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[GribbleGrunger]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

What demographic are you speaking for here? I'm from the UK and my experience is that British people tend to follow 'what's cool' or 'trendy' at the moment regardless of price. I call them 'catalogue kids'.

 

[SmokyDave]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

A quick glance at the current market should tell you times have changed. The cheapest console is totally irrelevant, and the most expensive is the best selling by a comfortable margin.

 

[gtj1092]

It might be a good idea of them to consider cutting the price as a precaution, though. Even by just £10 or £15 - it is easier to stay in the lead than to get back up there, if the cheaper XB1s started to sway people.

The ASP for XB1 is already 306 pounds in the UK I think or at least it was during Destiny week. The XB1 has been cheaper and bundled with more games the Ps4 and the sales ratio has shifted yet. If it had this price cut wouldn't be happening.

 

[mangochutney]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

£80.

The game cost £45 at launch thanks to the new gen tax, so if you wanted FIFA you're paying a £35 premium, but you get Kinect, which people offloaded for more than that at launch (and how happy they must be feeling right now). Also remember Xbox now has exclusive FIFA content, and was the majority console of the two last gen, so people may have then had to factor in things like having many months left on Xbox Live, and so they'd be wasting it, meaning PS4 and PS+ is the more expensive proposition.

£35 should have been inconsequential, but it is the weaker hardware, it had DRM stigma yada yada.

 

[mocoworm]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

I disagree. I am a 37yr old UK gamer and the price is not important to me. I am not tight with my money and I get the games and devices that I want to own, not what is the cheapest. If it happens to be the cheapest then that is just fortuitous.

The cheapest console is totally irrelevant, and the most expensive is the best selling by a comfortable margin.

PS4 was the cheaper console for quite some time though. In fact, pretty much all the time since release.

 

[Astro Racer]

What demographic are you speaking for here?

History.

The cheapest console is totally irrelevant, and the most expensive is the best selling by a comfortable margin.

Actually, for a while the PS4 was the cheapest (By £90!), which is when it got it's foothold in the UK.

I called it before they both launched and I was right....... But now the prices have switched, leaving us with a situation that contradicts UK gaming history. An interesting time.

 

[Shin-Ra]

Two official price drops in the UK now.

 

[GribbleGrunger]

History.

Your history maybe but my 56 year history tells me a different story.

 

[SmokyDave]

Actually, for a while the PS4 was the cheapest (By £90!), which is when it got it's foothold in the UK.

I called it before they both launched and I was right....... But now the prices have switched, leaving us with a situation that contradicts UK gaming history. An interesting time.

Nope, the Wii U was always cheaper than the PS4.

Likewise, the N64 and GCN crashed and burned even though Nintendo was almost giving 'em away.

 

[TIMtationX]

Amazing...That's is really all that can be said about this.....

 

[mocoworm]

Nope, the Wii U was always cheaper than the PS4.

I was talking about current gen hardware. Wii-U is on par with last gen hardware, I think that has a factor in it's sales disaster, not just price.

Comparing like to like the PS4 has always been the cheaper console.

 

[kyser73]

A quick glance at the current market should tell you times have changed. The cheapest console is totally irrelevant, and the most expensive is the best selling by a comfortable margin.

Historically both consoles are incredibly cheap - the PS1 launch price, adjusted for inflation, is in the mid £500 range (I.e, it's fist represents about £500-ish on today's money) so in absolute terms their prices are a lot lower.

 

[Marc]

Yeah, not sure people won't just wait until Christmas for a further cut.

Sunset overdrive looks amazing but really don't see myself caving in right now, trust was really broken. Still haven't apologized and keep harking back to how visionary it all was, basically saying customers were stupid for not getting it. So can I trust them to not try and reintroduce their shitty policies? Not in the foreseeable future.

This is the UK. We don't thank people.

I disagree, but I thank you for the input.

 

[Xando]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

Explains why the Wii U does so good in the UK... oh wait.

 

[Astro Racer]

Your history maybe but my 56 year history tells me a different story.

Are you not aware that the cheapest console in every generation was the biggest-selling in the UK? (The only exception was the 360 beating the Wii recently, which is mainly because Nintendo dropped Wii support a lot faster)

I guess 56 years weren't enough to notice.

EDIT: We're bringing the Wii-U into this? lol. We still think it's a Wii add-on over here.

EDIT 3: I should probably point out that I used to work in a big Game store.

