By waiting longer consoles go down in price and there are more games available. People are still waiting for more 360, PS3 and Wii games to come out and a bargain console price.
Best time to buy a console is in its third or fourth year.

Shouldn't the companies making these games be entitled to profits as well? Are they just supposed to keep absorbing losses to please consumers? The HD consoles are already sold cheaper than their worth yet people complain and rush to buy the newest version of the grossly overpriced iphones and ipods

For a hardcore gamer like me, all those years lost is not worth the $$$ saved

Cuz consoles are expensive and we can't afford them? IMO its cheaper to buy a dreamcast an 18 games for $144-
example
Sega Dreamcast System ($15)


Crazy Taxi ($2)
Alien Front Online ($2)
Chu Chu Rocket ($2)
Space Channel 5 ($2)
Sega Rally 2 ($2)
Crazy Taxi 2 ($3)
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver ($3)
Toy Commander ($4)
Ecco the Dolphin: defender of the future ($4)
Vigilante 8: Second Offense ($6)
Sonic Adventure ($6)
Rayman 2: The great escape ($7)
Daytona USA ($10)
Jet Grind Radio ($11)
Soul Calibur ($12)
Grandia 2 ($15)
Shenume ($18)
Sonic Advenutre 2 ($20)


Number of games: 18
Total Cost: $144
Cost per game (w/ console): $8.00
(This is what I plan to buy this fall BTW)

In the United States, there is an oncoming recession, if not a current recession. Many people are affected. Lot's of people are becoming tighter. It's not really Sony and Microsoft's fault for their console design. If the US had been in a recession 5 years ago the consoles MAY have been designed cheaper to balance the US economy. Even if there is a recession in the US video gaming is not going to go away in the US. But people will complain and be tighter. I personally have only bought 3 games this generation (and not even the console to play them on). I focus on indie games cause they can run on my POS computer and they are cheap/free. I get a lot of gaming goodness.

I understand. But you also have to realize that a business is made to profit. Looking at the losses from the sony and M$ gaming divisions (esp Sony), you'll understand why no businessman in his right mind would make a price cut right now even though as a gamer you just want to play games.

The only game that interests me on that list is Shenmue and I have an Xbox so I'll probably get Shenmue 2 after I've finished MGS4.

What gets me about the whole price-cut whining in this generation isn't so much the idea of price cuts. They're a way of life in this industry; they happen sooner or later.

What gets me is the sense of entitlement that a lot of the whiners have. They think they have some inborn right to pay less for their consoles and games, often for the most insipid reasons (length of time the game has been out, some abstract measure of what "went into the game", the console it's on, and crap like that). And then there are the people who pirate games "because they cost too much," as though this will drive prices down or that their desire to not pay so much somehow makes stealing a valid option.

People who wait to get a console feel entitled to get it cheaper because it is no longer bleeding edge tech, and they have been deprived the ability to use it. I think the best way to do it is to get 25-50% of gaming stuff new and for the rest buy old used stuff that is 50-75% off.

If the benefit of free games outweighs the cost of getting caught and the psychological damage of labeling oneself a thief, people will pirate games. People who pirate are therefore amoral.

Excellent analysis. +1