PlayStation 4 to launch for $399

PlayStation 4 will launch for $399, $100 cheaper than Xbox One.

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PlayStation 4 will launch for $399, $100 cheaper than Xbox One.

Jesse Divnich, VP of insights at EEDAR, believes the price disparity between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 is due to the mandatory bundling of Microsoft's next-gen Kinect camera with Xbox One. Although PS4 supports PlayStation Eye, it does not appear to be mandatory with PS4, which can cut down on costs. "Sony was able to come in $100 under the Xbox One, which should be considered an advantage for the PlayStation 4 going into the holiday season. We believe the Kinect 2 bundling is the likely the driving force in the pricing disparity between the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One," Divnich said.

Divnich is optimistic about Microsoft's chances, even with the $100 disparity. "It shouldn't come as criticism to Xbox, as the Kinect 2 is firm part of Microsoft's and Xbox's long-term strategy," he said.

Michael Pachter, research analyst at Wedbush Securities, was less kind on Xbox One, calling Sony's undercut price "genius." On Twitter, he pointed out that "Microsoft messed up on this one, Sony seized the opportunity. Talked about consumer trust. Well played."

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 10, 2013 8:04 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, PlayStation 4 to launch for $399.

    PlayStation 4 will launch for $399, $100 cheaper than Xbox One.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:10 PM

      Cheaper, but no Kinect style device either.....

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:11 PM

        Which is fantastic!

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:11 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:12 PM

        thank god

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:15 PM

        xbox go home.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:15 PM

        I do not want to talk to my console, nor do I want to dance around my living room, waving my arms like a dumbass.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 8:22 PM

          Part B became super obvious about 2 weeks after I got a Wii.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:15 PM

        It's win win.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:21 PM

        Good!

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:22 PM

        That is a good thing

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:23 PM

        You mean I don't need to pay for something I don't want anyway? Sweet!

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:31 PM

        Much to the the glory of the many.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:33 PM

        And no one gave any fucks.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 8:36 PM

          ^^^^^

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:58 PM

          uhm, sir, when the star wars franchise's next dance game comes out.... in place of another KOTOR ....

          /WRISTS

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:35 PM

        And way better GPU in the ps4.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:36 PM

        what's kinect?

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:41 PM

        i am in the minority I guess. The features that are other than games on the Xbox might sway me to their side even if it is more expensive. Kinect looks impressive, always liked the voice stuff with it. And the snap feature would be very usefull for me. I could watch a baseball game on mlb.tv and play a game at the same time. That is a big plus for me. Also having a great skype experience is a really big deal for me too. Basically, my decision seems to be based on a lot of features that are outside of gaming. Most of the games are going to be on both platforms so I know each system will have great games. If netflix etc.. isn't behind their xbox live paywall then I will probably go with the xbox.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:07 PM

          It is now so I doubt they would change the pay scheme.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:43 PM

        Couldn't care less about no kinect. Very over motion controls

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 1:54 AM

          Wow someone used "couldn't care less" correctly! Congratulations sir!

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 3:19 AM

            Still used a double negative.

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 7:45 AM

            Not really. I mean by posting about how much you don't care you must care abit otherwise you'd just ignore it right. So I feel they do care some....

            • reply
              June 11, 2013 8:21 AM

              shacknews you never cease to amaze me with your spergery.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:45 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:49 PM

        I actually like the Kinect, but I'm not going to go out of my way for one.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:03 PM

        Never used nor wanted a Kinect.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:03 PM

          (should clarify, have used them before, but found them uninteresting)

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 10:59 PM

          Same. I have absolutely no interest in that Kinect bullshit. Glad the PS4 doesn't come with it per default.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:09 PM

        preorder cancled

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:52 PM

        Good. I don't like paying for shit I don't want.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 10:35 PM

        Sweet!

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 11:24 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 11:38 PM

        I know the Xbox One is the in thing to despise right now, but the new Kinect is actually really fucking impressive.

        I'm heavily betting most of the people saying "Good!" in this thread never bothered to watch any of the demo vids, because after all, they're not interested. But if they did, they would understand what a huge leap this is compared to the existing Kinect. I was not aware this kind of technology existed in 2013 at consumer level prices.

        I have no plans to buy an Xbox One, or a PS4 for that matter, and only vague intentions to pick up a Wii U one of these days. But I was genuinely impressed. Then again, I like my Wii so the whole concept of motion control doesn't send me into a rage like some gamers. I'm more open to this kind of thing.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 11:42 PM

          Oh, and if you could take the technology from this new Kinect, and design it to work with the Oculus Rift, that could be fucking amazing. I'm really hoping someone tries to test the potential for this with the Windows version of the new Kinect.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 1:27 AM

          It's all great and happy to have some neat technology in the Xbox 1, but if it doesn't translate to awesomeness as far as games are concerned, it's just another soon-to-be Wii-clone. How quickly did that system start gathering dust after Wii Sports' novelty wore off?

