Just finished reading an article about the PS/3 (which comes out next week) re: its manufacturing costs and how far above retail they are. Evidently, Sony's going to be taking a $300 bath on every unit out of the gate. Wow!
I thought Sony was out of their mind when they announced a $499 start price (actually, I think it started at $599, and they dropped it), but that it costs *another* $300 to make it on top of this is just wild. So, I guess we'll be getting some piece of hardware - particularly the Blu-Ray drive.
Still, that's a serious scrubbing down for Sony, and makes me wonder just how much I'm going to get knocked back for the cost of the games, if they've gotta make up $300 a crack just to cover production - to say nothing of marketing costs, etc.
Also an interesting point the article brought up... The Xbox, which sells for $399, only costs $325 to produce. But it USED to cost $500 - when the unit was first released. So, although production prices drop fast, this is still putting the Xbox way ahead of the Sony for profitability to the parent company.
Anyway, must thought I'd share.
There's actually two different models of the PS3. The basic system retails for $499, and a premium system that includes a 60GB hard drive, WiFi, and flash card slots retails for $599.
Retal game costs for new releases this generation of consoles are expected to be anywhere from $59 to $79 dollars, but Wii titles are expected to more commonly debut at $49. Loving games sure is starting to get expensive...
I haven't played anything but World of Warcraft in like a year. It's very possible I'll end up taking the cheap route all the way around and ignore the consoles this Christmas. But the jury's still out. Either way, thanks for the information.
They were being sold last night here in Michigan at 12:01 AM. I just seen what was going on about the country over this game!. My Gosh its only a game and people are fighting over it. I do understand its fun, but people get a life! LOL I just saw several on e-bay, with bids of over $12,000.00! Come on, give me a Break! What a bunch of tom foolery. Would not you think a conpany as big as Sony could manufacturer these a little quicker? They have no problem in manufacturing all the other doo doo they make. Its a scam im thinking. And I also seen people, while waiting on line to get one, were being robbed right in front of the store!