analysis is almost always restricted to the tech and games industry and he's right about 85% of the time. He's got a pretty good hit rate, so he can hardly be described as "someone not in the know". He's just not as famous in Europe as he is in the US.
recently both the recent xbox 360 and the slim 160gb ps3 have been sold at £160 by supermarkets. you can sometimes pick up an older 360 secondhand with short warranty for the same as a round of drinks (£40). In fact try even GIVING away a wii after you get bored of it?
The prices should be in freefall because of the constant refreshing of the lines by sony and ms. each new iteration creates a 2nd hand market for the previous one. it should not take an analyst to work this out.
C'mon El Reg, I'm disappointed, this Pachter bloke is the one constantly pimped by GameS**t, telling everyone what a bit of common sense will tell anyone!
Hmm, consumer goods will drop in price as they get older. What? Really? That's amazing mate, get off me show! Please don't give this twat any coverage. He's only good for telling annoying kids what to buy. If you think us commentards are bad, you should check out any article on GameS**t.
hum yep thease consoles will drop i can see it coming. my brother bought a kinnect for his xbox and he hasnt even used it waste of 130 quid i tell ya. me on the other hand love my ps3 it does everything i want it to do and its quiet. rumors that microsoft is planning there next console guess what so is sony haha. so if i were to choose my next console it would be a ps4 no way would i go back to microsoft and there rubbish.
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