Ben-DutkaWith E3 only a week away, it seems we already have price estimates for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
According to GamesIndustry International , Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes the PS4 will debut at $350 and the Xbox One will launch at $400. This is based on bill of materials figures of $275 for Sony's machine and $325 for Microsoft's.
However, Pachter added that Microsoft may offer a subsidized model, which will be cheaper if consumers agree to a subscription plan:
"We believe the ability to watch live TV from a cable, telco, or satellite set-top box through Xbox One could entice an MSO to drive subscriptions through a subsidised box in exchange for a multi-year contract. The 'always connected' requirement for the Xbox One likely means that a broadband connection will be required, suggesting to us that ISPs may have an incentive to offer a subsidy as well."
As for the Nintendo Wii U, Pachter says the company must use E3 to prove to consumers that there's still compelling software on the horizon. But if they don't, they risk losing additional share to its console competitors. Further, he had another dire prediction:
"In addition, if the Wii U's popularity does not improve by the end of the year, many third-party publishers may pass on producing games for the console. We note that EA recently announced that it had no Wii U games in development, and it remains a possibility that the publisher will abandon the platform entirely. Should other third parties follow EA's lead, the Wii U could be relegated to a first-party-only platform."
Which is precisely what I've been saying for months. But that's beside the point; the point is that the PS4 might actually be cheaper the Xbox One, and the only way for Microsoft's console to cost the same is if the consumer buys some sort of subscription package.
…oh dear.
If this is all true Microsoft are literally digging their own grave. It's like they actually want to hand over the crown to Sony this time around haha
Last edited by JJJames on 6/3/2013 1:32:52 PM
Pachter is usually wrong (like REALLY wrong; about everything) but here I hope he's right. $350 for a PS4 would demolish competition.
Why do we still listen to this guy. Pretty sure he said PS3 would never outsell 360.
Yup. He's hardly ever right about anything – anything I have ever read him say, anyway. The price point for the consoles is hardly a revelation needed by an industry insider. I read something on the net about a UK retailer posting prices of between $800 and $1,000 for the new consoles. i didn't believe that one for a second, but figured that they would be in the neighborhood of $400 to $500. The thing about the subscription is funny, to me anyway. I'm not sure if Microsoft knows this of not, but a lot of people already have subscriptions for cable, and some of them have it in order to get a better price on their internet. I don't think they are gonna totally disrupt their world to subscribe again to Microsoft. I wouldn't. Sony has it right – enjoy the services you already subscribe to for free on their system.
If this Pachters price prediction turns out to be accurate it would be a slick move for Sony to launch the PS4 at least two weeks sooner than the XB1. Imagine a full month!
OK, working backwards: While I have not had a Nintendo anything since the original NES and Gameboy I do appreciate it's place in gaming. It is something that those who are nostalgic or those with small children can usually buy and find something to entertain the family with. XBox One? The price isn't great and if you have to bundle with a cable or internet package it might move units but for those of us with a service we like or are locked to that won't translate to a huge number of sales I think. PS4? Now I had been heavy on the fence about buying this one but if there is only one system and it costs $350 and I have enough Best Buy Reward Zone points it might cost me like half that amount in cash. On the other end I do want to upgrade my laptop for my biz and last year I didn't due to flood damage at home and a lack of anything that fit my needs. Hmmm… Decisions, decisions.
I'll help:
PS4!
If the ps4 comes out at 350, it will be so hard to get one, when it comes out, that it will be insane.
At 350, it will destroy all the competition.
As long as we can buy used games without any constraints.
End of line.
A major retailer here in Norway has begun taking preorders for the Xbone and PS4, and their pricing is that the PS4 is the most expensive of the two, by a good share even.
But while they themselves claim they only are gambling, they offer a price guarantee: If any of the consoles turn out to cost more they will pay the difference, if the turn out to be cheaper we get the lower price.
So, well, that's their educated guess. But it might merely be based on the price difference at the beginning of the current gen.
Last edited by Beamboom on 6/3/2013 1:55:37 PM
They're probably just basing that on the fact that the PS3 launched at a relatively high price point. The way that things are shaping up, PS4 will be a more powerful games focused machine for less money. Mark my words: requiring Kinect will be a huge disadvantage for Microsoft going forward.
