In answer to the topic question, yes. In the UK, the price of the N64 was cut from £250 to £150 after two months, that's a 40% drop.
In answer to the topic question, yes. In the UK, the price of the N64 was cut from £250 to £150 after two months, that's a 40% drop.
Sad this got derailed into a cost of a PC vs a console argument as this isn't what the thread was over. That said price is a big concern once you leave the realm of the console fanboy and technophiles. Few in their right mind would rush out and drop $400, $500, $600+ on a system with no games and just the crap in the box. Sony learned this super well with the $600 PS3 that didn't sell for shit until it came off that $200 and then it picked up steam like crazy with all the unique properties Sony owns (much like NIntendo) with many diverse games so it overcame the 360 in time (much like how Genesis started first and then SNES creamed it in later years.) The thing is MS is copying Sony's stupidity in arrogance and price, but unlike Sony not offering up anything you can't get on a medium capable computer (Titanfall) to make it worthwhile short of being a MS fanboy, or a willing technophile who has to have it all and can wait for the few MS exclusives they make. At that point damn right a PC looks better, and even a middling one for little over the expense of the One, can do more and is open to a couple hundred dollar video card upgrade down the line to blow it away -- and this thing can do more than games and xbl gimmies as it's a PC.
The thing is this argument was about the One being flogged on the resale market. NOt even the WiiU was that beaten down after launch to dump machines at such a loss and while it did, it wasn't that steep and came more in a trickle as the months went by and more third parties threw Nintendo under the bus with their horseshit about systems before games which is unheard of in new console releases. Nintendo staved off the percentage bleed lowering the system price, and effectively lowering it a lot more with bundles if you intended to buy the games (like the $250 WiiU with $90 in Super Mario U/Luigi U) throw in the box on an actual disc making the Wii U a whopping $190.)
Consumers do base purchases on price, the majority do at least, which is why people don't in general all rush off like idiots and pay day one pricing on a system and a good many wait on that first or even second price drop a year or two in on average because they can save a heap and have a ready library of choice instead of waiting on it. I did it with PS3, got one when Circuit City failed for $400 tax included out the door with 3 games and component cables too having saved like 30-40% on it all. I wanted it but waited on a price I'd pay (300 on the system) and it suited me just fine. With my Wii up for sale now since that thing went down in embarassing flames it is my only system for that generation now.
The whole three companies monopoly of the past dozen plus years or so just needs to end. One of those companies needs to go (hopefully not Nintendo), and a new one needs to step in (and no, Ouya doesn't count).
Yeah I sure don't feel screwed for purchasing a brand new $499 60 GB PS3 during it's first price drop the summer after it came out with all the bells and whistles they removed later on. At the time the nearly full BC was awesome, it eliminated the need for buying and managing PS1 & PS2 memory cards anymore. Instead I could assign each individual game to a separate digital card that cost me nothing and know what's on it by its title. Then lots of great PS3 games eventually came out. If mine died on me nowadays it wouldn't kill me because I could get a slim or super slim for cheap by then, as I have a PS1 and PS2, but at the time the BC and nearly infinite memory cards for old systems, plus wireless controller made it the most convenient way to play classic Playstation and Playstation 2 games.Originally Posted by WCP
The thing with the Xbox One and PS4 is that there is no legacy support to use as an incentive to buy. I think the Xbox problems of the past and the bad DRM idea made the new one less desirable and because of the improvements made in the PS3 library from 2008 to date, people are thinking that the PS4 won't let them down after all.
And oh yeah, I will probably buy a Wii U before the other consoles because it costs less and I still want to play those Mario games.
[quote name='Shidou Mariya' date='Nov 17 2010, 10:05 PM' post='4889940']
I'm a collector, but only to a certain extent.
Not as extreme as Rickstilwell though.[/quote]
I could see Nintendo going handheld only if their next console attempt isn't a huge success. I can't see them getting out of video games anytime soon.
Diabetes Sucks!
Nintendo won't bail but I"ve been talking about this for awhile with a few people usually of decent cred on such matters and I can see with the way Nintendo of consoles is going and Nintendo of handhelds going, if they need one more reality check failure on a home system, they'll go towards aping the designs of Ouya, Amazon, Madcatz and specifically the Neo-Geo X design.
