The cost of a generation

[Esrever]

I'm just curious... who here will be buying an Xbox 360 at launch?

I've just been thinking more and more about the pricetag. I mean really thinking about it. Now, I know people talk about "not being able to afford" things rather frivilously. Generally speaking, unless you're living below the poverty line you can pull the cash together for a video game system if it's really important to you. It's not so much a question of how much you can pay as it is how much you are willing to pay.

But me... I'm not willing to pay this much. I've been trying to add it all together. But at $400 for the non-broken system, plus a second controller... we're looking at a setup that's going to run around $550 to $600 Canadian, and that's not even getting into the raised software prices or the HD TV issue. That's a lot of god damned money. It's how much it has cost me to assemble a collection of all three major consoles this generation. It's enough to cover my rent, heat, hot water, electricity, phone and internet bills for an entire month.

This is not something I usually think about. I'm in a pretty solid financial situation, and when I want games or DVDs or other gizmos I tend to just buy them without giving it much thought. But with this Xbox 360 thing... the price has crossed an imaginary line for me. I'm not saying the price is unfair, I'm just saying that it's too much for me. There's no way I would ever pay that much for a console, no matter what the games are.

It's not a matter of budget, it's a matter of my innate sense of financial justice. I'd feel like an idiot putting that much cash down on something like a game console. Video games are not worth that much money to me, and I wonder what the implications of that are going to be. Am I out of this hobby altogether?

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else is having the same reaction. I know many of you own all the consoles... some even buy them all right at launch. At what price does it become too rich for your blood? At what price do you start having to choose one in particular? At what price do you refuse to choose any? For me, this generation appears to be it. What would the mark be for you?

[chriscaffee]

My Xbox was cheaper then my DC, the only console I bought at launch. I've already decided I'm waiting for the first, if not second price drop before I consider buying a next-gen console.

[plasticwingsband]

I generally don't like to pay more than $250 at most on a new console, so I tend to wait for the price drop, and by that point a small library of games has amassed and at least a handful of 'em will be 20 bucks.

[Parn]

When a game (or a set of games) releases that demands a purchase of a new console, that is when I pay whatever price the console costs.

For instance, Grandia II, Eternal Arcadia, and Phantasy Star Online all were launching within months of each other. That's when I purchased my Dreamcast.

I await the new consoles releasing something worth my cash. Until that time, I have a GameCube, PS2, and PC to play games on.

[Segaholic2]

Yeah, I'm waiting for price drops and then sales on top of that before I get any of the next-gen consoles.

I didn't get any of the current-gen consoles at launch. I'm perfectly fine with not buying a next-gen console until there's games I want to play available, which doesn't look like launch for any of the three.

[Starscream]

I stopped buying consoles and games a while ago. I used to spend a ridiculous amount of money on them. I remember buying a Sega Saturn practically on release.
It all seems so absurd now. Not in the least my Sega Megadrive. If I had known I could play emulated games for free now I probably wouldn't have bothered. Consoles have a long history of absurd overpricing...

[Popcorn]

As incomparably and stupidly exciting as buying a console on launch day is, I have vowed to remain strong. The 360 has absolutely zero launch titles that appeal to me, and unless everyone suddenly starts shouting about how awesome Perfect Dark Zero is (yeah right) I'm going to wait until something else comes out. But as soon as a game or two that I really want arrives-- and I have no doubt that that will happen eventually-- I'll crumble.

[Kishi]

I never buy a system prior to the announcement/release of (a) enough quality titles to make it worthwhile, or (b) one title that I must own no matter what. (For example, I bought a Dreamcast just for Sonic Adventure, and I'm getting a DS just for Castlevania.) So far the 360 has nothing of the sort going for it.

[DarkPrime]

I actually considered getting the 360 on launch. But I just can't bring myself to spend that much money on a console that hasn't been "proven" (for lack of a better word) yet. I'll wait for some hands-on reviews of the console, see what acessories it has and wait for the price drop.

[Squirrelknight]

No matter how hard I try, I can't get excited about the 360. An Xbox launching without a Halo game is like the Gamecube launching without a Mario. Everything else on the system seems like a second-tier title to me; the kind of game you only buy when their prices have been marked down, you have some spare cash, and you already bought all the triple-A titles.

I can't help but feel that if I bought one at launch, I'd just end up using it to play original Xbox 1 games.

Of course, I could say the same things of the other next-gen systems. I really wish they kept this generation of consoles going for another year. I really don't feel like buying new hardware, especially if the new hardware isn't anything special, and if the current hardware still has plenty of potential in it.

