Anybody know the date when the PS2 hit $199 in the U.S.?
I'm curious if anybody knows the date when the Playstation 2's price was dropped to $199.99 in the U.S. Also, it would be very interesting to know how many PS2's sold before the price dropped to $199, and how many sold after that. $199 seems to very much be the mass market pricing breaking point, in terms of the highest price that Casuals are usually willing to pay.
I'm guessing it's going to take Sony a very, very, very long time to get the PS3 to that price, while Nintendo will likely launch at that price or $50 more, and the Xbox 360 core could get to that price point much sooner than later. Since the word of the two Sku's for the 360 first hit, I've always hated the idea for having a "core" 360 with no hard drive, but maybe they were actually on to something. From a pricing standpoint, it does allow them to compete much more head to head with the Revolution and to have a lower priced option for the masses. Despite my initial hatred of the core idea, it might actually be a very smart business tactic for them, and could actually help Microsoft tremendously in the long run.
I think if you look back at the History of video game consoles and pricing, that in most cases, 80 percent of the final installed base for whichever system came after the price hit $199.99 or less. Microsoft and Nintendo seem to be much more aware of this than Sony, unless Sony is very aware of it, but just saying F it, and throwing all rational thought into the garbage!
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