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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Why are so many people requesting console price cuts?

Starmistkarmic on 11 June 2008

I don't give a shit if Sony drops the price of the PS3 because I already have one. Got it before the recession, so double bonus.

Now, Microsoft on the other hand....



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akuma587 on 11 June 2008

Adjusted for inflation consoles should start out at pretty much in the $300-400 range and they would still have price parity with the older generations of consoles. People are just kind of picky and are used to paying less for consoles.



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a.l.e.x00 on 12 June 2008

Seriously, people take money far, far, far too seriously. I mean, there is no reason to wait another year for a console to go down $100. Just work an extra day, and you've got $100 more.



NJ5 on 12 June 2008
akuma587 said:
Adjusted for inflation consoles should start out at pretty much in the $300-400 range and they would still have price parity with the older generations of consoles. People are just kind of picky and are used to paying less for consoles.

There's a reason for that, which is that electronic items keep getting cheaper with time. To give an example, the first PC I had (around the years of 1989 or 1990) cost the equivalent of 1500 € (not adjusted for inflation, if I adjusted it would be even higher), and it wasn't a state of the art PC at that time (386 @ 25 MHz with 4 MB of RAM). For that price, nowadays you could get a super-fancy PC with all sorts of bells and whistles and high-end hardware.

This means that there are two factors affecting console prices - cost savings in electronic components, and inflation. That's why many people expect console prices to stay flat or decrease in each generation. The problem is that Microsoft and Sony (especially Sony) crammed a lot of lateral stuff into their consoles (especially Blu-Ray). That's the only reason why prices went higher, and one of the reasons for the relative failure of HD consoles.

 



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Just_Ben on 12 June 2008
Pristine20 said:
Words Of Wisdom said:
Pristine20 said:

I see all these posts requesting price drops. Do people realize that the US $ has fallen greatly. Thus consoles are actually a lot cheaper than they seem (at least in the US). This has cost international companies like the ones in gaming even more money. So they have actually gotten cheaper in the US while the EU foots the same bill.

A price cut right now to sell more hardware may not provide enough software boost to offset the monumental losses.

If you want a cheaper console, buy a wii or the 360 arcade and stop complaining! Any more price cuts and nintendo would be the only one left in the industry and that'll be the day I finally stop gaming. Discuss...


When the US dollar falls, it does not make the cost of PS3s in the country go down nor do wages suddenly go up. A PS3 is still the same price within the economic system of the US. That price in relation to the outside world (I hear there is one!) is irrelevant to the people asking for price cuts.

 


But you do realize that the falling dollar makes it illogical, for companies outside the US like Sony, to cut prices because prices have already been cut by the US economy just that Americans don't realize this. The EU prices have to stay up as well to offset these costs.

You realize that the things are produced in China. Their currency is more or less 1:1 binded to the $. So producing the thing should cost the same in $ (or only minimal more) than a year ago. Your assumption is therefor wrong. The consoles are costing the same in the US and cosing more in the EU and Japan than before ;)

 



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ConAir on 12 June 2008

1) They want the pricedrop, so they can buy one.
2) People want a pricedrop, so they can buy one plus a extra controller and some games
3) People want a pricedrop, so they can buy a 2nd console and play all the popular games or all the games in their favorite genre (f.e. RPG)
4) Psycological barrier is so true. Once the 360 Pro and PS3 40 GB strike $199/€199, than a lot more people will be buying them.

So there are several reasons to think off.



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NJ5 on 12 June 2008
Just_Ben said:
You realize that the things are produced in China. Their currency is more or less 1:1 binded to the $. So producing the thing should cost the same in $ (or only minimal more) than a year ago. Your assumption is therefor wrong. The consoles are costing the same in the US and cosing more in the EU and Japan than before ;)

 


You have to update your financial knowledge, the Yuan is not so much bound to the dollar anymore since mid 2005 ;)

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=CNY&amt=1&t=5y

 



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dschumm on 12 June 2008
Just_Ben said:
Pristine20 said:
Words Of Wisdom said:
Pristine20 said:

I see all these posts requesting price drops. Do people realize that the US $ has fallen greatly. Thus consoles are actually a lot cheaper than they seem (at least in the US). This has cost international companies like the ones in gaming even more money. So they have actually gotten cheaper in the US while the EU foots the same bill.

A price cut right now to sell more hardware may not provide enough software boost to offset the monumental losses.

If you want a cheaper console, buy a wii or the 360 arcade and stop complaining! Any more price cuts and nintendo would be the only one left in the industry and that'll be the day I finally stop gaming. Discuss...


When the US dollar falls, it does not make the cost of PS3s in the country go down nor do wages suddenly go up. A PS3 is still the same price within the economic system of the US. That price in relation to the outside world (I hear there is one!) is irrelevant to the people asking for price cuts.

 


But you do realize that the falling dollar makes it illogical, for companies outside the US like Sony, to cut prices because prices have already been cut by the US economy just that Americans don't realize this. The EU prices have to stay up as well to offset these costs.

You realize that the things are produced in China. Their currency is more or less 1:1 binded to the $. So producing the thing should cost the same in $ (or only minimal more) than a year ago. Your assumption is therefor wrong. The consoles are costing the same in the US and cosing more in the EU and Japan than before ;)

 


 I am glad someone  pays attention.

 

The other thing is that manufactureres constantly push for a cheaper process. Slimline PS2 ring a bell. 



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The game will not be any better or include more content then planned. Any commnets that say so are just PR hogwash to make you feel better for having to wait.

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Do be thankful that they have enough respect for you to delay the game and maintain its intended level of quality.

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Just_Ben on 12 June 2008
NJ5 said:
Just_Ben said:
You realize that the things are produced in China. Their currency is more or less 1:1 binded to the $. So producing the thing should cost the same in $ (or only minimal more) than a year ago. Your assumption is therefor wrong. The consoles are costing the same in the US and cosing more in the EU and Japan than before ;)

 


You have to update your financial knowledge, the Yuan is not so much bound to the dollar anymore since mid 2005 ;)

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=USD&to=CNY&amt=1&t=5y

 

I knew that it was 1:1 and got changed,  but that it changed that much is new for me (I thought it is more like 95% still depends on $).

On the other hand, since 2007 it changed only by 10% (if my math is correct), the euro by 17%, japanes by 15%.  The pound on the other hand fell against the $ since 2007, intresting ;).

Still my point stands, I guess. The only reason why price cuts are impossible is because america got things to cheap before and MS and Sony don't want to loose more money. In the EU it is still quite possible (imho) MS did it allready ;) 



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obieslut on 12 June 2008

I should start sending some money over to America to get a console lol, i will save a couple of 100