From the Land of Duh! comes this revelation -- Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick believes the PS3 and Xbox 360 must be priced at $199 within the next two years in order to obtain mass appeal. He told Reuters he believes the Wii has set a "standard of expectation" and that consumers notice price over tech specs. He goes on to say that "all will need to be at that $199 price point" in the next two years and that the Wii will likely drop to $129 within a "few years."
I don't know if he's right about consumers noticing price over specs since over 16 million consumers have chosen the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 over the cheaper and less powerful Wii. That kind of thinking probably holds true for some of the people (non-gamers) Nintendo is trying to attract with the Wii, like the geriatric set and soccer moms who don't know anything about consoles except for price. But his other speculations are about as bold as 'predicting' that the Earth is round. Of course the Wii will drop to (around) $129 within a "few years" - whatever that means. And while it is likely the Xbox 360 Core could hit $199 within the next year, I seriously doubt Sony will be dropping the PS3 to those pricing levels anytime soon.
Now, this is something I completely agree with. I think gaming is way too expensive and I know for a fact games are designed for the most part to be marketed to children, and young adults who currently can't afford a $600 gaming system plus games. There has to be a less expensive way to get the games and systems to the children and young adults without costing their parents a fortune. The gaming companies wonder why their numbers are down this year. They are selling systems but at a price that's too costly therefore they aren't selling as many as they would like. Gotta make some compromise guys!!
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