The way Phil and MS keep pushing the 'XBSX is more powerful and has all these unknown advantages' narrative, leaves me with the impression that they know the price will be higher than PS5. It's one thing to boast a bit if the prices are the same, but to me it seems like they are pushing overly hard because the higher cost will have to be very clearly justified.
As for Lockhart, $299 should be plenty low enough, possibly being half or not quite half of what XBSX ends up costing, and should be at least $99 cheaper than PS5 DE. The cheaper it is, the more they have to compromise on hardware, yet they do need a worthy gap between them and PS5 DE. If they could make Lockhart $399, that might undercut PS5 DE by $49 depending on what happens, but then the specs need a significant increase to justify that or it'll be DOA. $299 seems like it would be a safe bet for MS guessing at what was potentially coming for PS5.
PS1 - ! - We must build a console that can alert our enemies.
PS2 - @- We must build a console that offers online living room gaming.
PS3 - #- We must build a console that’s powerful, social, costs and does everything.
PS4 - $- We must build a console that’s affordable, charges for services, and pumps out exclusives.
PRO -%-We must build a console that's VR ready, checkerboard upscales, and sells but a fraction of the money printer.
PS5 - ^ -We must build a console that’s a generational cross product, with RT lighting, and price hiking.
PRO -&- We must build a console that Super Res upscales and continues the cost increases.