[G.Silver]

Same thing with the games here--I'll buy one when a game I like comes out, otherwise it's just a big hunk of plastic taking up space. There's certainly an allure to owning brand-new hardware but it's never been a difficult thing for me to resist (games on launch day are much harder to avoid!), the Dreamcast and GBA were the only consoles I purchased at launch, wholly by virtue of their games (if you must know, F-Zero Advance was the driving force behind the GBA purchase). The low price might have had something to do with it but I spent way more on a PS2 (in Japan, the price hadn't dropped like it had in the US) than I would have liked when ZOE came out, so clearly if I am willing to drop the cash.

But the new generation of consoles looks especially resistable. The 360 holds almost zero interest for me at the moment.

[Neo Yi]

I'll do what I always do and wait about at least a year after all three of the game console's release systems before I consider buying any of them.
~Neo

[Esrever]

But an interesting thing I'm noticing among some of these posts is that many of you would buy it for the full price if there was a "must have" game. And that's generally the attitude I've always had towards consoles, too. But with the Xbox 360, I can't even say that. I would never, ever pay $500+ Canadian to play a single "must have" game, or even a couple of them. The thought would not even cross my mind. Heck, if the current generation of consoles were that expensive, I probably wouldn't own any of them, and I certainly wouldn't own all of them.

What I'm curious to know is... what price would it take for each of you to feel that same way that I do now? If this next generation isn't expensive enough to completely alienate you, what price would? When does it become to expensive to be "worth it" to you. Do you know what I mean?

I'm just not sure I like where this generation is going. You can always make a console more powerful if you're willing to make it more expensive... that's why you can always build a gaming computer that can outperform the ones we have now. But traditionally, console hardware has always been a slave to a price point. Developers gave you as much power as they could for that illusive "reasonable console price." But now, as developers try to provide the comprable technological leaps as those of previous generations, while at the same time making console lifespans shorter and shorter... it's becoming more important to make games more technologically advanced than it is to keep them at their traditional price. Quite frankly, it's a tradeoff I'm not interested in.

But it's also a tradeoff that could be pushed a lot further. These consoles could be even more powerful if they sold them at a higher price. How high does that price need to go before everyone on this board is pushed out of the market?

[chriscaffee]

The original Saturn was priced at 400USD; this is nothing new.

That said, I would prefer not to spend more then 200 dollars on a console, maybe 250 if there are some really excellent games out.

[Gaz]

I don't think I would spend any more than £200(about $360) on a console these days. It really doesn't help living in "rip-off" Britain where we almost always have to pay more for consoles than other countries. Anyhow, at present the Xbox 360 really doesn't look worth buying at launch partly because it's too expensive(It's £280 for the full package) and partly because there's nothing in the launch line-up that interests me. The other next-gen consoles don't really look any better to me at the moment and if they're priced similarly once again I probably won't buy them at launch. I will probably wait for the first price drops before I even consider buying one of the next gen consoles. I rarely buy consoles at launch anyway. The only exceptions are the DS and the GameCube(which I was able to get for half price).

[Starscream]

I cant bring myself to spend more than €200 on a console. The games themselves are pricey enough as they are. I can't remember if I bought my Dreamcast on launch. Given how "loyal" I felt to SEGA I probably did, which is why I also own a 32X and a Sega Saturn. I didn't consider buying a Gamecube until the remake of Resident Evil was released, but in the end I never did.

Controllers, memorycards, keyboards, modems-or-whatnot,... It's just not right. I feel sorry for the people who are actually gonna buy the 360 on release. Good chance it will backfire on Microsoft. A good computer is still a better investment. And my games come for free because they're pirated, ho ho ^^

[Neo Yi]

But an interesting thing I'm noticing among some of these posts is that many of you would buy it for the full price if there was a "must have" game.

It's really funny people would chose that route, buy a console for just one game, whether it's a "must-have" or something they want, but I guess it's their decision and choice.

It's a route I just can't take however, no matter how tempted I am. It's a reason why I never bought an XBox because the only game I was EVER interested was Oddword: Stranger. Any other were games I cared jack about or ports to other systems.
~Neo

[Frieza2000]

I don't suppose I really count because the only consoles I've ever bought are Nintendo and Sega and I've never bought one on launch day, but I side with the conservatives. I've grown up; I've got plenty of other things to spend my time and money on than for a system that'll be less than half price in a matter of years. The only attraction of buying the games as they come out is to be on the forefront of the gaming social scene, and I don't play the cool games anyway. So I can wait. And $250 is my limit. There's a bottomless pit of old games I haven't played yet that you guys rave about if I really needed something new, and I can get them for $20 at most, to say nothing of the free games for classic systems.

