The NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube all launched at $200, so if you take inflation into account, every Nintendo console was their cheapest console ever.  Yet at the same time, every Nintendo console was their least successful ever.  Each one was cheaper than the last and sold fewer than the last.  It wasn't until the Wii that they raised the launch price and became insanely successful beyond all our wildest dreams.  This proves that magical price points are definitely not the most important factor for a system's success.  However, the PS3 and the Neo-Geo have proven that horrible price points can be the most important factor for a system's failure.


Given the choice of all 3 at $200, I'd still go with a Wii.  I'm in love with the thing, and I still think $250 was an amazing deal for the amount of fun I've had with it.  If I already had my Wii and I had the $200, I'd buy Wii games, and maybe food.  If I already had my Wii, some games, some food, and I had $200 that for some reason I had to spend on a $200 PS3 or a $200 360, I don't know what I'd do.

I could get a 360 with Dead Rising and Beautiful Katamari, and ask the users here what else to get, but I honestly have no interest in Halo and would barely play any new shooters without IR aiming.  I guess I'd rent GTA4 and play a ton of Hexic, Uno, Geometry Wars, and mostly small games on XBLA.  I might as well go with a PS3, but only if it has backwards compatibility, because I'll mostly buy dirt-cheap used PS2 games (I don't have a PS2), both Katamaris, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and every Karaoke Revolution game ever, even the Japanese ones.  No PS3 game has interested me yet.  I guess I'd rent Lair and GTA4 to see what the fuss was all about, and I'd rent LittleBigPlanet to see what all the fuss is about.  Oh, and I have an HDTV, so I'd try one of them movies on the Blue Rayes.  But just one.  pr0n

If you want to talk about cost of ownership and add it to a console's price, why not add cost of electricity?  PS3 consumes a LOT more electricity than a 360 (and 360 in turn much more than a Wii), so if you want to talk about Live being a necessary cost (and there are quite a few million x360 owners who don't seem to care about online play), you need to consider all costs of ownership.

Not everyone needs wifi either... I keep my network hardwired on a gigabit lan.  I'm glad I didn't have to pay for extra features I'd never use

The Wii was launched at the right price. The other two consoles X360 and PS3 were over priced and have suffered with mediocre console sales as a consequence of the higher launch prices. The price is critical for success of any product.

When prices of  the consoles are equal we will have more competition. Competition is great for any industry.