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Activision “Disappointed” Not To See Console Price Cuts
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has said he’s disappointed not to have seen any console price cuts announced at this year’s E3.
“I was disappointed not to see any sort of aggressive price cutting,” Kotick told Bloomberg. “Of all the things that the hardware companies need to be doing right now, it’s recognising the difficulties of the economy and pricing their hardware appropriately.”
It is not the first time that Kotick has called for the current-gen consoles to be reduced to what he deems to be mass-market price points.
“I think when you're in the economic circumstances that the world has found itself in, there really is a difference between a $199 game system and a $299 game system,” he said recently.
The cheapest Xbox 360 model currently retails for $199, but the cost of Nintendo’s Wii is $50 greater and Sony’s PS3 is even more expensive.
Sony and Nintendo executives said this week that they aren't currently entertaining the idea of cutting hardware prices.
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Pound for pound. A PS3 is a FAR better deal than an Xbox 360 considering what you get right out of the box. And yes, I own both consoles. Console + Hard drive + wifi + blu ray + online subscription. Add up the retail price for an arcade xbox and get back to me. Minus blu ray of course since microsoft backed the wrong format. Ugh.
In the end, the PS3 doesn't need a price cut. It needs some phenomenal exclusives. And if they have to pull a Microsoft and give incentives (aka money) to obtain them, so be it. It had exclusives in spades last generation and has all but lost them now. Don't get me wrong. They have new and old IP's that are great. But MGS4 and GT5 are really the last two HUGE heavy hitting titles that will sell systems. As much as I love Uncharted and infamous....I don't see them selling systems the way Final Fantasies in the past did or GTA..etc
If you read my previous comments, you'll see that I 100% agree with the first part of your post. However, I seriously don't see why people complain about exclusif titles on the PS3. Other than Halo, Mass Effect and Gears of War, the Xbox doesn't that many exclusive titles either. If you want to, you can add to that some XBLA titles; Castle Crasher and Geometry Wars. The only console with a lot of exclusives is the Wii. This mainly due to 3 factors; the nature of the controls, being the less powerful system (this preventing from doing multi consoles games) and finally, Nintendo mostly provides the only games worth playing on the Wii.
Sony has Resistence 1 and 2, Ratchet and Clank Future, Uncharted 1 and soon 2, inFAMOUS, Gran Turismo 5, LittleBIGPlanet, Killzone 2, SOCOM, BlazBlue, Heavenly Sword, SingStar, MortorStorm, Buzz Quiz TV, Hot Shots, Metal Gear Solid 4, Valkeria Chronicles and soon God of War III. On a smaller scale (PSN), they also have Wipeout HD, Flow, Flower, Noby Noby Boy, Super Stardust HD, Warhawk, PixelJunk Eden, PixelJunk Monsters, Everyday Shooter, Fat Princess (soon), Pain, Last Guy, Loco Roco, Echochrome, Tekken 5, Siren, R&C: Quest for Booty and soon Crack in Time... just to name a few.
I sure missed some important titles for the Xbox, I don't own one, so I'm not fully aware of it's library. My point is not to talk against the Xbox, but mainly about the fact that to me it seems false to state that the PS3 is missing some exclusives. They might not all be killer apps, but combined, these games make up for a great selection and more then enough reasons to own the PS3. Add to that multi consoles games (because if you own either console, you don't mind that it's not exclusive) like Resident Evil 5, Fallout 3, Prototype, Madden, NHL, SoulCalibur IV, Bioshock, Street Fighter IV, Dead Space, Burnout Paradise, Ninja Gaiden, Mirror's Edge, Rockband, GTAIV and Guitar Hero, then I don't see why someone couldn't be satisfied with a PS3. The average owner buys around 5 games per year, meaning that they could last more than 5 years with the current library without having to wait for the next exclusive.
I seriously don't get the complains about the prices for the Wii and especially the PS3. Here in Canada, you get the 80gb PS3 for 400$ Guess what you can get for that price?
- A 32gb iTouch... you don't see anyone complaining about the fact that this baby is 400$ and all it does is play music, videos and store pictures... and the iPhone is even more expensive.