[PSMad]

I'm at a point in my life where I'm in a well paid job and can actually afford a 360 come launch. I'm even scrounging the cash for a HD TV. I can't help but be excited that a new console is on the way and for the first time in my life I'm in a position to buy it on launch day. I've never used X-Box live before and I'm even considering giving that a spin.

I've probably let myself be consumed by the hype but I don't care. It's shiny, it looks sexy and it'll play games first that look better than anything else. They might not be AAA titles to start with but with nothing on the horizon getting my blood really pumping I'll settle for Project Gotham 3 and Dead or Alive 4, if only just to say I've got them and show off how shiny they look.

Anyway, I just want something tangible in my hands. I’m sick of seeing how good the games ‘might’ look and want to play what they actually are.

[Ritz]

I pretty much have my heart set on the PS3, mainly due to the fact that it houses the NextGen Sonic and MGS4. However, there's an article somewhere on IGN that said something about Treasure developing a shooter for the 360, which could very well be a sequel to Radiant Silvergun or Ikaruga. Which is a damn shame, as I don't plan on ever buying a 360. At least, not this year. Or mabye even the next year.

But Treasure is perfect, and you all know it. They can do no wrong. Considering this, I might actually consider buying a 360 if another game that even remotely interests me pops up before Christmas.

[Esrever]

But... but what about all those bad games that Treasure made?

[Ngangbius]

^Like Stretch Panic and Buster's Nightmare?

As for the main topic, not only you should be concerned about the cost of the consoles, but also the games, Esrever. I mean we are taking about going back to the cart-age where games were priced at $60+. Granted the games nowadays are more advanced technically than the 8-bit and 16-bit era, but still...=/

I would personally never get a console or handheld at launch due to the fact that most launch games are ass and it is usually a matter of time when there is a price drop and that is when the library of games for that particular machine is more well-rounded with better games. The only cases where we got a near-launch console in our house was was either due to them being Christmas presents or it was something my younger brother wanted since he's usually more exited about console launches than I am.

Ideally, the most I would pay for a new console would be $250 with $100-$200 for a new handheld depending on it's features, perfomance, and extra pack-in periphials. I could, maybe bite the bullet and spend $300 on a PS3(assuimg that $300 is the first price drop for that system)
depending on the games at that time, but other than that forget it about it. There is plently of other things I'm interested in to spend over $300 on like a new computer or a Wacom Cintiq tablet.

[Squirrelknight]

I could, maybe bite the bullet and spend $300 on a PS3(assuimg that $300 is the first price drop for that system)
depending on the games at that time, but other than that forget it about it. There is plently of other things I'm interested in to spend over $300 on like a new computer or a Wacom Cintiq tablet.

I doubt the PS3 will cost anywhere near that at launch or even after it's first or second price drop. All Sony has to say is that "it'll be expensive" and that "you'll have to work overtime to pay for it," so I think it'll take awhile before the system gets anywhere near a sane price. If it launches for anything less than 500 dollars, I'll be surprised.

I doubt I'll buy any of the next-gen systems at launch, even if they do launch with some killer-app (which none of them probably will, since there's nothing interesting on 360 or PS3, and no real games have been shown for the Revolution yet), because I'm broke, and because I'm really starting to not care. Before, when a company revealed a new system, I remember being excited over the new possibilities. These new systems just bore me. Wow, the bump mapping is better. Woo-hoo. -_-. With the exception of the Revolution and it's wacky-ass controller, I don't really see anything on the next-gen consoles that hasn't been done in this generation. All we're getting is nicer lighting and double the price.

[G.Silver]

But an interesting thing I'm noticing among some of these posts is that many of you would buy it for the full price if there was a "must have" game. And that's generally the attitude I've always had towards consoles, too. But with the Xbox 360, I can't even say that.

I will stick to my guns. :) All it requires is a game that I want THAT badly and I will pay the $400. I don't expect that to happen, really, because chances are I will not want that one game that badly, and my experience with the first Xbox is that every game I did want for it that badly turned out to be rather mediocre. So it is a bit of a cop-out, yes, that I can always say "well, I don't want it bad enough.." The existance of a $400 game is purely hypothetical! But I am open to being convinced. If there were a game I was willing to pay $400 just to play, I would be very, very happy.

For instance, if Sega surprised us with a brand-new on-line capable version of Virtual On (go ahead, charge me $70+ for another controller, while you're at it!) that was different enough from VOOT to be a new game but also didn't suck like MARZ and Force--that is to say, I could count on it to be what I wanted it to be--then there you'd have it. That'd be like $530 or so, plus they'd have me subscribing to Xbox Live, and as long as I was convinced of the game's quality, I wouldn't give it a second thought.

I would be very, very happy.