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 7:48 AM

            For gamers yeah but there are still quite a few casual gamers that still play it. Yeah there are a lot collecting dust but still quite a few people play them periodically that don't even go to gaming sites.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 1:26 AM

        And who cares? Kinect = Yawn. An extra service/feature that no one really cares that much about....well except for MicroSoft.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 2:56 AM

        NO KINECT!?! OH THE HUMANITY.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 9:01 AM

        Yep, it's awesome.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 12:02 PM

        Which is a positive

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:14 PM

      Well that settles that looks like its PS4 this time around

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:16 PM

      Looks like Xbox One has a very high potential to be DOA unless they make some serious changes to complete with Sony.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:16 PM

      somebody just got my money. peace out xbone.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:18 PM

        yup. i got the email too. pre-order pre-ordered!

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 4:06 PM

        For some reason I tried to hold out on preordering. Gave in today and missed out on launch allotments. WHAT A FAIL! lol.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:19 PM

      With the camera not coming with means it's an optional peripheral and the last niggling worry I had about the ps4. It's cheaper, the discs are games and your not being watched while the machine is off.
      How the hell can the Xbone even compete, oh wait gold members get 2 old 360 games.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:32 PM

        Which is useless on the Xbone since it's not backwards compatible

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 8:44 PM

          Also useless for me at least as I have them both and have played as much as I ever will.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 11:24 PM

        Being watched when the machine is off? I must've missed that part of Microsoft's presentation. Can you give me a link?

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 4:49 AM

          Still waiting on that link. I'm sure you'll post it. It's not like you were talking out your ass or anything with no factual basis, that would just be silly!

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 5:33 AM

            Obviously people are going a little crazy over how Kinect's camera will somehow always be watching you.

            What it will do, however, is always be listening for an "Xbox on" command through the mic, which is an option that can be turned off. Also, there's an option to completely turn the Kinect off when the system is in it's powered down state, which I think may as also be an option?

            It's not really that bad. They're merely optional conveniences that unfortunately wrapped itself around NSA fluff.

            • reply
              June 11, 2013 6:25 AM

              This is the most rational post I've seen on the Kinect stuff so far.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 6:06 AM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:21 PM

      Wow. Now I'm really torn on which to get. I'm still pissed at Sony for overcharging for defective PS3 drives but unless we see some hands on awesomeness from the Kinect integration for the Xbox I might be waiting for a price drop.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:22 PM

      How do I watch this shit from the beginning these are all live streams?

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:27 PM

      Oh shit, no tiger-petting sim?!

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:28 PM

      $399 and the Wii U is at $350... and the Wii U has sold horribly... they better do something, like tomorrow and saturate the market with Wii U's because they are about to go down like a sinking ship. Sony has also destroyed any chance of the X-Box One succeeding. Renters will choose this system. People who like privacy will choose this system. The games seem to be with This One. I am disappointed that there is no mention of an Xperia Play 2 as my original just broke yesterday. I'll see if the insurance can replace the phone with another Xperia Play because I've looked at the selection on Verizon and all I can say is that I want an Xperia Play. Xperia Play could've been a true gem in Sony's pocket had they actually supported it.

      Now, what's up with Valve? Are steam boxes with bow ties going to show up on the floor at E3? Any mention of the elusive Half Life 3? We've waited a half life for it. They've said no showing at E3. Nintendo's tomorrow. C'mon Gabe! Give us a bone to chew on!

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:45 PM

        i heard you could build your own steambox at newegg.com

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 11:52 PM

        The rumor is that the $299 "Basic" Wii U is being discontinued as we speak, and I would be flabbergasted if the currently-$349 "Deluxe" model is not rapidly moved to the lower price point to replace it.

        So, assuming that's true, there will be a $100 cushion between the best Wii U and the cheapest PS4, and I expect Nintendo will be keen to maintain that cushion, if they have any sense.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:32 PM

      Incredible! $399 is a great price and I will be pre-ordering the PS4. I currently have an xbox 360 and PCs at home, but the Sony press conference was amazing and I will be a new owner.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:38 PM

      Hah. Someone set up xboxdone.com to reroute to the PS4 Amazon page.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:46 PM

      the big thing that bothers me is no titanfall :(

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:52 PM

        Available on the PC.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 8:52 PM

        dantastic pony up and buy a decent PC already. join us, it's better here.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 6:02 AM

          i need some money to buy a new motherboard and CPU, i have some DDR3 RAM but need a video card and SSD as well :(

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 8:51 PM

      $549 aud confirmed

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:15 PM

        JB HIFI; PS4: $548, XBONE: $598

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:00 PM

      How big do you think the loss is they are taking here.