- Both Rockband and Guitar Hero with all the instruments... geez buying only one of them is more expensive than buying and Nintendo DSi. Never heard anyone complaining about this either.
These are just exemples and my point is that I don't consider the PS3 being an expensive piece of hardware. A good blu-ray player is around 300$, anyway. We have to think about everything else that the 100$ remaining allows us to do; play games (of course), music (and soon download), video (and download), browse internet, store pictures, print documents, video and text chat (for an additionnal 50$ expense).
If you push if even further, spending a day at six flags with your family is around half the price of a PS3 and about the same price as a Wii. When putting things in perspective is kinda hard to honestly make such statement as these consoles being expensive. It all depends on your priority, I guess.
See for me buying a PS3 full price was one of the best investments I ever did. I don't mind using a cheap MP3 player on the bus or taking pictures at a lower resolution, but when I sit in front of my TV to play a game I want to be blown away.
Maybe people are simply buying less consoles (or less expensive ones) because that is not part of their priorities and these same people aren't buying that many games anyway. I know so many guys who bought a PS2 slim because it was cheap... played some Gran Turismo and then never used it again... still these guys are part of the numbers.
The industry has come to a point where "non-gamer" buy "gaming hardware". It the same has if I was buying scrapbooking stuff even though I hate scrapbooks. I know my exemple is a bit stretched, but think about it for a second... Video Game are one of the biggest trends these days. Trends don't last. When the people who got into the trend simply because they wanted to be part of it, then of course the sales are going to decrease.
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the way things are right now, I actually love the fact that one of my passions is less of a weird thing to people I know. I simply saying that it sounds risky to make profit predictions based on the numbers that we see today. On the other side, I might be wrong and games will last the same way that movies are and it'll only get bigger.
Is he STILL banging THAT Price cut drum? Jeez-US.
Has there been a time warp? Mass memory loss or something? Why the SAME comment from the SAME CEO, so soon?
I like everyone`s saying, down here at ground level: Yes, we TOO would love to see price cuts on HARDWARE. at the same time? Pretty damn sure NONE of us want to see the kind of R.R.P prices Activision is charging for Modern warfare 2, let alone the stuff that has Add-ons`s such as motion sensing skateboards. Whilst your checking everyone ELSE`s prices activision, take a bloody good look at your OWN before commenting.
Let he who is without....Cast the 1st stone after all.
He`s starting to sound like the industry Bloated, Crying Baby, who`s been taken off the suckling breast and put on the bottle far too early.
How about coming up with some Fresh franchises? or..doing a spiderman game WORTHY of the license instead of the Crap you churn out from your production line like studios?.
“I was disappointed not to see any sort of aggressive price cutting,”
Yeah mate, you and everyone else!!!
Get over it... Move On!!
If they drop the price of the machine (any of them, take your pick) and sell three times as many machines as before, then yes they are making more money.
rent a car
out of interest, hunkydreampuppy, how much does it cost to rent a console (i.e. price/day for each console)?
This is hilarious considering that Activision is the sleaziest and most exploitative company in the industry right now.
Bobby Kotick - stop blowing smoke out your behind!
Whining about how other companies want take the brunt of pricecuts to further your own business isn't manly at all.
Add to that, that you yourself, during Activisions last financial report, stated how peripheral-games were essential to Activision to further draw money out of peoples pockets.
What? You didn't count on us being able to remember more than a week back in time? Well, sorry to burst your PR-bubble.
If take any console I owned and compared the amount of money I spent on games with the money I spent on hardware, I rather have game prices drop. Because I do not mind that big $400 console purchase. What I do mind are $60 games with questionable replay value, that are neither fun in the long run, nor impulse buys.
$60 big budget games you only play once? No thank you. Small $15 games which are fun for two weekends and then the next comes along? Sure keep 'em coming.
Amen, couldn't have said it better myself.
I've stopped buying Guitar Hero after this idiot ran it into the ground. I wonder when Call of Duty will be affected by exploitation (MW2 is the 5th CoD game in just 4 years). Charging full-price for GH spin-offs are you serious? And there’s how many GH slated for ’09 now? 5-6?
