Sony learned pricing lessons from PS3, won’t make same mistake with PS4

According to Sony's worldwide studios vice president Michael Denny, the company learned plenty from its launch of the PS3 and its pricing, which would suggest that the PlayStation 4 will debut with a far more acceptable price point than that of its predecessor.

When it was released in the UK, the PS3 was priced at £425, which along with coming to the party over a year late, meant that the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii had big advantages right from the get go. This slowed adoption and it's only in the latter stages of this generation that the PS3 has really caught up with its rivals.

In his interview with Edge, Denny said when asked about the PS4 being more competitive: “There's plenty of time, we've got lots of information yet to give out on PlayStation 4.””The initial announcement phase that we're in now is just to explain the vision to everybody. Part of that vision is we have created a console absolutely focused on gamers – and we want that to be gamers in the broadest sense as well. I think to some extent I can ask you to draw your own conclusions.”

I bet these aren't cheap though. Touchpad, motion sensors and standard controls? £30 each is my guess. 

Another big focus for the PS4 though has been developers, with consumer grade PC hardware used for the system build, making development of games easier, but it should also make sourcing parts easier, leading to less shortages and an overall lower cost of production.

With PC gaming a much more affordable hobby than it used to be, the next-generation of consoles is really looking to be competitive pricing wise, whichever camp you look at. Nintendo's latest machine, while not exactly next-gen graphically or hardware wise, is priced in the lower hundreds, while Microsoft is rumoured to be working on subscription based payment options for those looking for an Xbox this Christmas.

KitGuru Says: No word as of yet on what kind of price point we'll see the PS4 at, but no doubt Sony is looking to get it under £300 on launch day. A £299 price tag would be very favourable indeed. 

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