• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

Are people who whine about console prices a bit ridiculous?

Are people drama queens when it comes to cost?

  • Total voters
    219
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
I mean lets be real here, why does the cost even matter one way or another when in reality it will still be affordable regardless?

  • Many, many months to possibly years of official notice/unofficial expectation of release
  • An absurd amount of time to save up regardless of what you do for a living
  • 5-7 year spans between system purchases where your initial investment lasts you half a decade or more
  • With inflation being a factor chances are whatever this "high price" is you are likely still getting a great deal cost/time relative

I just don't see the issue here. I don't think it's ever really been an issue, it just seems like people blow their financial loads on other shit without saving properly for an impending purchase, and when it comes time to actually purchase this system they're mostly strapped for cash and as a result bitch about price.

I mean even if these systems cost $600 or $700, so what? Look at the span of time for not only what you get and for how long it serves you, but also the length of notice you've had whether official or otherwise to prepare for this purchase, it's asinine.
 
Joon said:
No. Cost is important. People value their money and don't want to spend more than what is nessescary.
Click to expand...
Who is to say what is necessary? People have this delusional expectation that nothing ever exceed $500 when this same expectation has existed for the last 20 years while the value of money has plummeted, costs have increased, and yet that figure has not moved to factor in inflation or costs.

I think people are entitled and full of shit.
 
Last edited:
Are consumers wrong to have opinions on the products they want to buy?

No, obviously not. Sensible adults care about things like budgeting and living within their means.

If a company doesn't bare these kind of things in mind with their pricing, they will fail to earn sales.
 
The problem comes from expectations. If you have paid £1 for a pint of milk for so long, you get upset when you suddenly have to pay £2.

But that's milk.

If the milk is of a superior quality and is 3tf faster, I will easily pay the £1 extra. Fuck your poor man milk, I want the best.
 
It's usually not a case of being able to afford it if you choose to but if you think it's worth investing that much into it. If you think it's worth it go for it and have fun and enjoy your time with it rather than dwell on other people disagreeing and opting to spend their money elsewhere that you may not think is worth investing in turn.

As if consoles are the only thing, for entertainment purposes or otherwise, that people consider and budget for in advance, to say that adding yet another thing on that list should be a no brainer anyone should shut up and do just because you put that much focus on it and its positive effects on your life or something. Just chill.

I like how you ask a mild question and make it a poll at that but still just state it's an "asinine" and "full of shit" attitude and opinion as a conclusion, lol! It sounds like you can't deal with what other people do with their time and money. That's more than a bit ridiculous if you ask me, maybe make a poll about that yourself and see.

I guess you'd flip out finding out current consoles for me and others weren't worth investing into, full price or discounted over years, yet more "expensive" gaming PC components or weekends abroad or nice armchairs, were. Guess what, that happens all the time, with games or other shit like vacation. Not everyone is you dude.
 
Last edited:
DynamiteCop! said:
Who is to say what is necessary?
Click to expand...

The person spending their money.

DynamiteCop! said:
People have this delusional expectation that nothing ever exceed $500 when this same expectation has existed for the last 20 years while the value of money has plummeted, costs have increased, and yet that figure has not moved to factor in inflation or costs.

I think people are entitled and full of shit.
Click to expand...

Sony & MS are free to price their products at whatever they see fit. But they don't go too high because they know not enough people would buy it at those prices. It is what it is. Let 'em release a $700 console and see what happens.
 
Last edited:
I cannot recall I ever whined about a new console's price to be honest. If something was a bit expensive to my liking, I just waited; there must be a reason for a console's high initial pricing. And if something was really worth it, it didn't even cross my mind to complain. See the first PlayStation for example, or the Xbox 360.
 
Stilton Disco said:
Are consumers wrong to have opinions on the products they want to buy?

No, obviously not. Sensible adults care about things like budgeting and living within their means.

If a company doesn't bare these kind of things in mind with their pricing, they will fail to earn sales.
Click to expand...
There's nothing sensible about ignoring budgeting, not seeing the value proposition and use case relative to time. There's nothing sensible about the expectation of loss on the end of a company while clamoring for more power time and time again. You don't want consoles to cost more yet you fail to account for the extenuating economical standing, you don't want games to cost more even though they cost fathoms more to produce and have been the same cost for nearly two decades.

