The last three consoles to be released have been launch window failures. That’s an oversimplification, of course, success and failure are difficult to quantify and judging too early in a console’s life is foolish. But the 3DS, PS Vita and Wii U have all had some form of struggle in the early stages of their availability. So how can the PlayStation 4, and next Xbox, avoid making similar mistakes?
The 3DS, it could be argued, suffered a little bit of brand confusion. plenty of less well-informed customers assumed it was just another iteration in the DS line – like a DSLite or a DSi. A different name could have helped there but it’s also possible to argue that the iteration in nomenclature for the Game Boy series (Colour, Advance, etc.) didn’t harm that device.
I think this problem (and it appeared again with the Wii U) is more a case of shifting public expectations. The iterative approach to hardware releases that has been adopted by Apple and every other smartphone manufacturer in recent years means that the public is now well used to a situation whereby the iPhone 5 still basically works like an iPhone 4. [drop]The device number doesn’t mean too much for a year or two so there’s no pressing urgency to upgrade for the vast majority of users (aside from gadget lust…).
The area in which this issue is most likely to rear its head for next-gen consoles is with backward-compatibility and, perhaps more pressingly, with the migration of our digital libraries. Many of us will expect our current games to work on any new console we buy and we’ll also want some way to transfer our PSN or XBLA purchases onto the hard disk (we assume there’ll still be hard disks!) of our shiny new consoles.
If Sony and Microsoft can assure early adopters that their existing libraries will be transferrable, that’s got to be a bonus. If they can launch their new consoles and have that plentiful selection of downloadable games all ready to buy and play on it, that will be even better for the marketing campaigns leading up to launch. Nintendo’s recent attempts to circumnavigate this issue by charging a small fee for repurchasing Virtual Console games (albeit with updated features) on a Wii U is certainly not ideal, although Sony and Microsoft are sure to be looking on keenly to see how successful that scheme is with customers.
The 3DS was also too expensive when it launched, Nintendo’s subsequent slashing of the price and apology (free Virtual Console games) to early adopters acknowledges that. That’s something that Sony apparently didn’t learn from when they launched the Vita (which is surely due a sales-invigorating price cut by now?) and it could be argued that cost has been a factor in the Wii U’s less than impressive start.
It’s going to be very difficult for the new consoles to keep prices down while still offering a hardware package that shows a significant and easily noticeable boost on this generation’s performances. Consumers are likely to be more careful with their disposable income in the current economy but they’ll also be comparing pricing to those subsidised smartphone deals they see. A brand new iPhone is free, if you sign up to a contract, so why should a PlayStation 4 cost £400? To those of us who are better informed, the answers are obvious but to the vast majority of consumers? They’ll just see a price ticket that represents a significant outlay for most.
[drop2]Surely both Sony and Microsoft must learn from the 3DS’ price cut, as well as the Vita and Wii U’s slow starts, and do all they can to keep consumer costs low. A successful launch period and the confidence that instils in third parties is imperative to keeping momentum throughout the first year of sales and avoiding the problem we’ve seen with some third party publishers showing a lack of enthusiasm for a system, in spite of previous endorsements (BioShock Vita, Rayman Legends, even GTA V Wii U?).One possible way around this is to subsidise console sales. In a similar way to smartphone sales being propped up by their lengthy contracts, consoles could be offered with similar subscriptions. Buy a PlayStation 4 for £100 if you sign up to a 2 year contract with Gaikai streaming and PSPlus for £15 per month – a total purchase price of £480 but spread over 2 years. That idea might be a little far fetched, given the infrastructure that would need to be established to make it work (credit agencies, administration centres, etc.) but it would make for a much more attractive initial proposition for many consumers and that could translate to a vastly more healthy install base to tempt third party publishers and further invigorate ongoing sales.
Of course, it’s possible that new consoles will fully justify their launch price and that marketing teams will do an exemplary job of presenting the new machines to a potential customer base which has more access to information than ever before. Perhaps everything will fall into place for new launches and perhaps the companies involved have already learned from perceived mistakes of the past.
Hopefully we’ll start to see some details about new consoles soon and we’ll be able to make our own minds up about how much we’re willing to pay for them and how easy they are to differentiate from existing machines. Time will tell and we’re all hoping for an exciting product reveal and launch window but there are new challenges to face this time around and the ways in which both companies address those challenges may well be the deciding factor in how successful the new generation of consoles will be.
cc_star
Biggest challenge is making sure you can get people interested enough to buy it & its games.
Making sure it doesn’t ‘Vita’
eg. The masses which bring the profits have disappeared & get their kicks elsewhere leaving a smaller niche.
