PS3 price musings

Posted on January 14th, 2006 by PS3Vault

PS3vault.com’s Dan Rosenthal reports with a new article discussing PS3 price structures.

There has been a lot of debate, arguing, and even downright flaming on various fansites about the price and distribution method for PS3. How will Sony sell it? Will they authorize most retailers to sell a value pack only as they did with PSP? Will they release a core system and a premium system, with different internal components, as Microsoft did with Xbox 360? Will they release a budget price system with no game (maybe a demo disc) and a single controller? Or will they even offer a so-called “gamer’s package” with extra controllers, several games, online subscription fee paid, and perhaps a limited edition color, at an absurd price?

At this point, we know little more than speculation, but Ken Kutaragi has recently said that “It will be expensive” (see a couple posts below for full article). How expensive are gamers willing to pay? Does Sony alienate the teenage price-group by selling for $500 or more, as hinted at? A recent look at the eBay listings for Xbox 360 are showing that consoles are averaging around $370 shipped for the core version, and $470 shipped for the premium version. But these listings aren’t just being posted and dying out: They’re being snapped up left and right. The last time I checked, there were over 150 listings for actual Xbox 360 systems ending within 5 hours. (That’s ignoring all the other nonsense like hard drives, original xboxs, and scams.) Most of these systems are still gathering 10 and 15 bids each, or more.

We knew already that the systems were flying off the shelves at $300 and $400 in stores. We can see now they’re not slowing down at $400 and $500 on the internet. This evidences to us that Sony can get away with selling the PS3 at a minimum of $450, and possibly higher. Perhaps they will still move at $600, perhaps not. Sony has the power to control this by controlling their hype, and to a lesser extent, by controlling supply (though there are restrictions to that.) The only huge caveat I see is that Sony must live up to the expectations set forth of the PS3 console. If they’re trying to sell at $500 and it’s only equivalent, or even less desirable then an Xbox 360, then obviously the systems will not move, Sony takes a massive hit, and who knows what happens from there.

Nothing is certain, especially at this stage. Even weeks from now we will probably be grasping at straws. But we here at PS3vault.com hope that this article moves you to begin thinking critically about how much both the public, and you, are willing to pay for your gaming pleasure.

Please post your thoughts in the comment section