Why is Playstation 4 cheaper than Xbox one?

The console wars are coming. And with it, brand new comments about us being anti-everything. Truth is, we dig both the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One. Which one will most gamers choose though? Most likely the Playstation 4, thanks to a cheaper price tag. Which is mostly due to the PS4 nixing the inclusion of its camera device.

Over at IGN, sources close to them have mentioned that Sony declined to add the Playstation camera in order to make certain that they could beat the retail price of the Xbox One. Retail partners close to Sony never even knew what the price itself would be despite the exclusion of the device, as Sony feared tipping off Microsoft close to E3.

The console will retail for £349 in European territories when it launches, which includes us. That’s around R5300, in comparison to the estimated price of the Xbox One at £429/R6600.

But in doing so, Sony may have also shot themselves in the foot. With the camera now being optional, you can bet your ass that a large part of the market will be unconcerned with adopting it, a move that also leaves the built-in LED move tracker in that sexy new controller, more useless than the SADC at a Zimbabwean election.

And if you want that camera? Be prepared to shell out $59.99 for it, or around R600. A price that will most likely be closer to a R1000 on this side of the globe. And even that comes with a catch. Sony will have to create some damn good software in order to justify the price tag, but at the same time, they won’t do so without gamers buying it before those games pop up.
Still, Sony seems to be benefitting from this move in the short-term at least. Internal sales are up, and pre-sales orders are ridiculously high. If Sony can make the device worthwhile, instead of a dust-gatherer like the Playstation Move, then it might be a worthwhile investment.
But I don’t see that happening.

Author: Darryn Bonthuys

Reposted here with permission