If it's $350 I'll definitely be a day one purchaser. Getting very excited for the next generation.
Let's hope Pach is right for once. That would be the final nail in the cheap, plastic, MS coffin.
Amen. I always take his predictions with a grain of salt, but hopefully it's right. At $350-$400 I would buy on day one if I'm able to get my hands on it. Anything above $400 I'll just wait for some games that catch my interest i.e MGS or Gran Turismo
Yeah the other xbox requires you to buy one year of xbox live before hand. So your spending more than if you just buy the normal one.
I actually hope Pachter is right.
oh, and lets not forget Xbox Live runs you $60 a year as well.
I also think I read somewhere that MS believes they're going to 'kill' Sony at E3. heheh sounds like pride before a fall to me.
Curious fact: Stores are offering tons of price-cut LIVE subscriptions lately. I think they want to get people locked in so they have to buy a XBone to get any use out of it.
I just wish MS would give me free online play. That's all I ask. They can keep all of those other premium features locked behind a pay system if they'd like because none of those matter to me.
It's pretty lame that of every possible gaming platform out there that I can think of, MS is the only one charging you to play online. It worked for the first Xbox because it really did offer a unified approach that worked well and better than it's console competition but those days are long gone and they need to realize it.
Aha. Wellllll. I've said it lots of times and I still believe it, Sony has an extra hour in their conference to MS, I think they will use that time very well.
No chance that MS will "kill" Sony at E3. No chance.
@Akuma07
Well Sony still needs to show off what its going to look like, and im sure they'll talk about it for awhile. So that extra hour might really only end up being half hour when alls said and done. By no means am I upset, but that is the first time i heard MS is shorted time.
@Temjin,
I'm the other way round. I would rather have to pay for multiplayer and have everything else for free because I have no interest in the former, only the latter.
My big gripe eith MS is that they have single user and multiplayer things locked behind a subscription.
"They can keep all of those other premium features locked behind a pay system if they'd like because none of those matter to me. "
Aint that the friggin truth?
my brother and I (both father of 3 small kids) soley play Battlefield 3 on xbox, and he does play Netflix, but he certainly wouldn't pay for Live to play Netflix!
I am shocked over this actually. I fully expect the PS4 to be more expensive then the XBone.
I know right? I thought MS is using cheaper materials to build the xb1. Also GDDR5 is more expensive than GDDR3 so one would think the PS4 would have a higher price. Is it because everything is on one die? I'm no techie by the way.
It's probably much because of the Kinetic thing that is mandatory. That one looks pretty expensive.
You ready for this? They announce $350.00, and the crowd applauds. But wait, we find out later you then have to shell out money for the hard drive. You can purchase a 120, 250, 320, or 1TB hard drive. Base unit comes with minimal memory. Hey, it's happened before.
And speaking of which, praying they announce cheaper and or larger capacity mem cards for Vita. Thanks to plus, my 8Gig card is maxed! And I'm tired of shuffling games on and off the card.
A $350 tag on PS4 would be crazy. I was fully expecting a $399/$499 split between two models. And I'm willing to drop $499 on it.
I don't like the idea of subscription bundling for the new box though. They might not just subsidize the price, they might outright offer a free XBone for a 3 year contract. You see it all the time with cell phone service providers, and they've got the world duped.
I'm liking his predictions, now let's hope it's true, PS4. Xbox-One on the other hand no way, not interested in those features.
I was expecting a PS4 launch price similar to the original PS3's and if that was the case then I'd be happy to continue enjoying my PS3 till the end of its greatness. However, with a price of $400 or less, I might find myself in line for the the PS4 a lot sooner than expected!
Pachter is the John Madden of analysts. "If they don't sell more, they're in trouble." And this guy gets paid for this. Nintendo is going to be just fine and EA will come crawling back like the bums they are. I'm basing this purely on exclusives of the three new consoles.
Last edited by n/a on 6/3/2013 6:50:06 PM
You're basing 3rd party support on first party exclusives?
