Are gaming handhelds overpriced?

Scott Stein | Aug 30, 2009

How much is too much?

In the wake of the PS3 Slim price-cut landslide of news, one small wound still lingers, and has now gotten worse: The PSPgo is still US$249.

Now that the PS3 Slim is US$299, and the Xbox 360 Elite is well on its way to the same price, the ceiling for console gaming is finally coming down. This isn't a surprise; it happens every gaming generation. But, considering the components of multipurpose systems like the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, this generation of consoles has hovered at higher prices than consoles of the past. Now, however, all three home consoles are within US$50 of each other.

The next sensible step would be for the Wii to take a price cut as well, and it most likely will happen this holiday season in some form (be it a real cut or a new bundle with Wii MotionPlus and Wii Sports Resort, for instance).

However, while consoles have been seeing price drops, handheld game systems have been seeing an odd recent trend--price increases. The PSPgo, which was seen as Sony's handheld comeback, actually costs more than a regular PSP, despite having fewer features. At US$250, it's not just the cost of the original PSP; it's also only US$50 less than a PS3. The Nintendo DS Lite, which costs US$129, received a revamp in the form of the improved camera-equipped DSi, which can also download more affordable games... at an increased price of US$170.

Nintendo's DSi.

Handheld game systems aren't just taking hits in terms of system costs, either. While DS cartridges and UMDs at US$19.99 and US$29.99 a pop once seemed like affordable alternatives to US$50-$60 console boxed games, downloadable games on PSN, Xbox Live Arcade, and WiiWare are routinely being released for US$15 and less.

As our own Jeff Bakalar reflected, handheld game systems are dinosaurs, in a sense. They hearken back to a time in the early 1990s when there were no smartphones or cell phones at all, no MP3 players, no portable video outside of a Sony Watchman. A handheld like the Game Boy afforded portable entertainment that nothing else could. Now, DSis and PSPs have to compete with iPhones, iPod touch units, a flurry of other handhelds, and even the occasional Zune. Many of these can also play games now, forcing Nintendo and Sony to include features like cameras, MP3 playback, and video downloads to justify the cost of purchase.

Maybe we're calling this flatline too early here at the CNET emergency room, but are dedicated handheld game consoles on their way to extinction? We hope not. Hopefully they'll eventually be cheaper, play downloadable, affordable games from a nearly infinite back-catalog library, and be portable jukeboxes of retro gaming. We'd appreciate that, and we'd also appreciate if those systems got a little cheaper, too.

We will credit Sony for its new "snackable" mini game releases that will be on their way to the PSP's online store, as well as the DSi's more affordable US$5 Art Style titles. But this trend needs to continue, and quickly--especially since high-quality titles for the iPhone, like Real Racing, cost US$10 or less.

Would you like to see handheld systems lower their costs even more? Do you even use handhelds, or has the iPhone already conquered that territory? As time goes on, our phones are becoming our handheld game systems of choice here at the office, and this trend doesn't look like it's going anywhere. Should Sony and Nintendo turn their systems into smartphones as well, or simply admit the challenge and price-drop accordingly?

All we know for sure is one thing: US$250 for a PSPgo has become even more absurd than before.

Via CNET Crave

Filed under: Music & Play
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ferdiei

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ferdiei says...
after the world has gone through a very tough time recently due to the current recession, i am amusely fascinated by how the electronics industry's been hit hardly, with its pure intent to populate humanity with ubiquitous computing, and how this savagery called PRICE-CUT is continuing to flood the senses of the general population, even so the phenomena of OVERPRICING. really, who get noticed the price difference of an electronic equipment, even a mere gadgetry which consists of highly technology achievements & excellence in manufacturing be compared to your simple house furniture like the SOFA? be realistic people, how would you compare the price of a PC which houses components that undergone all types of testing for your enjoyment & so-called reliability be compared to a similarly priced (don't be surprised even to find out that your regular furniture can be more expensive than a sophisticated piece of electronic equipment nowadays) house fixture whose inards were composed merely of wood-dust recycled for cost reduction & high profit margins? does that explains why an electronics store needs to stock-up a large number while your regular (even worse is ikea who handover the assembly to unsuspecting clients who thinks they are saving on their purchases & not increasing further more the profit margin of the manufacturer/dealer) furniture shop who can manage not to push their stock out of their door (seating there the whole day "comfortably") at a pace disimilar to those electronic store, even pushing to bancruptcy big e-store shops in the US?
sometime during the peak of the recession, there were issues raised about the real value of luxury brands being OVER-VALUED. i guess its merely about the value of their stock but a point of view challenging the old-way of appraising goods bought by EVERY consumer, all over the world (this is whats good about GLOBALISATION, at least). does your D&G, Armani, etc be priced the same way as before, on current terms? times are changing, and at the end of the day, people gives value they deem to every dollar hard-earned from their slaving employers...

Aug 31, 2009 01:29

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Devlin

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Devlin says...
In a word: yes. Sony has even admitted as much saying that since the PSP Go now features internal storage and both Bluetooth AND WIFI there is a premium associated with their new product. I don't blame them either considering the fact that the PS3 is still a loss leader for them. Despite the fact that the costs associated with manufacturing a PS3 is down some 70%, Sony is still losing money per console sold (including the recently released PS3 slim). They try making up the lost profits through DLC offered in PSN, licensing deals, and hardware peripherals. This is why I believe the notion that gaming handhelds are overpriced is unfounded. Sure, it would be nice for prices to come down but saying gaming handhelds are overpriced doesn't take everything into account.

To put things in perspective: the 16GB iPod touch costs $299 and offers a plethora of apps and games, yet the only only real advantage it has over the PSP Go would be its capacitive touchscreen. The Go will initially lack a library of apps but its nascent online store will surely grow as the platform matures. It will also offer a superior gaming experience due to its physical buttons that better suit real games as opposed to high-quality casual games offered on the iPhone/iPod touch.

If Sony can at least keep the price the same and bring in a capacitive touchscreen and accelerometer in the next generation then there is no doubt the PSP Go will be the best bang-for-buck out there regardless of what it's compared to.

Aug 31, 2009 05:45

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