 

[AntiFacebook]

It's still 140$ more than the north American XBO

 

[SmokyDave]

Are you not aware that the cheapest console in every generation was the biggest-selling in the UK? (The only exception was the 360 beating the Wii recently, which is mainly because Nintendo dropped Wii support a lot faster)

I guess 56 years weren't enough to notice.

EDIT: We're bringing the Wii-U into this? lol. We still think it's a Wii add-on over here.

EDIT 3: I should probably point out that I used to work in a big Game store.

I can only assume your store never sold the N64 or the GameCube, as both fared terribly despite being the cheapest consoles on the market.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Sunset Overdrive sure looks nice, but there's nothing else on the platform that could interest me that isn't available on the PS4 which I already own, or on the PC (so much for the word "exclusive"). Regardless of their price I don't think I'd purchase one right now.

They have a software problem, not a pricing one, in my opinion.

That will vary from person to person, but it's not as if the PS4 is doing that much better there. Hell, until earlier this year the X1 had a better launch window of games, and nothing has happened to change things enough that the X1 now has a software problem.

 

[PureXbox]

trust was really broken. Still haven't apologized and keep harking back to how visionary it all was, basically saying customers were stupid for not getting it.

Where? Link, please.

 

[Facism]

Are you not aware that the cheapest console in every generation was the biggest-selling in the UK? (The only exception was the 360 beating the Wii recently, which is mainly because Nintendo dropped Wii support a lot faster)

I guess 56 years weren't enough to notice.

EDIT: We're bringing the Wii-U into this? lol. We still think it's a Wii add-on over here.

EDIT 3: I should probably point out that I used to work in a big Game store.

Working in a Game store doesn't really prove anything, though.

 

[Astro Racer]

I can only assume your store never sold the N64

By the time the N64 released here, the PSX had been out for years and already had become as success after destroying the more expensive Saturn It didn't stand a chance at that point.

Working in a Game store doesn't really prove anything, though.

Maybe not, but gives you a rough idea when you have to constantly tell people what a Wii-U is.

 

[DryvBy]

They might in the US and UK, where the Xbox is slowly creeping up on them.

Huh?

 

[Paganmoon]

Your history maybe but my 56 year history tells me a different story.

geez, which one of your grandkids helped you set up your Gaf account?

 

[GribbleGrunger]

geez, which one of your grandkids helped you set up your Gaf account?

LOL.

 

[Sikamikanico]

Good news for everyone in the UK that is thinking about getting one but hasn't yet taken the plunge. Really good games coming over the next couple of months.

 

[Hasney]

Are you not aware that the cheapest console in every generation was the biggest-selling in the UK? (The only exception was the 360 beating the Wii recently, which is mainly because Nintendo dropped Wii support a lot faster)

I guess 56 years weren't enough to notice.

EDIT: We're bringing the Wii-U into this? lol. We still think it's a Wii add-on over here.

EDIT 3: I should probably point out that I used to work in a big Game store.

Yup. That's why I heralded those £130 Gamecubes and XBoxes while I worked in a big Game store. Just couldn't keep them on the shelves while that PS2 gathered dust!!

...Wait

 

[Hindle]

I can only assume your store never sold the N64 or the GameCube, as both fared terribly despite being the cheapest consoles on the market.

They just need the games at the moment. A great price plus Halo, SO will see them gain some ground.

 

[kyser73]

As someone who worked in advertising when I lived in the UK, the bias is toward 'value' - a term that encompasses price-point and value-added.

People don't buy things perceived as 'cheap' so price point alone outside of some specific markets isn't enough, but if you can hang a good value proposition - game or useful accessory bundles - and a low price-point you've nailed it.

The best example of this are the skin creme & perfume bundles where you get a travel pack of skin goo with a bottle of Eau du Jordan or suchlike - people will even pay a premium if they feel they're getting enough free stuff with their purchase.

 

[Astro Racer]

Yup. That's why I heralded those £130 Gamecubes and XBoxes while I worked in a big Game store. Just couldn't keep them on the shelves while that PS2 gathered dust!!

...Wait

The PS2 and Xbox actually launched at the same price here in the UK. And the PS2 was the first to get a price drop.

... Wait indeed.

 

[EGM1966]

Interesting. I don't see Sony responding unless they see the Xbox price cut having an effect though.

Since launch in the UK the PS4 has always performed better so far as evidence shows, immediately taking the record for best launch then outselling Xbox at around a 1.5 to 1 ratio steadily which peaked recently with the 2 to 1 outsell associated with Destiny launch.

So long as the gap continues to slowly grow I doubt they'll respond. Even if the ratio of sales drops from 1.5 to 1 to 1.4 to 1 so what? Sony will still be increasing the gap just a little more slowly.