The only way this makes sense is if Sony is going for the jugular next gen. Maybe Sony is going to take a huge loss on each console where you need to buy 4 games for it to be profitable to Sony. Nintendo said that they only needed to sell one game for the WiiU to be profitable. If this is true and I highly doubt it Sony will win the next gen. I still think Sony will win the next gen with a $500 console. We'll find out in 1 week. The best part about these shows is all the juicy tidbits that are leaked prior to the show!
Hey, i would be more than happy to buy a PS4 for $350 USD.
Wow. 350 eh? If this is true, Sony is seriously gearing up for the one-shot kill. I was planning on buying a ps4 already, but this will seal the D1 purchase.
you beautiful man patcher. so bright. so all-knowing. so gentle. prophet patcher
I am not buying the prediction but the MS budget system sounds plausible and most likely based on what MS presented. Which is why I said before that I think they may have some big surprises at E3. Not saying they will for sure, but…
Sony had better have some big lineup of games at the E3 show, because I really think MS is going to come out blazing now, especially based on the reaction people had about the new system reveal.
Come on Sony… don't let us down.
Keep Playing!
It just came to my mind that M$ could, very well could, try to have plans about the xbone being a subsizdized promotional gift for cable subscribers.
I can totally see something like this: Sign up for 2-years Cox Advanced TV and get an Xbox One for only $99.
But my doubt grows simply in the fact nothing like this has been leaked.
Sony are probably mindful that there are plenty of PS3 owners who aren't ecstatic about the hardware being used in the PS4 so if they want to entice those gamers they need to price accordingly.
dunno about the prices, seem a bit too cheap to me especially considering the high prices of other electronic equipment.
but rumors say the xbox one comes with 2 controllers and the kinect, the ps4 only one and the camera is a separate item so it being cheaper is obvious.
million dollar question is what extortionate price will $ony slap on that camera?
as for ninty its hard to judge where they are on a third party standpoint.
on one hand you have ubisoft and EA throwing bile at them, on the other you have bayonetta 2 a wiiu exclusive, SEGA has made the next 3 sonic games wiiu exclusive.
so on one side you have third parties hating the wiiu, and on the other side you have third parties loving it.
ill bet the exclusives are just due to a big heavy unmarked briefcase which "fell off the back of the truck".
but eh only time will tell.
not that it really matters though, all ninty need to do is announce a new 3D mario, super smash brothers, mario kart, and they will get through the year.
and they have already confirmed said games as playable at E3, along with the HD remake for zelda so they will scrape through.
its funny ninty really rushed the wiiu to try release it a year ahead of next gen systems, but that in turn has been its nail in the coffin.
a few days after their pre E3 nintendo direct vid released, a interview was done with their ceo and he said so many games are behind schedule because they had to pull staff off internal games and put them on the hardware development team so it would be ready for the launch.
so instead of it releasing a year ahead being a advantage, its kinda doomed them.
shame, they really should of had at least a new donkey kong and kirby game out by now.
ninty has so many famous 2D series which are really quick and easy to make, so why not utilize that?
you can understand and forgive zelda, 3D mario, metroid, games which would take a while to release.
but WTF are they doing a remake of donkey kong country returns for the 3DS and not wiiu!?
seriously ninty, what the %$#@!!!!!!
The PS4 Eye is already confirmed to be included with every PS4.
Patcher only makes these predictions just so he's heard. How is he even involved in the game industry? He works for Wedbush securities which I don't think are involved in the video game industry either? unless someone can say different? Just because he's an analyst doesn't mean we have to listen to him. Take everything he says with a pinch of salt.
@jugheadjones
I'm one of those who have a cable subscription. My package is much cheaper when I have the cable, internet and phoneline in one. Here in the UK everything needs a landline to have internet. I don't use a landline as I have a business contract on my mobile. I changed providers for my internet to Virgin where you don't need a landline for internet, they said to me if I opt for landline my package will be cheaper. For what reason will I want to pay for a subscription to watch cable through the xbox one? Never go through third party on anything
Oh the subsidies. Hilarious. I'm doing everything in my life to get away from subsidies…they all cost more in the long run which = horrible financial stewardship.
I could go see a fortune teller and i would get the same kind of " professional " opinion .
Last edited by berserk on 6/7/2013 2:34:59 PM