The Console Pricing Cold War is Killing Hype

Clint Eastwood walks out into the street, his whiskey-faced opponent staring him down from what seems like a mile away. The sun burns, but it’s not the heat that’s making them both sweat. Soon one of them could be dead. They stare at each other. And stare. Then there’s some more staring. Thirty minutes later, no shot fired, and everybody in the cinema has gone home. No film director would ever make such a mistake, but apparently major console manufacturers do.

How much will the new consoles cost? You don’t have to have a list of industry insiders a mile long to take a fair stab at the prices for both the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X. The PS5 will probably retail at $499, although it could very easily go up or down. The Series X will be anything from $100 to $50 cheaper than that. It could be the same price, but that seems unlikely.

But neither Sony or Microsoft will take their shot. Sony is staying silent for fear of misaiming and being cut down by Microsoft. Microsoft is hesitating because they want their moment in the sun, their chance to do to PlayStation what PlayStation did to Xbox seven years ago: “Ours is more powerful, and it’s cheaper as well.”

From a marketing perspective, I get it. You want to be able to control your narrative, and you can’t do that if your opponent doesn’t play the moves you expect.

But both Microsoft and Sony are so focussed on their own plans they haven’t noticed that everybody else has stopped paying attention.

Starting on the wrong foot

There’s no doubt that this is an awful year to release a console. People have been sat at home for the bulk of 2020. Rumours and leaks abound. Everybody knows what’s happening before it happens.

So when Microsoft announce a new Fable is development, the reaction isn’t shocked awe, but a colossal eye roll. Not because it looked bad or even because it was a CGI trailer, but because anybody paying attention has known about it for half a generation.

And when Sony announce their new console will be $499, people will just be thankful that the whole silliness is over. At last. Then Microsoft can shoot their golden bullet, everybody can applaud and we can see how big a difference it’s going to make. That’s an article for a different day.

The problem isn’t that waiting for a price announcement is boring, although undoubtedly it is. It’s that we’re three months away from launch, and we still don’t know basic things needed to make an informed decision. How will PlayStation’s backwards compatibility work? Will PS Now get a major overhaul between consoles? What does PlayStation’s new OS look like, and how will Xbox’s OS change between now and November?

How will trophies and achievements work going forward? Will trophies finally get those coveted counters for the collectables, and will Xbox get its platinum equivalent? This is vital stuff (but mostly just for me, and the strange people like me).

As time ticks away and the questions increase, the true toll of coronavirus on the industry becomes clear. The cold war on price is just a part of where everything has started to come apart at the seams.

We don’t have launch line-ups for either console, although as of right now Xbox is looking slightly healthier. If you’re happy with Halo, The Medium, a few third parties and Dragon Quest, you’ll be busy until the far side of Christmas and beyond.

Three months to decide whether to buy a console or not, and we don’t have a price, we don’t know what it’ll play and we don’t know when we’ll be able to get it.

The cost of bravado

Hardcore fans of either console won’t mind, nor will those of us planning to buy them both. But no game nor console has ever been a success thanks to the hardcore alone.

But while Microsoft and Sony are squaring up to each other, the conversation is changing. The general reaction to every gaming show so far has been a giant ‘meh’, although we’ve spoken before about how that isn’t entirely fair.

If either one of them wants to go above $500, that will be a death sentence in and of itself. In this climate, with a cheaper alternative, people just won’t bother. If the rumoured Xbox Series S exists, with its low cost of entry, Gamepass and XCloud capabilities, Microsoft are going to have a very good Christmas if PlayStation announce a price of $599.

But Sony aren’t doing themselves any favours by not announcing it if it’s true. In fact, you’ll just see more disappointment.

Meanwhile, people are realising what people realise every new generation: it’s all a bit crap. The marketing is starting to catch up with itself. We’re not seeing some incredible power of the SSD. We’re not seeing 12TF. Both of those things will become apparent, I’m sure, but right now they aren’t.

People were expecting The Last of Us Part 2. We’re getting Knack. Nobody wants Knack.

How much will next-gen consoles cost?

It’s a fair question, and one that should have been answered months ago. Both companies know what they want to charge, but neither wants to be the first to announce.

This not only shows a lack of respect for their customers, but it means that every event is dominated with the same questions. This week’s State of Play, which Sony had announced would contain no major PlayStation 5 news, was inundated with furious gamers wondering why there had been no release date or price information.

Blame those not listening at your peril. They’re not at fault for overhyping a PlayStation even three months before launch. Blame PlayStation and Xbox, and their increasingly ridiculous stand-off.