Price Matters in Video Game Console Wars

Thursday October 26, 2006 in: Video Game Consoles Tag(s):

Technorati Tags: video game consoles, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii

The most talked-about video game consoles-the existing Xbox 360 and the soon-to-be launched PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii-each contain its own set of features designed to catch the fancy of gamers. But in today's difficult times, it seems that the bottom line would be the price. The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes an AP report as saying:

In the three-way struggle among Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo for year-end shoppers of next-generation video-game consoles, price is turning out to count.

Like other game fans, Satoshi Yamakura, 21, a Japanese student, was still undecided whether he would buy a machine, and acknowledged that he would probably wait until prices came down to about $250.

After trawling the stalls and trying out the latest games at the recent Tokyo Game Show, Yamakura said he was leaning toward Sony's PlayStation 3. "But it's still too expensive," he said.

If the opinion of the Japanese student quoted in the report is any indication, it would seem that the Wii, with a launch price set at $250, would come out the runaway winner.

But things could rapidly change once Sony and Microsoft start price cuts on their primary consoles. They have, in fact, already embarked down this path.

To win over skeptics like Yamakura, the makers are planning bargains.

During the show, Sony Corp. announced that it was cutting the price in Japan of the low-end PlayStation 3 model by 20 percent to 47,600 yen, or about $410 - the first time the Japanese electronics and entertainment company has slashed a console's price before its release.

The video game wars are getting more interesting by the day. The only certainty, however, is that no matter who ends up on top, the winner will always be the buying public.

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