Create a very potent handheld in the up to $300 range in price, but taking the playbook of Tommo and not fucking it up, create a TV docking system or a transmission box (Wii U with the guts moved to the tablet mostly) for your home entertainment system. Imagine a thing as juicy as a PS3 or so in your hands, but then it can be docked to a system with a wireless bluetooth controller, or it's a transmission box taking inputs off the handheld itself and casting that to the TV. You can put yourself in your own true niche market because your handheld and your console are one in the same. Don't like playing on a handheld but like the games, no big deal, or the other way around. Just dock the thing or never use the dock and you're covered. No longer wishing Zelda Link Between Worlds was a Wii U game or that Pikmin 3 wasn't on a handheld. Just one system, power is in your palms, and then a secondary device that docks it to use a controller or is a receiver to cast a 720p or better image to the TV it's plugged into. Games, those can either asininely be straight to the system in storage as some of these jerks want to go to for control reasons, or the next size up in evolution off the 3DS game cards which get into many GB in size.
Sure you wouldn't get a damn thing ported to it from what Sony and MS has, but that hasn't harmed 3DS not getting what the Vita does or DS vs the PSP. Nintendo owns the handheld market and has a brain with that department to keep it in control, so it would make sense to merge the two and just flip the bird to the third parties, media infants and hater game players wishing them dead on consoles. Just remove the problem from the equation.
That wasn't my intention. My main point was that consumers are more comfortable around the $300 price point for consoles. The part about PCs was just one possible explanation why consoles are harder to sell around the $500-$600 price point.
There was an earlier mention about the 3DO dropping heavily in price. It might have actually sold well at their original price if there wasn't as much competition at the time. At that time there was also the SNES, Genesis, TurboGrafx, CD-i, and Neo Geo to compete with. At the time of the 3DO's launch all of those were already available and pretty much established, and several were priced way cheaper with plenty of good games already available for those platforms. The 3DO still stuck around after the PS1 launched, and died before the N64 launched.
It's not like with today's problems with the Xbox One. There's only two other consoles to compete with, it doesn't have the same excuse.
Used Xbox One consoles are selling around $300-$350 used. Seems in line with what I was saying about console prices and what consumers are comfortable with. The Wii U already started around $300-$350 new, there's not much to go lower to stay around that price for used consoles, not when comparing it to the drop needed for higher priced consoles.
£250 would have been quite a bit back in 1997. Just looking at historical exchange rates from back then, two months after launch, that would have been equivalent to over $400 US or over $560 Canadian.
So just create a modern equivalent to the Sega Nomad or TurboExpress? It could work. I'd be happy enough with a new portable, connecting it to the TV would just be a bonus.
Wow. Call me crazy, but judging any console based on its "resale value" is inane.
Last time I checked, people purchased consoles to play games. Not to turn around and sell them while expecting a return. We're not talking about cars here, we're talking about video games.
I couldn't give a shit about the "resale value" of my games or hardware because I like to play video games, instead of worrying about depreciation (or appreciation).
Times have changed I guess, I just can't see how anyone can treat video games as an investment. It didn't used to be that way. Some of the attitudes towards gaming these days are really sad and miss the whole point of gaming - enjoyment.
Host of the Retro Game Squad Podcast - check it out at www.retrogamesquad.com
Look, obviously video gaming isn't a wise investment. We all know that our $59.99 game purchase (which is usually about $65 after tax), is worth about $45 the second we remove the shrink wrap. The value just continues to plummet from there.
However, on the hardware side, obviously a used system will always sell less than a brand new one, but still, I've never seen it like this. It's not like I need to sell my Xbox One or something, and this is really hurting me financially. This isn't the case. I'm not really being affected by it in any direct way, because I know at some point I'm going to want a Xbox One, so might as well have one now... right ? ( at least that's what I tell myself to go to sleep at night... jk)
Still, this is one of those times when I wish I wasn't such a hardcore early adopter type. Early Adopters always get screwed to some degree, but this one takes the cake. If somebody right now was interested in jumping on the Xbox One bandwagon, for $350 cash straight up, they can probably get the unit with everything normally included, and even a game or two thrown in, or possibly an extra controller. That's pretty amazing when you think about us suckers that paid well over $500 with tax and everything, and we didn't get any extra games or anything.
