This "I saw some people of the other faction say X on the forums" thing has to stop.  It's silly as well as being insignificant.  I've seen people with Xbox signatures say that the Xbox rumors, if true, would hurt Microsoft.  I've seen people with Playstation signatures say that it wouldn't.  Pretty much the same can be said for ANYTHING posted.  It's meaningless.  Even the guy in the article that everyone is quoting said he's seen "several" (!) Sony fan say the PS4 would win, and he's supposed to be something of a professional.

If the people in question are fanboys being fanboys then who really gives a floundering carp?  If the criticism if valid then it doesn't matter what their signatures are.  I think what people are trying to do is to discredit ALL criticism by declaring that, if the critics are fans of the other brand, they can't voice a negative opinion, which is, again, a load of fresh fish.

This is an easy thing to be respectable about--if that's the intention in the first place.  Simply say, "some people think these rumors will kill the next Xbox" and continue the question on from there.  Trying to stake battle-lines along a console front is a waste of time.

Now, on topic, I think $499 would be the highest acceptable price for either the 720 or the PS4 if they want decent sales in the first year.  More than that would make for a sluggish launch.  Can either recover from that?  Without doubt, as the PS3 proved.  Honestly, I can't see the price of either system being far from the other, so it's mostly going to be a moot point as far as competition goes.  Only the "must be connected to the internet" rumor could potentially hurt badly.

If it's true, which I'm not certain it is, then I think you see people subsidizing the Xbox 8 as the preferred purchase method.  If Internet connectivity is required, then why not just get it all in one kit and kabuddle?  Kill two birds with one stone.  Especially if there are changes to Xbox LIVE. 

I think theres this misconception that mass market make up the majority of a systems year one sales. I don't thinks ever been the case except for the original wii.

you guys want powerful system? then $500 seems about right...

i really think ps4 would be $599, if not, wii u will have a price cut just like 3ds and that is good news for me.

Keep the price low then i'll get a price cutted wiiU with no ambassador games (probably bayonetta 1 or pikmin 1 and 2 or some game cube games)

for me personally - $500 is fine.


for an objective opinion on the success of any console pricing - $500 is too much.

I think $400 is a sweet spot to have enough costs to put out a compelling device and have enough consumers compelled to buy it in its first year. the masses won't ever buy in the first year anyways (they'll wait for more games) by which time dropping the price to $300 is conceivable and mass marketable.

$500 is probably a fair price for what these machines are rumored to do, but like many others here I'm unwilling to pay that much.

I bought my Xbox 360 for $300 and I bought my PS3 for $300. So I'll pick up the Xbox 3 and PS4 when they fall to $350 or maybe, at the most, $400. I just can't justify spending more than $400 for a video game console.

The bigger issue to me is not price, but the library. The Playstation3 is a great system to buy from 2009-2013 (and on). I expect Playstation 4 to come into its own in 2015 which is when I will likely buy one, for $500 or for $300. Games make me buy a system, otherwise it is a fancy paper weight which I place zero value on.

$500 for the premium package, at least a 500gb hdd, including 1 full game and not needing to buy any extras (like hdmi cable or rechargeable battery packs) plus 1 year of ps+ or xbl is do-able.

I did pay more for ps3, but that was mainly because I wanted a blu-ray player, and the alternatives were $1000 at the time.

Well to me and I'm sure a decent amount of consumers the game console is more important of the two options. Pricing the console high is a good business practice, to an extent.

To start, the cost of making the console is probably also high, pricing the device to low will cost the company a lot of money. I know the razor's edge method has its merits, but even at $500 a console could be employing that method, just look at the PS3's manufacturing cost of $800-$840. It shouldn't be that bad this time, but you get what I mean.

Next, there is a dedicated consumer base that will purchase the device at launch. Not for any price, but even a high price. Price the console low and you miss out on that revenue stream and attract more consumers at a greater loss per console.

Third, the high ground will allow the company to react to consumer demand. Not only do they avoid the money bleeding but they gain the advantage of more timed price cuts throughout the systems life. If the console is priced low and yet consumer demand wanes then it will be difficult to lower the price without breaking the bank or it will take a long time for the costs to go down to justify it. Just look at the Vita, great price but it stopped selling and consumer opinion thought it was expensive but Sony couldn't justify an early price cut. If they priced it at $300 to start they could have easily made a $50 price cut before the holidays that would have garnered them attention.

Lastly, there is competition. When the Vita announced its $250 price it was received extremely well. It wasn't until after Nintendo made their price cut down to $170 from $250 that it was perceived expensive. Both the PS4 and the Xbox 3 are in a similar situation as the Vita, not exactly but similar. If they price it too low they might get a reactionary price cut from Nintendo since the Wii U isn't selling so hot. The Wii U is most likely the cheapest console to produce and can out price their competitors. Given the success the 3DS had doing the same, all they need is a push and the right time to do it. Now I don't think either new console will be the $300-$350 price of the Wii U. But if they did edge that price, expect a Wii U price drop and consumer attention to shift away from what they now perceive as the expensive consoles.

Anything above 300 is too much imho. I don't care how many great games the ps4 and 720 will have, I wont pay anything more than 300 for the console. I only bought the wiiU at 350 because it came with Nintendoland and I got NSMBU for free from old navy. So I justified the extra 50 bucks because I got NSMBU for free.