There's a lot of entitlement that doesn't root itself in reality, that purposefully ignores all of the aforementioned and still wants these things to stay fixed in price.
 
Last edited:
I think they are great value for money but respect that they are expensive for some, especially when you have a family to look after.
 
Joon said:
The person spending their money.



Sony & MS are free to price their products at whatever they see fit. But they don't go too high because they know not enough people would buy it at those prices. It is what it is. Let 'em release a $700 console and see what happens.
Click to expand...
You still think this is 1993 with the release of the 3DO, that $700 shocker cost relative with inflation is $1,250 now.

Do you know what $700 now was relative to then? $390, no one bothers to think for even a second about these things.
 
when people are paying more than £1000 for a phone I do think its a bit silly to moan about console prices which lifespan outlasts a phone. End of the day if you want top end performance out of a console there is a cost. if your happy with a minor upgrade then it will be cheaper
 
JupTLYt.jpg
 
The price is the most important thing at the beginning of a new gen. Sony dropeed from 160 million PS2 to 85 million PS3 because the it was too expensive and Microsoft lost this gen because of the price.

While 100 bucks don't seem to be that much, just think for how many people it's a shitload of money.
 
Haha what a coincidence. Once it might be real that the PS5 will be very expensive and much more expensive than the series x albeit being 30% less powerful, suddenly we see a thread downplaying a high price of a console :D

Again, just think about it bruh:

you have

a) console 1 being $100 more expensive than console 2
b) console 1 is 30% less powerful than console 2
c) no worthwhile exclusive games at launch on either platform

why would you choose to buy console 1 AT LAUNCH (Not in like 5 years when there might be a handful exclusive games on console 1)- no - AT LAUNCH - why would you choose console 1 over console 2?
 
DynamiteCop! said:
I mean lets be real here, why does the cost even matter one way or another when in reality it will still be affordable regardless?

  • Many, many months to possibly years of official notice/unofficial expectation of release
  • An absurd amount of time to save up regardless of what you do for a living
  • 5-7 year spans between system purchases where your initial investment lasts you half a decade or more
  • With inflation being a factor chances are whatever this "high price" is you are likely still getting a great deal cost/time relative

I just don't see the issue here. I don't think it's ever really been an issue, it just seems like people blow their financial loads on other shit without saving properly for an impending purchase, and when it comes time to actually purchase this system they're mostly strapped for cash and as a result bitch about price.

I mean even if these systems cost $600 or $700, so what? Look at the span of time for not only what you get and for how long it serves you, but also the length of notice you've had whether official or otherwise to prepare for this purchase, it's asinine.
Click to expand...

Yes, asking people to find $600-$700 just to enter this hobby with an entry level console is a bit ridiculous, and the market sides with me. A console over $400 has never succeeded until the price dropped to $400 or less. Given inflation and the economy, you might be able to try a $500 price tag with the upcoming generation, but I think even that will slow new console adoption. The industry seems to agree on this as well, given Microsoft and Ubisoft's comments about all their titles being cross-gen for a while.
 
Last edited:
Heinrich said:
Haha what a coincidence. Once it might be real that the PS5 will be very expensive and much more expensive than the series x albeit being 30% less powerful, suddenly we see a thread downplaying a high price of a console :D

Again, just think about it bruh:

you have

a) console 1 being $100 more expensive than console 2
b) console 1 is 30% less powerful than console 2
c) no worthwhile exclusive games at launch on either platform

why would you choose to buy console 1 AT LAUNCH (Not in like 5 years when there might be a handful exclusive games on console 1)- no - AT LAUNCH - why would you choose console 1 over console 2?
Click to expand...
Regardless of power differences, I realize $100 in the grand scope of things over a 5-7 year period means just about nothing.

Shifty1897 said:
Yes, asking people to find $600-$700 just to enter this hobby with an entry level console is a bit ridiculous, and the market sides with me. A console over $400 has never succeeded until the price dropped to $400 or less. Given inflation and the economy, you might be able to try a $500 price tag with the upcoming generation, but I think even that will slow new console adoption. The industry seems to agree on this as well, given Microsoft and Ubisoft's comments about all their titles being cross-gen for a while.
Click to expand...
$500 now is less than the cost of the original PlayStation in 1994/1995... Inflation is almost everything, people need to start extrapolating cost with inflation because it's a moving target, and they need to lose this nonsensical belief that this magical number which can't be surpassed should remain frozen in time.
 