Of course if the price cut had a noticeable effect such as making sales roughly 1 to 1 or close to it then they'd probably reconsider. Right now the onus is on MS to make all the moves and so far most haven't made much impact hence Sony has ignored them : TitanFall, FIFA, lots of bundles and free games and still PS4 sells more. They're not going to treat this any different from the bundles, dropping Kinect, unless they see a reason to.

 

[twobear]

That bundle was almost £100 more expensive than the PS4 at the time...

As someone who has been a gamer in the UK for over 30 years, I can tell you that we LOVE cheaper consoles. In fact, we LOVE cheap anything. We are very tight with our money.

That'll be why GameCube did so well here then.

 

[kraspkibble]

still wouldn't buy it even if they lowered it to £250 with games. simply not interested in any exclusive xbox games.

 

[SmokyDave]

By the time the N64 released here, the PSX had been out for years and already had become as success after destroying the more expensive Saturn It didn't stand a chance at that point.

Perhaps the rule is better expressed as 'the cheapest console always wins, except when it's a Nintendo console because Fuck Nintendo'.

They just need the games at the moment. A great price plus Halo, SO will see them gain some ground.

Can't see it happening to be honest. The PS4 looks to have all the momentum. Sony don't even need to react to the moves that MS are making because they're firmly the first choice console.

Still, this industry is fucking bonkers, so never say never.

The PS2 and Xbox actually launched at the same price here in the UK. And the PS2 was the first to get a price drop.

... Wait indeed.

Launch aligned, the Xbox dropped much faster and further. Are you thinking of a different UK?

 

[Hindle]

Interesting. I don't see Sony responding unless they see the Xbox price cut having an effect though.

Since launch in the UK the PS4 has always performed better so far as evidence shows, immediately taking the record for best launch then outselling Xbox at around a 1.5 to 1 ratio steadily which peaked recently with the 2 to 1 outsell associated with Destiny launch.

So long as the gap continues to slowly grow I doubt they'll respond. Even if the ratio of sales drops from 1.5 to 1 to 1.4 to 1 so what? Sony will still be increasing the gap just a little more slowly.

Of course if the price cut had a noticeable effect such as making sales roughly 1 to 1 or close to it then they'd probably reconsider. Right now the onus is on MS to make all the moves and so far most haven't made much impact hence Sony has ignored them : TitanFall, FIFA, lots of bundles and free games and still PS4 sells more. They're not going to treat this any different from the bundles, dropping Kinect, unless they see a reason to.

Sony only care about profitability not console wars. They won't drop the price even if MS begin to close the distance, as they're making great profit at the price they're at.

 

[ascar]

the problem with xbox one right now is that no matter how much they cut their price, everybody knows that a new price cut will follow in a short time
for example I am in for the 249 euros halo 5 bundle next year

 

[twobear]

They just need the games at the moment. A great price plus Halo, SO will see them gain some ground.

Games didn't save the GameCube or the original Xbox.

I don't know what it's called in business/marketing speak, but I think Xbone is in a position where there's basically nothing that MS can do to spur sales, short of knocking the price down to £150. The market just doesn't want the product.

 

[Hindle]

Perhaps the rule is better expressed as 'the cheapest console always wins, except when it's a Nintendo console because Fuck Nintendo'.


Can't see it happening to be honest. The PS4 looks to have all the momentum. Sony don't even need to react to the moves that MS are making because they're firmly the first choice console.

Still, this industry is fucking bonkers, so never say never.

It coes down to value. Sony closed the distance with the PS3 because they started offering things such as PS Plus.

If MS start to offer the same value, they'll begin to close the distance.

 

[Cole Slaw]

Where? Link, please.

Your name is PureXbox and you're asking him for links? You should already have all the links.

Why don't you show us a link where Microsoft did apologize and didn't say that we were just fools not seeing how visionary DRM was?

 

[suedester]

Desperate? If they can drop the price comfortably then it's a move at expanding the user base by offering value. They're aiming for the price point the market will respond to.

That's just a fancy way of saying desperate.

 

[Hasney]

The PS2 and Xbox actually launched at the same price here in the UK. And the PS2 was the first to get a price drop.

... Wait indeed.

Microsoft was fairly confident in launching its first console back in 2002, when the the computing giant chose to release the Xbox at £299 ($299) – a whole £100 cheaper than its closest competitor, the PlayStation 2.