Business models will be just as much key as the box of chips itself.
It’s going to be interesting to see what their plans are, because it HAS to be more than a £300 box that plays £40 games.
bacon_nuts
Hopefully Sony with their new advertising firm deal can get people interested. Would be hard to do worse than the crying baby we had at PS3’s start period.
Avenger
Problem is that the 3DS is likely cheaper to build than a Vita. Vita’s cost much money as to sell them for £230 is pretty good considering quite a few smartphones have less power and tech and cost twice as much.
Sony can’t always think about the customer in these cases though, production costs, short and long term margins have to be accounted and because of that PS4 will be the price Sony decide it to be. If that price is a lot then that’s that. After the PS3 costing £425 I certainly think Sony will think more economically about their new design to aim for an amicable lower amount of cost.
The one thing that will certainly build things up is a nice array of launch titles. The handheld market isn’t exactly considered first port of call but with PS4 being prime time target, shouldn’t be too hard to keep up a consistent library in the months after release; after all, the console is only as good as its games.
FBZ1501
I’ve had a PS2 and 3 on release, however I’ve got that many games to get through and a load of plus content to blast through. So it’s gonna have to be something pretty special to make me jump in on day one. I reckon I’ve easy for another two years worth of PS3 games to get through.
I love my Vita too and it will be interesting to see how this will connect with the PS4.
DigitalSuperman
I have just signed up to comment. I have been a gamer for 20 years and what I hate is that no sites seem to mention the massive changes that are killing gaming.
I remember towards the end of the Ps2 life, most new release games could be picked up for about£25-30. I went into game yesterday and I saw that most games new release games £49.99-54.99. I work and have disposable income, but would never pay that for games. On PSN £59.99 for EA’s new releases’s is shocking.
Nintendo stating that there will be no price cut for the Wi U because they sell it at a loss seems strange considering that the US get it a cheaper than we do in the uk.
In fact they also get the vita cheaper than we do.
In these chat boxes I see a growing number of people getting frustrated and saying certain publishers are not getting their money.
All of these rumours about next gen seem to frustrate more than excite
I know this seems to ramble on a bit but I am actually getting angry writing.
Gaming should be accessible to everybody, how many children can afford to spend £60 on PSN.
Corporate greed is killing console gaming.
Sympozium
I agree! the cost of a few games had certainly risen. I’m forced to just wait till the price drops or just don’t bother at bother at all. In fact I’ve moved onto PC, most of the new releases cost £30 but on consoles its like much more than that. Especially online where its the worst.
Peter Chapman
I used to think that games had gotten gradually more expensive but then I opened my PS2 copy of MGS2 and the receipt fell out – £44.99. I also recall old SNES games wildly varying in price from £35 up to £70. Part of that was because those carts had extra hardware in them, and that cost more to produce. As a consumer, though, that part of the equation isn’t really my concern. And that’s in spite of games being hugely more expensive to produce now with larger teams, more complicated engines and massive art requirements.
The US price discrepancy can also be explained away – at least partially. In the UK, our prices are quoted including sales tax (the 20 per cent VAT that’s universally applied) whereas in the US, each state has their own sales tax which is not included in quoted prices. In New York that’s something like 8.5%, in Delaware, it’s 0%. So the US price is, in reality, generally a little higher.
None of this negates your very salient points but it’s all worth considering as part of the same discussion, I think.
DigitalSuperman
I understand your point, but even with the taxes especially online the wii U and vita games are mostly cheaper in America.
I understand that business have to make a profit.
I just feel that gaming is pushing people away with escalating cost and ways of trying to syphon money out of the core gamer.
I also dislike the way some games company, developers and publishers seem so out of touch with most gamers with their PR excuses for why we should be charged more.
As I am geting older and have other responsibilities I am becoming jaded with following gaming, not gaming itself just the BS.
I have never signed up to any site, I chose TSA because of the humour, honesty in the articles and the level of maturity in the discussions.
cc_star
Be careful with direct currency conversions.
They aren’t a good way to compare cross-border costs, as they don’t take into account various factors like average wages, costs of living & lots of other things from which pricing is derived in each country.
bunimomike
Welcome aboard, DigitalSuperman. Lovely replies and I can definitely see why people are frustrated. Never has a generation felt more like they’re out for themselves as oppose to looking after the consumer than this one.
SpikeyMikey23
I very rarely buy a new game full price. I’ll very rarely pay over £30 for a new release barring Call of Duty and Fifa (generic fanboy ;) )
I had farcry 3 on release day for £28. I really want Ni No Kuni but i’m not paying £40 for it as i know damn well the price will be £20 within a month or two.
