EricHiggin said:
$500 was way too much in 2006, and it was borderline in 2013. Lot's of people assumed with XB1 being $500, that the PS4 would also be, especially with it's specs. When people found out it was going to be $100 less, the Earth shook. PS4 likely could have gotten away with being $500. It probably would have taken longer before sales ramped up, but it also would have likely meant MS wouldn't have pushed the XB1 platform changes as quickly as they did either, which should mean PS ends up with similar sales as today, just less inertia and higher profits/no subsidizing earlier on. Lot's of poor people on this planet, and some of them like to game. Just look at PS2 sales. Part of the reason it was able to continue to sell as well and as long as it did, was because of the constant reduction of the hardware entrance cost. MS has made it pretty clear XB1 is an ecosystem and a family of hardware and software devices going forward. They have also made it clear they want FC and BC since they will no longer have gens. Now that might mean either 720p gaming on XB1/S, or it could mean they drop that console and make XB1X the base. Either way, Scarlet only games seem like they won't be happening at this point, or at least not until a Scarlet X is announced 3 or 4 years later when XB1X is possibly dropped. Pro has only been $100 more than PS4, and look at it's sales. If spending another $100 to have the very best was so easy and such a no brainer, why is PS4 outselling Pro 5 to 1? If MS decides to drop the XB1 family altogether, and moves on to another gen, it's just another reason to question MS once again. They've made it pretty clear they wouldn't be doing that, so they say, and have convinced plenty of people to dish out $200-$500 for the XB1X for that reason. To drop that model completely and ask for another $400 or $500 for Scarlet seems like a really bad idea, unless they are going to give one heck of an upgrade deal to those owners, or wait until 2021 so the XB1X has been given a somewhat reasonable half gen life time. |
PS4 at 500$ vs XB1 with Kinect at 500$, would have PS4 look bad (more expensive, in comparison).
The changes to the XB hardware wasn't just due to price difference. People's perception was already bad towards XB even before the reveals, adding to that, the borrowing games or lending games situation, or whatever it was, was also a big deal - specially because Sony were brilliant in taking advantage of that "little" problem.
You can't assume that changes on each side would balance each other out and end up with the same results.
If the starting point is different, the logical conclusion would be that the end result would be different.
That extra 100$ could have dictated that the transition wouldn't have happened so fast. And with that, more support for PS3 and XB360, which would have probably resulted in slowing down the transition a bit more, etc., etc.
"Part of the reason it was able to continue to sell as well and as long as it did, was because of the constant reduction of the hardware entrance cost"
It's true. But PS2, in the US, started at a lower price and had a 149.99 price tag or less when it reached 100 million… in a time where lowering the prices by that much was the norm and necessary. That doesn't happen today.
When you can sell more than 80 million consoles and still be priced at 299$ it means that there are more people open to higher prices than 15-18 years ago.
A low price made a difference in 2006, specially when you had a 99/129 price tag versus XB360 that costed 300-400 and a PS3 that costed 500-600.
If i remember correctly, neither the XB360, nor PS3, were replaced while being sold at 99/129. And those higher prices (for PS3 and XB360) meant they couldn't reach that market even after replaced. They never had PS2's appeal to begin with, btw.
The same is going to happen this gen.
From what i have read, there's nothing pointing at Scarlett being just another XB1 variation.
Actually, it's being treated as a new wave of hardware.
If the no generation comment ends up becoming reality, it's not likely it will start with XB1.
It's not just that the Pro versions of both consoles don't have exclusives, the 4K tech didn't create a revolution in gaming, and the mass market hasn't fully adopted 4K TVs, yet.
Those 3 factors held back their sales. But they were done to prolong their lifecycle, anyway, just like Nintendo does with the handhelds… until it brings a new generation of handhelds.
They don't need to drop that Xbox family completely.
Despite the rapid transition from last gen to PS4 and XB1, cross-gen games still happened.
Pro and X owners will still have games to play, even if not all or the most important ones.
So, in a way, the people who payed for an X console, when it gets replace in 2019-2020, will have had it for some time now. I doubt they will be that angry if they still get games for a year or so.
