• @[email protected]English
    2•2 months ago

    I mean, a pound don’t buy what it used to. We’ve had rampant inflation, and it’s going to be hard to keep any next gen console in a price point that we think of as suitable. I mean, this is the first gen where the price has gone up during it. PS2 slim went down to under £100 by the end. I paid about £80 for a GameCube late in the gen. I remember Xbox having to give money back to people because they launched at about 300 and Sony immediately went down to £199. It was carnage.

    £299 felt like a standard price point for ages. My Amiga 1200 cost about that in the early 90s, and I paid the same for a PS2 nearly 10 years later, and the Xbox 360 was about the same.

    £700 feels like a piss take though, and the sales figures will surely reflect that. PS6 has got to be under £600 I reckon, and we’re probably about 5 years away from that.

    • @TheGrandNagusEnglish
      1•2 months ago

      No, but it’s been getting stronger relative to the dollar consistently over the past 2 years. But we aren’t seeing that in prices.

      I’m not expecting it to be like ~2007 time where £1 was $2.

      But things should definitely be better than it was 2 years ago, relative to USD pricing.

      • @[email protected]English
        1•2 months ago

        The dollar ain’t buying what it used to either.

        Also, remember that our prices include VAT, so we slap 20% on it right there. That £700 is £583 excluding the VAT.

        That’s still 10% more than in the US doing a direct currency conversion, but it’s not quite as bad as it first looks.

        Still a lot of money for a games console though, especially a mid gen refresh. Paying at the start of a gen for 8 years gaming ain’t too bad when you look at it per year. PS5 Pro will be over 4 years, and on that alone is piss-poor value.