Same with the forthcoming Tomb Raider game nad whatever else is to follow in the coming months.
(it also helps that i have a massive backlog so I have more than enough to get on with while waiting for the prices to drop)
If they started selling games at £30, there would be a lot more sales and less people waiting (like me) waiting for it to drop.
Avenger
Agreed. Irrespective of how much it costs to develop a game it is a reasonable assumption that the next generation could be set to be incredibly expensive. Plus with Internet required services and DRM, more games shifting to DLC, Gaming could look to become a culture for the elite.
I have a Vita and the droughts are not so much because of content but because of high prices. The current gen is OK because there is a variety of games a different prices because the library is extensive and has been around for years.
PC is looking all the more attractive when I can buy B: infinite and Tomb raider day one for £25 a piece and build a console style PC for £300-400. The only backdrop to the PC is no trade ins.
Bilbo_bobbins
First of all DigitalSuperman, welcome to TSA. I’m sure you will find plenty of interesting articles of your interest on here.
Secondly I sort of agree with you, but I remember buying my ps2 on launch and a game then cost me £50, same with ps3. These days you can get games for less than £35 when a game is released, online anyway. In the shops its normally £40-£45 unless its COD or FIFA. Buying on PSN is still a no no, until the prices match a normal retail level.
Hopefully Sony can sort this out for the PS4 so that prices are the same on PSN, and that games are released in all parts of the world within a week of each other, instead of SCEE getting them 4 months later, or not at all in some cases.
Avenger
Its strange where people get the £50 from for PS2 launch games. All the games I got, some of them around launch window were always retail £29.99. Then PS3 it was £39.99. Same goes for PSP/Vita too: £20-30 all the way to £30-40. There may have been exceptions like GAME being money grabbing w*****rs (they are currently selling Fifa Vita for £50) but I seriously don’t recall PS2 games being £50. Maybe it was only in the first couple of years that it was like that, or maybe it was just GAME.
Mr_writer
Not going to happen. Until Digital Distribution becomes the main source of income Sony, Nintendo and MS need retail. And if the undercut then retail will refuse to sell their products.
People want Steam prices, but also want physical discs and a second hand market. But it’s that which is holding us back. Now people may think that prices will only go up with console DD.
But why would they? Lets just say discs have gone in 2020. And COD 23 is £49.99 on PSN. But a week later Battlefield 10 is coming out. Now wouldn’t it make sense to come out with a lower price?
People might not be able to buy every game. So publishers will have to be more competitive for your money, much like we see on Steam.
That’s how I see it anyway
Jakster123x
I can see a subscription model being possible for the next PlayStation. It’ll definitely look a lot more lucrative at launch than the PS3 did. I’d like to see it happen.
Mr_writer
I don’t see how that could work. Say you stop paying what are going to do? Mobiles you can cut off, what of they don’t ever connect the console online? How would they stop you using it even if you are not paying for it?
Jakster123x
Good point. I’m not sure how it would logistically work but i’d like to see an attempt at a subscription based service for Sony’s next console to entice more people in.
xdarkmagician
simple, they just pre-charge your credit card, if you don’t pay they just bill your card. They wouldn’t care about you using it, they would just bill you for the remaining balance. plus if its an always on connection it would be easy to lock your console preventing use.
ron_mcphatty
The next generation will only be the second for digital consumption and brand loyalty could be used to drive sales through the roof. Having owned PlayStations, if I had the cash to spend on either an XBox Terry or a PS4 and i was told the latter would play even just a handful of my PSN purchases then it would be an easy decision to stick with the brand.
cam the man
I’m hoping that the reason Sony has gone for ‘off the shelf’ guts for the PS4 (if rumours are correct) is not only for developers but also to keep the RRP as low as possible.
wonkey-willy
Bigger Digital Boobies….
Sad Panda
I’m more concerned about what they are changing. If the move is more enforced social networking crap alongside controller gimmicks then count me out.
I want a machine that I can play games on and can plug in/link up a couple of extra pads when my mates come round. A BluRay player included and I’m a day one buyer.
Dom El
And there’s a problem – we already get that from our PS3’s, and as others have said before with Plus, we probably have a glut of games to play through too…
Origami Killer
I just think Sony have to have a decent launch price with a strong line up of games, and more big titles planned early after launch. As well as having backwards compatibility in the launch models. Basically the same as the PS3’s launch!
The PS Vita I felt was slightly overly expensive, with a poor marketing idea for memory cards. Even though it had a great line up of games, a few months after everything went stale.