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irstupid on 28 July 2014
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Tamron said:
irstupid said:
Tamron said:

A lot of the controller price increase is down to complexity, old controllers were just a pcb with either no controller IC at all (direct wired to plug) or a simple cheap PIC controller doing the job, every button was a rubber gated switch.

Now we have analog sticks, complex charging/IC components, connectors, wireless functionality, batteries, variable resistors, motion sensors and so on.

Yes but one coudl argue that each of those components in a controller have decreased over the years.  Just as someone showed a 32 mb hard-drive cost 3,500 back in the day and now you can buy a much smaller 1 tb hard-drive for $100.  Wireless tech and other features in a controller should and have decreased over the years.

Except you can't, because previous controllers do not use the same tech as current gen controllers, if inflation continues (and it most likely will), then next generation, should the controllers remain the same price as current generation controllers, then they technically will be cheaper.

In 1996, a second, digital-only PS1 controller was $24.99, after inflation to 2013 is applied, that becomes $36.65, a new PS4 controller costs $59.99, an increase of $23.34, while also adding: full axis motion sensors, charge IC, bluetooth IC and RX/TX, several multi phase LED's, Li-On battery, rumble motors, touch pad, analog sticks, analog triggers, charge port and power management IC. which greatly increases the overall cost of components, the controllers of old were as simple and cheap as they could ever get, with a single PCB containing little more than a series of gated pad switches.

Doesn't matter how rudimentary the controller were back then, they still cost $X amount to make.

I guarantee they are marking up the controllers price MORE today than they did back then.  IF they made $15 profit a controller back then.  They are probably making $30 profit a controller today.  They are marking the controllers up more.  

And bring up inflation all  you want.  There are millions of gamers that have DEAD-END jobs and these increased prices they notice.  I highly doubt people making $50,000+ a year give a shit about the price of gaming.  

It's the people at the dead end jobs 10 year ago still at those jobs thinking "man the contorllers used to cost only $25 compared to $60 now.  Or systems are $100 more now, or games $10 more or whatever"  The prices of all these things went up, yet the person income didn't increase one bit.