Bundle Kinect + illumiRoom
And 500$ will be A-OK
http://www.youtube.com/v/re1EatGRV0w

It depends on what they do... Honestly solely a games console this is WAY too much. The only way id pay $500 for either of these two things is if they became media set top boxes. Honestly the 720 is really exciting me a little bit. Solely due to the fact that M$ seems to be trying to create a good IPtv set top box and are currently trying to get content for it. That is really what peaks my interest. For the most part I can get every game that interests me on PC so besides a few exclusives media functions are the only thing im not currently experiencing on my PC

The price should be around 400$ or almost no one will buy them.

It's new technology so of course it's gonna be expensive

or tablets that they waste time on Angry Birds on 90% of the time for $600 (ok Kindle is $200 but most people buy ipads for some reason so they have no room to talk)

it is not so bad for a preorder, throw in a few bucks every paycheck with months to go its like layaway. its not that bad but it does make you decide which is more important to buy first. It is how i plan on doing it for the ps4.

500 for an Xbox and very few first party games is too much, 500 is probably too much for PS4 but at least Sony has enough developers to make games for it that it becomes bearable.

$500 is not too much for any console if it has the games you want. It's going to last you for 5-10 years. People who paid $600 for their PS3 certainly go their money's worth.

Value is relative.

I was just gonna say something similar about value.  The way I look at it consoles are an anomaly.  They're the one piece of tech that will be at the forefront of their industry with no successor or iteration for 5-7 years.  I compare that to a tablet that will be upgraded in a year and costs, in iPad's case, $600 or so depending on memory and there is no comparison.  Fact of the matter is people can afford it.  

I'm a poor college kid and I never go over $500 a year on games yet I buy many triple A games a year and always buy new to support devs.  I budget it out at the start of every year and look at where the price point will have to be for each game before I pull the trigger.  Just got FC3 for $30 on Amazon because it didn't fit in the budget last year.  Even with PS4 (I'm estimating cost at $500) I will be under budget this year because I'm going to buy a second and sell the pre-order for $800 if it's that much.  If I buy 3 I can get my budget under $300 by selling it.  

Obviously this year is abnormal as it's the first time I've bought a console since PS3 which I did go over budget on in Summer 07 but bottom line is people just need to be conscious with their money if they want to support their hobby.  The amount of enjoyment and moving experiences I get out of games is very worth it for me.  If you don't get that entertainment and emotional value, then maybe you need a different hobby or you need to wait and get things on the cheap.

It's acceptable only under very specific circumstances.

I paid that much for my first PS3 because A) I wanted full hardware BC and B) I just happened to have the money at the time. Had the stars not aligned perfectly that summer, it would've been years before I got one at all.

I can't think of anything they can do with the PS4 that will get me to spend that much. I really can't.