Activision: PS3 And Xbox 360 Need To Be £97
Other statements of the bloody obvious to follow...
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick... brilliant! Image via joker.si
Activision's chief executive, Bobby Kotick, has said that the price of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 need to drop in price to $199 (£97) in the next two years. He believes that the Wii is leading the way in terms of pricing.
Yes, £97 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360s.
Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York, Kotick said, "The Wii at its price point is now setting a standard and an expectation, and people say, well, the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer."
With that in mind, Sony and Microsoft need to follow suit. "In the next 24 months they all will need to be at that $199 (£97) price point, and you can imagine Nintendo will be down to the $129 (£63) price point over the next few years", Kotick said.
While Sony and Microsoft have taken steps to cut the prices of their consoles over the last six months, going as low as $199 in two years might be pushing it. Of course, it might take a bit of pressure off poor old Nintendo, which just can't seem to manufacture enough Wiis.
Kotick also had a few words of wisdom for publishers who are failing to capitalise on the Wii's success, claiming that Activision has followed Nintendo's lead. "We realized that, much like Nintendo, the pathway for success and the highest operating margin leverage on the Wii is a relatively small number of titles that really capitalize on capabilities of the hardware", Kotick stated.
"Some of our competitors are doing a lot more talking about how they're organized than innovating for the Wii and if (publishers) are going to be successful they are going to have to step up to the level of innovation that Nintendo has proven themselves capable of", he added.
That said, SPOnG's hard pushed to think of an Activision title that has made the most of the Wii's capabilities. Call of Duty 3 took a decent stab at it, but when all's said and done it was a port of a multi-platform game.
Source: Reuters
Yes, £97 PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360s.
Speaking at the Reuters Media Summit in New York, Kotick said, "The Wii at its price point is now setting a standard and an expectation, and people say, well, the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer."
With that in mind, Sony and Microsoft need to follow suit. "In the next 24 months they all will need to be at that $199 (£97) price point, and you can imagine Nintendo will be down to the $129 (£63) price point over the next few years", Kotick said.
While Sony and Microsoft have taken steps to cut the prices of their consoles over the last six months, going as low as $199 in two years might be pushing it. Of course, it might take a bit of pressure off poor old Nintendo, which just can't seem to manufacture enough Wiis.
Kotick also had a few words of wisdom for publishers who are failing to capitalise on the Wii's success, claiming that Activision has followed Nintendo's lead. "We realized that, much like Nintendo, the pathway for success and the highest operating margin leverage on the Wii is a relatively small number of titles that really capitalize on capabilities of the hardware", Kotick stated.
"Some of our competitors are doing a lot more talking about how they're organized than innovating for the Wii and if (publishers) are going to be successful they are going to have to step up to the level of innovation that Nintendo has proven themselves capable of", he added.
That said, SPOnG's hard pushed to think of an Activision title that has made the most of the Wii's capabilities. Call of Duty 3 took a decent stab at it, but when all's said and done it was a port of a multi-platform game.
Source: Reuters
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Comments
SuperSaiyan4 28 Nov 2007 11:02
1/9
Who the FCKU is this guy???!!
This comment by this COK has p1ssed me off:
'the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer.'
Why do these tards think they can speak for us?
Feel like punching him in the face!!
The Wii is a gamecube 2.0 and has terrible looking games and is a novelty.
You want serious gaming you will get something other than this.
This comment by this COK has p1ssed me off:
'the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer.'
Why do these tards think they can speak for us?
Feel like punching him in the face!!
The Wii is a gamecube 2.0 and has terrible looking games and is a novelty.
You want serious gaming you will get something other than this.
Dreadknux 28 Nov 2007 11:18
2/9
Wow, that's shocking. No offence meant, but you always came across to me as a hardcore Nintendo follower. Reading that post was a bit extreme for me, lol.
I'm not entirely sure £97 is worth a PS3 or 360. It'll be worth a Wii in a year or so, most likely. It took 4/5 years for the PS2 to each the £100 price mark either way.
He is right about publishers though, but small games? No, nein, nicht. Miyamoto put it best when he said the reason for the duff Wii games is because publishers put their C-list developers on a project for about 6 months instead of one of their A-list developers on one for a year or so.
The game problem on the Wii is more the fault of publishers who just want to cash in or just don't get it. Super Mario Galaxy is an example of how you can do a proper game on the Wii, and it is categorically the best game of this entire generation.