I guess it's just a case of buyers remorse. I just wish I waited about 6 months before buying it. Could have saved myself a nice $200 or more. Oh well, shizznit happens.
I just don't like feeling like I'm pissing away money. It's why I usually wait until I can find a console at a yard sale before I buy one.
For other people it could be something more practical. If someone buys a console but is always tight on cash, thinking about how much you could recoup a few months later could be something to consider. For whatever reason, it seems like a large chunk of people who buy games new at release either sells or trades them in soon afterwards.
The Saturn dropped a hundred dollars in price between May when it launched and September when they had to compete with the PSX. I'm still mildly pissed about that. Oh, take a free Virtual Fighter Remix, yeah, that makes it all up to me...
But I'm feeling much better now!
This is is part of what I'm talking about. I get it. You buy the console, it then drops in price and you feel cheated. I understand the sentiment.
But it's not like this is a surprise. We all knew then and know now, that when a console is released, there will be a price drop. Why get miffed over it? Either wait until the price drops to a point you're ok with or just buy it now and enjoy it.
I was in the exact same position with the Saturn. I bought it at launch for $400, and it then dropped in price a month or so later. I wasn't upset in the least, and I've never regretted that decision. I played and enjoyed that Saturn so damn much, that I felt like I got more than my money's worth.
My point is that getting hung up on price drops and the value of your stuff is a waste of time, you can't see the forest for the trees. If you want to get your money's worth, enjoy the games. That is really the whole point of gaming, is it not?
Host of the Retro Game Squad Podcast - check it out at www.retrogamesquad.com
Combine that with their asinine scorched earth policy on all their past hardware that still was raking them in good money (Game Gear and Genesis) and is it any wonder why they get little respect anymore? That Sega games throughout the life of ebay have gotten junk in value compared to Nintendo, Sony and others except on certain titles amounting to just a few percent of the pie. And that Sega has enough trouble moving their games on compilation packs and those atgames systems. That's what Sega is reduced to and had they not infuriated all their 8/16bit fans except for the most forgiving and diehard types.
The thing is though this Saturn item isn't a good comparison, the 3DS would be the closest with the $70 price drop to the Saturn. MS hasn't lowered the price, but the resale value on it still while it is at $500 is like a 40-45% cut in value and that's wretched at best. The thing is blastprocessing is right there, whatever the price, are you enjoying the games it does have to get a value from it?
I never once felt completely burned by the 3DS drop. I was a bit annoyed, but when they announced a greater value in free download games that would remain (still) exclusive I was fine with it while I know many others were not. Look what they charge for GBA games on the WiiU now, and times that by 10 on the GBA "Freebie" because at least they did some justice unlike Saturn with the VF throw away.
Saturn games hold their value very well and it has several titles that are quite expensive. There are several titles on the Sega CD that demand a somewhat hefty price as well.
Some of the Playstation's expensive titles have come down in price. You can now get Suikoden for less than $40 with a little shopping around.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/PS1-PLAYSTAT...item19ebf47bd5
Last edited by Gamevet; 05-01-2014 at 09:26 PM.
I said some titles do, but on the whole the Sega stuff is cheap as all get out to pick up. It hasn't got the raging pain in the ass bump Nintendo and TG16 has received. I'm not denying some titles are holding their value at least or near that, some over.
The odd thing is that Nintendo's own titles demand such excessive prices, even though a lot of those titles have a lot of copies out in the wild. Sega's titles don't seem to demand such a high price on the market, and that is somewhat weird. The 3rd party titles, between the two, seem to match up well in pricing though.
Very true, and Sega is to blame, not their third parties. Funny how that works out.
Probably at least a supply/demand situation too though.
I go to almost any store and there are Xbox 1's right there for you to pick up new. PS4's eh not so much. That's real hit/miss from my general looking around.
I like my XB1 but it doesn't get a lot of play time lately. Though that's World of Tanks 360's fault not its. Very much looking forward to Wolfenstein the New Order.
Used consoles usually take a hit and asking someone 400+ for a readily available new console seems a bit of a stretch to me. Especially considering the great press the 360 got over the RROD. Some people are genuinely leery of a used console.
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