I think it's strange if Sony or MS can not convince people that putting down 499$ for a device that has 7-10(likely really 10 years before next console next time) year life cycle is a decent investment. Consoles are actually very good investments considering how much entertainment and utility you get out of it over the years. Pretty unparalleled in terms of high-end technology devices.
I don't think that the price point is going to be a problem if they market the devices right and continue to have increased functionality outside of gaming. It would be mistake to start out at too low of a price point, because then the device would be more vulnerable down the line to Apple etc. in terms of capability. Price can always go down, but capability is harder to scale up with consoles. It's not really a disaster if new consoles don't set the world on fire in terms of sales day 1. As long as sales are strong enough at the beginning, they can make it more and more and more attractive years to come by dropping prices, continuing the momentum.
I don't think that the price point is going to be a problem if they market the devices right and continue to have increased functionality outside of gaming. It would be mistake to start out at too low of a price point, because then the device would be more vulnerable down the line to Apple etc. in terms of capability. Price can always go down, but capability is harder to scale up with consoles. It's not really a disaster if new consoles don't set the world on fire in terms of sales day 1. As long as sales are strong enough at the beginning, they can make it more and more and more attractive years to come by dropping prices, continuing the momentum.