I'm not entirely sure £97 is worth a PS3 or 360. It'll be worth a Wii in a year or so, most likely. It took 4/5 years for the PS2 to each the £100 price mark either way.
He is right about publishers though, but small games? No, nein, nicht. Miyamoto put it best when he said the reason for the duff Wii games is because publishers put their C-list developers on a project for about 6 months instead of one of their A-list developers on one for a year or so.
The game problem on the Wii is more the fault of publishers who just want to cash in or just don't get it. Super Mario Galaxy is an example of how you can do a proper game on the Wii, and it is categorically the best game of this entire generation.
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SuperSaiyan4 28 Nov 2007 12:09
3/9
If anyone can offend me you just did lol by calling me a hardcore Nintendo fan major OUCH!
Spike 28 Nov 2007 12:30
4/9
Whilst I don't share the view of the comment before me I do think this way of thinking is way off target. To start with the Wii will not be £63 in a couple of years seeing as gamecubes are around £40 with 4 crap games preowned now, thats with the Wii out there.
The Wii may be cheap @ around £200 but this is the reason it's price will not drop as it is in such high demand that it is still sold out in most stores around the UK. I work in Gamestation and we probably could sell 150 consoles in a single day judging by how many people call us asking for them. Nintendo are playing it smart in my opinion and purposly keeping them back. This creates hype as people go crazy trying to get thier hands on one for christmas for thier kids. In our store the Wii was being pre ordered for around 5 months before we got any kind of stock to do free sale and then 2 months later they are sold out again. Why on earth would nintendo drop the price by £130 in a couple of years if they are still selling thier machine for £200 a pop. In turn this means that the 360 and PS3 don't have to drop thier price at all unless it is to compete with each other. The 360 is good value atm when you consider you can get an elite, forza 2, 2 wirless controllers and a game of your choise for around £310-£320.
Another thing that makes this laughable is the fact PS2's are still around £100 brand new and they are pre generation AND very old in terms of console life spans so to think that a 360 will cost less in a shorter amount of it's lifecycle is ridiculous.
The Wii may be cheap @ around £200 but this is the reason it's price will not drop as it is in such high demand that it is still sold out in most stores around the UK. I work in Gamestation and we probably could sell 150 consoles in a single day judging by how many people call us asking for them. Nintendo are playing it smart in my opinion and purposly keeping them back. This creates hype as people go crazy trying to get thier hands on one for christmas for thier kids. In our store the Wii was being pre ordered for around 5 months before we got any kind of stock to do free sale and then 2 months later they are sold out again. Why on earth would nintendo drop the price by £130 in a couple of years if they are still selling thier machine for £200 a pop. In turn this means that the 360 and PS3 don't have to drop thier price at all unless it is to compete with each other. The 360 is good value atm when you consider you can get an elite, forza 2, 2 wirless controllers and a game of your choise for around £310-£320.
Another thing that makes this laughable is the fact PS2's are still around £100 brand new and they are pre generation AND very old in terms of console life spans so to think that a 360 will cost less in a shorter amount of it's lifecycle is ridiculous.
Bentley 28 Nov 2007 12:49
5/9
Now SuperSaitan4, consider this:
How the comments by this guy made you feel
Is how your posts make the majority of SPOnG followers feel.
Also, the words you were looking for were "f**k" and "cock". When you grow up a bit your mummy and daddy won't be able to tell you off for using them.
As for that guy bleating about £97 360s and PS3s... f**k, what a cock. I'd also like a Ferrari for a fiver please. I think it pretty much goes without saying that consumers would like expensive things to be cheaper. Well, dur. It's another non-news news story. Now all we need is Michael sodding Pachter to follow it up by stating the chuffing obvious along the lines of "yes, we have done some analysis and we predict that if, indeed, Microsoft and Sony were to reduce the price of their consoles to, say, £97, they would, most likely, sell a few more".
How the comments by this guy made you feel
Is how your posts make the majority of SPOnG followers feel.
Also, the words you were looking for were "f**k" and "cock". When you grow up a bit your mummy and daddy won't be able to tell you off for using them.