Last edited:
DynamiteCop! said:
Regardless of power differences, I realize $100 in the grand scope of things over a 5-7 year period means just about nothing.

$500 now is less than the cost of the original PlayStation in 1994... Inflation is almost everything, people need to start extrapolating cost with inflation because it's a moving target and lose this nonsensical belief that this magical number which can't be surpassed should remain frozen in time.
Click to expand...

A lot of people didn't buy the PlayStation until the price dropped. I was definitely one of them. You can talk about inflation all you want, but to most Americans today, $500 is a lot of money to spend on a toy. I don't even spend $500 on new cell phones.

Good on you for being wealthier than the average American I guess, I'll see you online on my PS5 when I buy one for $400 or less.
 
Last edited:
At a wild guess, I can't see the next gen consoles costing less than £450. It would be suicide going over £500 though. Just don't be expecting a £350 machine like last time (unless the Microsoft rumours about having 2 consoles is true) and they'll be OK. These consoles will probably be like the 7th gen and last 7 years before the next one or even longer with a mid gen refresh.
 
Last edited:
Comparing phones and consoles is ridiculous and so is telling people how they should view the value proposition of a new console. Its Sony's/ MS's job to convince us we need one.

Consoles will be priced accordingly, they always are. What will be interesting, is where will prices of games go? Personally, I think a 10 or 15 dollar rise is reasonable.
 
So people are entitled and full of shit when they think the equivalent of $5-600 is a lot of money for a console? I personally don't whine about the prices, but that statement is pretty fucking rich!
 
Lupin3 said:
So people are entitled and full of shit when they think the equivalent of $5-600 is a lot of money for a console? I personally don't whine about the prices, but that statement is pretty fucking rich!
Click to expand...
When you factor in that $500 to $600 now is the equivalent of what consoles cost previously then yes; people are entitled and full of shit.

They're bitching about spending the same amount of money, the dollar value has changed but the relative cost has not.
 
farmerboy said:
Comparing phones and consoles is ridiculous
Click to expand...
I agree. Expensive phones are status symbols in real life, a PS5 not. Actually it's the opposite. Imagine dating a girl, showing off a 1.500 phone is not a bad thing, telling her you got a PS5 at home is. It's not much better than telling her you still live in your parents cellar and have no job.

People like to show off things and they are willing to pay extra bucks just for that. Otherwise you want the best bang for your buck.
 
Joon said:
No. Cost is important. People value their money and don't want to spend more than what is nessescary.
Click to expand...

And that mindset is what's giving you subpar hardware for poor money. Aka holding the industry back.

Better yet, you don't need to buy a console, just play on your phone.
 
DynamiteCop! said:
When you factor in that $500 to $600 now is the equivalent of what consoles cost previously then yes; people are entitled and full of shit.

They're bitching about spending the same amount of money, the dollar value has changed but the relative cost has not.
Click to expand...

So production cost is irrelevant? A new console can't cost as much or less than the previous iteration? I don't think people are "bitching" about spending the same amount of money, but rather think that $500 is still a lot of money regardless of inflation!
 
I think so.

In 6-7 years, how much money people put into mobile phones, for example? Certainly much more than into a video game console. Most people buy new phones every 2-3 years.

Now, how much more bang for the buck one gets out of a phone(s) versus a console?

I really hope that the age of cheap consoles will be over with the upcoming generation.
 
What a silly thread.... Most people value their money differently and if someone wishes/wants to pay less for a unnecessary product, that's their choice. Why you're questioning that?


Also, for Sony, MS and Nintendo, "hardcore gamers" that will pay 1000 usd or something.... Are not that important as the mass market... See Wii, 360 and Ps3.

Is this your first generation? You should read about the others... In every single other generation, the cheaper console always won.
 
Last edited:
Well people don't wanna overpay. Price is very important.
There's a big difference between 400 and 500 usd. You can buy 2 games for that 100 bucks difference.
 
Hahaha! Lets condemn these ridiculous whining peasants because they would like to buy something but are prevented from doing so because it is out of their financial reach! Lol!