Yes Mr. Kotick, I share your sentiment...so when are you annoucing price-cuts for Activision software , huh? I'd gladly give a try to some of your garbage if only priced "appropriately" for the world's "economic circumstances". After all, there's a difference between a $60 dollar Final Fantasy XIII and a $60 "X-men Origins: Wolverine" or a $60 Quantum of Solace and a $60 Modern Warfare (to name two games of their own)... game makers think it's right to price games the same as movie tickets and rentals. No. They can't be the same (price) 'cause not all of them offer the same value. They should be a little more flexible, just look at japanese pricing and learn something, or else (keep letting the used market eat all your cookies).
The only reason Kotick wants the Big 3 to drop their prices is so consumers will have more money to spend on Activision games. He could care if a price drop would negatively affect the console makers in some way. Each company has a strategy and they'll stick to it.
I know Nintendo really wants to stay at the launch price and from E3 they have a feeling with SMG2, SMBWii, Metrioid: Other M that should be enough to keep consumers willing to pay at that level. If it doesn't then I'm sure Nintendo will make a drop early next year.
I'm actually ok with Microsoft's £139.99/$199.99 base price point, they just really need to concentrate on lowering the prices on thier add-ons though (HDD, WiFi Adapter, etc) which are enough to eat up any savings on the console itself.
For Sony its just a matter of finding ways of reducing manufactering costs of the unit itself. Either they're working on that with the current PS3 model or focusing efforts on the rumored PS3 Slim. I'm sure by next year they will have to make some type of drop regardless, definately if Nintendo makes a move.
All I can say in response to Kotick is focus your company on making killer games (a la Modern Warfare 2). The majority of consumer make their console buys based on the games they can play on it. If you make something they "must" have, they'll buy what they'll need to play it on regardless.
sony and microsoft lost billions on consoles. So console hardware companies need to milk as much money from all those console gamers. If they did any price cuts they will lose even more money. I wouldn’t be suprised if they start charging gamers $100 per a game soon.
I hear fear which use to be a huge pc tittle that made alot money onlymade like 100 000. I hear it was a major flop the fanbase said it was because it was a console port and not worth playing.
yea your better off renting consoles games or renting console hardware to play games these days. I'm not going to spend $100per a game. I think gamespot is real smart company, in fact if I want to buy a console or game for consoles. I'm going to be buying my console or game from the used game market.
I'm not going to spend $200 or $400 on a old pc no way. I'm not going to spend $100 per a game. I would rahter buy indie games,go out to the movies,spend money on the gym. Than pay $100 per a game or spend $200 for a old pc machine.
I'm with Dream on this one. It's much more cost-effective to spend $3,000 on a PC, and purchase games at $30 - $50 a pop with no possibility to rent the game first.
Speaking of PC's, maybe if Activision reduced their Steam prices, I'd be more inclined to believe his bullshit concerns.
a 200 and $300 pc is way more powerful than a console. steam has alot really great deals so good in fact it's better than retail.
Not Steam in general - Activision's products in Steam. Activision sets the price that Valve has to pay them for each game. Valve "tacks-on" a percentage to profit. This percentage is less than what retailers take; meaning Activision is grossly overcharging Valve.
In summation, he needs to shut the Hell up.
a 200 and $300 pc is way more powerful than a console. steam has alot really great deals so good in fact it's better than retail.
Ohpc gaming also gets alot more play time. It gets more used in a recseeion :) oh my games last longer with mod support,mmo'sf ,free games.
Barring the fact that you spend so much time in Dreamland that I'm surprised your Avatar isn't Kirby the Star Warrior, you gave me a good idea.
I think it would be awesome If 360 games came with Windows editors. You could make a mod. It would save to a proprietary format, & upload it to Windows Live. After that, anyone on Xbox Live could see it as a DLC, & play the mod.
I like this link here when I spend $50 on game it really goes along way. :)
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/consumer/world-of-warcraft-playstati...
I'm disappointed that Kotick keeps charging $60 for games in this recession - particularly when most of them are Guitar Hero cash in's. He could probably charge less for games if he didn't sue the same developers he tossed out on the street after realizing you could make money on good games without exploiting the franchise.
I wonder if he said this with a straight face while knowing that he's charging $120 for yet another Tony Hawk game...
Yeah, how hard can it possibly be to remake Klax over & over again.