Ubisoft fully support WiiU, but isn't happy with the high console price

[theRepublic]

Squilliam said:

theRepublic said:

Squilliam said:

CityOfNoobs said:

This chart really does say it all , Ubisoft is being absolutley ridiculous.Wii U only costs $15 more in actual terms than the wii, and it even costs less than the mighty PS2 did at launch when accounting for inflation. 

There is more to this information than the price adjusted for inflation. Inflation has been historically under-reported and the wages of people with lower incomes have stagnated and/or fallen with time so consoles have become relatively more expensive instead of less expensive. You also have to take into consideration the fact that the Wii had a very good pack in game at $249 and realistically the equivalent console to the launch Wii is nominally $100 more expensive with a weaker pack in title.

This refutes the point you are trying to make.  If inflation is actually higher than reported, the inflation adjusted prices of those old consoles would be even higher.

Let's take the NES for example.  In the US, the NES launched at $200.  Since it has been 27 years, they must have used 2.84% as the inflation rate over that time to come up with $426.

If we assume that number is under-reported, we can try a higher number.  Let's say 3.84%.  At that rate over 27 years, it would be $553 of today's dollars.

That wasn't my point. My point was the bolded. The highest earning people have improved their incomes however the level of disposable income as a ratio compared to overall income has dropped for the majority of people over the past 30 years. So whilst the NES is relatively more expensive the income distribution was relatively flatter so it was overall more affordable than the strict inflation adjustment would imply.

I won't dispute any of that.

It just makes it that much more important that console prices have been on a fairly steady decline for the past 35 years.  It would be even more pronounced if inflation is under reported as you say.

The Wii U is still cheaper than both the 360 and PS3 at launch in real dollars.  Even more so if you account for inflation.  It works out the same if you throw in games or controllers for each.  The Wii U is not out of line in terms of pricing.