DifficultRegalHogget-size_restricted.gif
 
This thread is a perfect example of why a 2 console (high spec and low spec) approach is a good idea. Different customers want different things and with one single sku you cannot appeal to everyone.
 
Last edited:
I don't mind if its a bit pricey than before given the extra feature added to the console. I think $500 is my limit with backward compatibility, blu-ray drive.
 
CeeJay said:
This thread is a perfect example of why a 2 console (high spec and low spec) approach is a good idea. Different customers want different things and with one single sky you cannot appeal to everyone.
Click to expand...
No way

I dont think its a good idea

I dont like this at all
 
Last edited:
The average attach rate of a console is less than 10. So if the console costs $500 and you buy 10 $60 games, you're essentially paying $110 for each game, plus online fees.
 
I have been thinking about this for some time. It is not just console prices, but console game prices, too. You put this cap (in the U.S., at least) of $59.99 on every new game out there, but you want better tech, faster loading times, better graphics, better writing, etc. but refuse to pay anything more it. Then whine when these devs have the nerve to charge for DLC or add microtransactions, because all of that should be free, too?

And now we have these "next gen" consoles that will have more power and abilities than anything in console history and people want to pay at least the same amount as their predecessors years ago? Ridiculous.
 
It seems pretty weird to me, especially when people drop 1000USD on cell phone which they then have for year/two with high risk of being stolen, etc. But 600USD console, ohh the horror...
 
Anyone who would write a post calling someone ridiculous for that, is even more ridiculous themselves.

It should be blindingly obvious to even the most shallow person that people have different incomes, so therefore would complain about different things art different points in their lives. Saving for a console is something a child would do. Etc.

You sound like someone who just wants to tell everyone how much disposable income they have — for whatever reason.

I'd also add that now, since games companies are skipping generations for major titles (gta) that people have every reason to get upset. AAA titles are pretty thin on the ground, and are usually so similar to each other to be practically interchangeable. they don't offer good value for money.
 
Absolutely not.

I think a current gen console is a lot of money for the average guy regardless of how you twist and turn it. You're also buying a thing that only plays video games and since most games are multi platform any games that would motivate a console purchase has to be exclusives. Exclusives you're interested in playing at that. How many games is that really?

The more of this you factor in the harder it is to motivate the purchase, especially if you're someone who $500 already is a lot for. Like, I get it, a console is a luxury good, but the value proposition is kind of poor. Especially when you factor in how much the games for these things cost.

_Justinian_ said:
I have been thinking about this for some time. It is not just console prices, but console game prices, too. You put this cap (in the U.S., at least) of $59.99 on every new game out there, but you want better tech, faster loading times, better graphics, better writing, etc. but refuse to pay anything more it. Then whine when these devs have the nerve to charge for DLC or add microtransactions, because all of that should be free, too?

And now we have these "next gen" consoles that will have more power and abilities than anything in console history and people want to pay at least the same amount as their predecessors years ago? Ridiculous.
Click to expand...
This makes no sense. The NES cost $200 bucks when it launched. Adjusted for inflation and it's probably like $450 or more. Using your argument a current/next gen console would have to cost thousands of dollars. The reality is that the hardware gets cheaper to produce and the tools for making the software gets better.
 
Last edited:
Consoles should last longer than 5-6 years. I'm not implying that every brand-new game should come out for older consoles, but since everything is so scalable right now, the gap in power matters far less than it did 30+ years ago.

I'd happily pay $600+ for a console if I knew it would get 5 steady years of games and 3+ more years of gradual decline. But game console manufacturers and the third-party publishers holding the lash would not find this acceptable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

  • Poll
Are people still excited about big Sony games in 2026?
2 3 4 5 6
286
626
Jacob4815 replied
  • Poll
Who skipped this console generation for PC?
Social  2 3
137
342
KanKamAndNob replied
  • Poll
Who all has a Series X/S console
2 3 4
194
2K
DEAD ORIGINAL replied
  • Poll
Two fundemental truths about Live Service multi-player games that people aren't talking about...
2 3
120
732
Men_in_Boxes replied
Talk a little bit about your favorite Star Wars game. Only your favorite.
2 3
103
449
Zannegan replied
Top Bottom