As for that guy bleating about £97 360s and PS3s... f**k, what a cock. I'd also like a Ferrari for a fiver please. I think it pretty much goes without saying that consumers would like expensive things to be cheaper. Well, dur. It's another non-news news story. Now all we need is Michael sodding Pachter to follow it up by stating the chuffing obvious along the lines of "yes, we have done some analysis and we predict that if, indeed, Microsoft and Sony were to reduce the price of their consoles to, say, £97, they would, most likely, sell a few more".
SuperSaiyan4 28 Nov 2007 13:15
6/9
Ok fair comment.
I get carried away but I hate it when people spew nonsense on the 360 and think their PS3 is the might and glory that is all.
Anyways in 2yrs I could probably see the 360 Core (arcade) version perhaps dropping to say around £120 but thats just a guess.
But I am pretty sure unless pressured further by the sucess of the Wii and 360 they may put the price down a bit more or offer bigger and better bundles.
Lastly if we can go buy Sony's past history on the PS2 on the different versions they brought out that were improvements over the original my guess is the original PS3 60gb will return one day but most likely with a much bigger hard drive.
I get carried away but I hate it when people spew nonsense on the 360 and think their PS3 is the might and glory that is all.
Anyways in 2yrs I could probably see the 360 Core (arcade) version perhaps dropping to say around £120 but thats just a guess.
But I am pretty sure unless pressured further by the sucess of the Wii and 360 they may put the price down a bit more or offer bigger and better bundles.
Lastly if we can go buy Sony's past history on the PS2 on the different versions they brought out that were improvements over the original my guess is the original PS3 60gb will return one day but most likely with a much bigger hard drive.
realvictory 28 Nov 2007 21:53
7/9
SuperSaiyan4 wrote:
Ok fair comment.
I get carried away but I hate it when people spew nonsense on the 360 and think their PS3 is the might and glory that is all.
Anyways in 2yrs I could probably see the 360 Core (arcade) version perhaps dropping to say around £120 but thats just a guess.
But I am pretty sure unless pressured further by the sucess of the Wii and 360 they may put the price down a bit more or offer bigger and better bundles.
Lastly if we can go buy Sony's past history on the PS2 on the different versions they brought out that were improvements over the original my guess is the original PS3 60gb will return one day but most likely with a much bigger hard drive.
I get carried away but I hate it when people spew nonsense on the 360 and think their PS3 is the might and glory that is all.
Anyways in 2yrs I could probably see the 360 Core (arcade) version perhaps dropping to say around £120 but thats just a guess.
But I am pretty sure unless pressured further by the sucess of the Wii and 360 they may put the price down a bit more or offer bigger and better bundles.
Lastly if we can go buy Sony's past history on the PS2 on the different versions they brought out that were improvements over the original my guess is the original PS3 60gb will return one day but most likely with a much bigger hard drive.
Personally, I do think my PS3 is the might and glory. The only problem with it is that it has a low framerate. But if an XBox 360 was dropped on my PS3, it might scratch it a bit, but ultimately it would bounce off. Conversely, if I dropped my PS3 on an XBox 360, it would crush it to pieces. In reality, I see it as more of a status symbol, and hence fully worth its price. If it was £97, I'd have probably thought "that's a console for kids/mass market/unsophisticated peasants" and not bothered.
But, it's true about the PS2 - when it was about to drop below a certain price, they redesigned it to keep the price up - because anything below £100 is probably considered budget.
Finally, though, I think we have to remember that he's speaking in terms of US dollars, with respect to the US. Because back in the olden days, $199 meant £199 - and if you think about it that way, it seems like a fair - maybe even sensible - idea.
tyrion 29 Nov 2007 08:54
8/9
realvictory wrote:
Because back in the olden days, $199 meant £199 - and if you think about it that way, it seems like a fair - maybe even sensible - idea.
These days it's been closer to $199 = 199EUR and then it's converted to pounds and then jacked up a bit to a round number. That would make a $199 PS3 about £150 today (199EUR = £142 according to xe.com). That would halve the price of the 40GB in two years from now, which I don't think is very likely.
DoctorDee 29 Nov 2007 09:56
9/9
tyrion wrote:
That would halve the price of the 40GB in two years from now, which I don't think is very likely.
Yeah, but you said it yourself, in the "good" old days £ = $. So really what Sony has got to be aiming at for Xmas 2009 is £199, and I am sure they are aiming for that. With maybe £249 for Xmas 2008 on the way.
As for $199 being the mass market acceptance point in the USA, I don't think the evidence of the PS2, Xbox 360 or Wii support that assertion.