That game companies don't sell consoles for what they're worth, but rather what the consumer expects. This is *not* the norm how most every other company sells their products (ex. you won't see automotive companies selling cars and trucks for less than it cost to make them, and if they do you better believe they're gonna make it up somewhere else, like with next year's model). Console makers make their $ with software, period. They always have, mainly because technology has a nasty habit of becoming obsolete very quickly (and because the console is worthless without software
). As someone else mentioned, the launch price slowly comes down over time, and this is for a number of reasons:
* Cost of manufacturing the console is reduced due to cheaper parts, or via a redesign (consolidating parts, removing parts/features, etc.)
* Company can afford to lower it due to increases profits from software or other areas of their business
* Increased pressure from competitors (i.e. price war, newer systems being introduced, etc.)