So how irked were early buyers when Microsoft announced just a month later that it would be reducing the price of the Xbox console by another £100 to £199.99 (it dropped to $199 a little later over the Atlantic)? Better yet, worldwide Xbox marketing director John O'Rouke had the audacity to admit the price drop was a "carefully planned effort" rather than an emergency procedure.

Microsoft was quick to remedy the situation by promising those who'd forked out the extra hundred a 'We're Sorry' package, which included two Xbox games and an extra controller. Unfortunately, they were Halo: Combat Evolved and Dead or Alive 3, two titles that everyone who had an Xbox and a pulse had already purchased at that point.

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/07/29/5-controversial-console-price-cuts

Then it dropped even further when the Gamecube was announced at a launch price of £149.99 (IIRC. It may have been a tenner give or take) so MS dropped the price to that, so Nintendo dropped the GC price to £129.99 so we had to ring every pre-order to tell them and ask if they wanted an extra controller or game with the money saved. Fucking telesales in a retail store.

 

[Astro Racer]

Perhaps the rule is better expressed as 'the cheapest console always wins, except when it's a Nintendo console because Fuck Nintendo'

I see you have found the UK gaming motto.

 

[ultratruman]

the problem with xbox one right now is that no matter how much they cut their price, everybody knows that a new price cut will follow in a short time
for example I am in for the 249 euros halo 5 bundle next year

Maybe this is why they're not advertising this drop. First the entry price was £429, then £399, then £349 and now £329.

 

[Paganmoon]

LOL.

Sorry

It coes down to value. Sony closed the distance with the PS3 because they started offering things such as PS Plus.

If MS start to offer the same value, they'll begin to close the distance.

Sony started "closing the distance" when it launched in Europe and RotW. It wasn't cause of PS Plus, that's for sure. Considering the market share in the US, Sony is far ahead in Europe and RotW, and that's not just cause of PS plus.

 

[JAYSIMPLE]

What's the price difference between the 2 graphics cards in the Xbox One and the ps4? Just rough model difference

 

[EGM1966]

Sony only care about profitability not console wars. They won't drop the price even if MS begin to close the distance, as they're making great profit at the price they're at.

Yeah but they'll understand part of their current strong sales is aligned to perceived desirability of the console. To maintain that they need to try and maintain view its more popular. For sure they won't respond to small changes but they might if it came close to 1 to 1 : that's dangerously close to having the market perceive the two as now equally valuable (and they know anything like that would get a lot of coverage).

Given my experience in UK retail market I'd suspect they'll try to maintain at least a 1.2 to 1 ratio if not 1.3 to 1 if at all possible.

Of course the advantage is with Sony. If this price cut doesn't change trends much it re-enforces their position and actually makes Xbox look weaker.

Personally continued Xbox price cuts are fine for me; I don't have one and would only get it for exclusives so the cheaper the better but clearly MS would hope to see some payback in terms of increases sales. They will, question is whether it's a tiny bump too small to matter or something more noticeable.

 

[twobear]

It coes down to value. Sony closed the distance with the PS3 because they started offering things such as PS Plus.

If MS start to offer the same value, they'll begin to close the distance.

Sony closed the gap because on top of improving the value of PS3, MS also completely threw the end of the generation. There is absolutely no way that Sony are going to get as complacent this generation as MS did last generation.

 

[DeFiBkIlLeR]

£299 with the Halo remix would be quite compelling this Christmas, especially for someone like me who missed out on the 360 generation of Halo games and never had Xbox live for Halo 1 & 2.

 

[Klarax]

they be giving the dam thing away free soon...

 

[kyser73]

It coes down to value. Sony closed the distance with the PS3 because they started offering things such as PS Plus.

If MS start to offer the same value, they'll begin to close the distance.

Why do you cling to this narrative? WW PS3 outsold the 360 pretty much it's whole life, even before the massive value-add of PS+ - how else could it have caught up with a year's heads tart for the 360.

MS was ahead - substantially - in the US & UK, and that's it. Globally from about 2 or 3 months from launch the PS3 outsold it.

There was never any 'catching up' - that's a US-centric narrative that ignores actual facts.

 

[goonergaz]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2011/07/29/5-controversial-console-price-cuts

Then it dropped even further when the Gamecube was announced at a launch price of £149.99 (IIRC. It may have been a tenner give or take) so MS dropped the price to that, so Nintendo dropped the GC price to £129.99 so we had to ring every pre-order to tell them and ask if they wanted an extra controller or game with the money saved. Fucking telesales in a retail store.

Yes, I recall getting not only the rebate but the selection of free games

It's take a similar situ for me to get XBO - or a sub £200 deal