      Either way unless Microsoft changes strategy fast they are going to be freaking obliterated.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:06 PM

        None, probably. The bill of materials that has been floating around for the PS4 was $320.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:12 PM

          They are actually making money on these things?

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 9:18 PM

            If the BOM is accurate and that originally included like $10 for the PS Eye. They said a while ago that they don't plan on selling the things for a loss.

            Also they'll likely make more money on them quicker too as 4GB GDDR5 modules plummet in price as they ramp up bulk orders for them.

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 9:19 PM

            No way

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 9:56 PM

            If they are that's brilliant.

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 10:32 PM

            They arent designing a proprietary architecture themselves this time.

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:19 PM

          do you really believe that? Nintendo was selling the Wii U at a loss with massively worse hardware. You think a shitty touchscreen and battery make up the difference so far that Sony is making an unprecedented per unit profit at launch? I guess we'll find out after Q4 this year...

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 9:21 PM

            Yes.

            Sony is not in any kind of position to go into another console generation incurring losses on every hardware unit sold. There is no way their share holders would allow this thing out the door being sold at a loss.

            • reply
              June 10, 2013 9:25 PM

              so why the disparity with the Wii U given the complete reversal each's business model represents?

              • reply
                June 10, 2013 9:46 PM

                Well, the Wii U controller is probably really expensive. Right?

                • reply
                  June 10, 2013 9:52 PM

                  Yup BOM for the controller is $180. That pretty much makes up the difference.

                  • reply
                    June 10, 2013 9:53 PM

                    that seems unlikely since they sell them in Japan at retail for ~$170

                  • reply
                    June 10, 2013 10:18 PM

                    That's insane.

                  • reply
                    June 11, 2013 12:13 PM

                    You're going to need to start posting sources in your attempts to do videogame financial analysis since the only thing I can find for this is a) rumor and b) the BOM for the entire console including controller. The 3DS BOM is actually around $100 after a teardown of the real thing, and you're telling me a controller with no internal processing power is nearly double that? A Kinect teardown claimed around $60 BOM initially, and you're telling me a Wii U controller is 3x that? The Vita has a BOM of $160 and you're telling me the Wii U controller with a massively worse display and missing a home console's level of processing power costs more? Come on man, think.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:11 PM

      I hope Sony can provide enough stock for holiday sales. If either of the consoles sell out then it's gonna be huge market grab for whoever has more machines.

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:12 PM

        if the eSRAM yield issues for Microsoft are true then I would be more concerned about their ability to produce enough

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:19 PM

        [deleted]

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:20 PM

      What about the storage ?

      if it's 12 Gig, nobody is going to buy that ?

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:31 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        June 10, 2013 9:47 PM

        Why is that clip from 1995 awesome?

        • reply
          June 10, 2013 9:50 PM

          because it's part of how they buried Sega, who had priced the Saturn at $100 more

          • reply
            June 10, 2013 9:53 PM

            but the saturn was awesome and so was sega :(

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 12:05 AM

            But conversely, Wikipedia says the Nintendo 64 came out at $199, and that failed to catch up to the PlayStation.

            Funny it says that, I had always assumed the N64 was more expensive since it was more powerful than the PS. I got my N64 as a gift so I had no idea what the price was at the time.

            • reply
              June 11, 2013 12:39 AM

              The N64 came out two years later though, that's an eternity

              • reply
                June 11, 2013 12:41 AM

                (also, I'm pretty sure the PS1 price had been cut to $199 by then)

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:42 PM

      Yep, Microsoft has lost this console generation.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 9:43 PM

      Holy shit. I'm buying a PS4 at launch.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 10:54 PM

      Surprised, but doesn't mean that much to me. I won't be getting either at launch, and exclusives will end up being the deciding factor for me.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 12:15 AM

        Which, if this generation is any guide, means Sony wins at that, too.

        MS really fucked this up something awful. I do believe they could have gotten away with going with slightly weaker internals in favor of the new Kinect, if it wasn't for the always-on and used game situation. And a better reveal.

        But all of it piled on top of each other, PLUS a $100 price gap? They're totally fucked. It actually scares me how hard MS is faceplanting in every possible arena, because they still control the operating system that powers PC gaming.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 12:47 AM

          I preferred the exclusives on the 360 actually. I have no interest in the kinds of exclusives the Playstation has had in the past. I'm not saying it's impossible for that to change with this generation, but I doubt it's going to happen.

          Most of the whining that has gone on about the Xbox One seems pretty silly to me. The only thing I have a major issue with is killing off rentals. If I want a truly spectacular gaming experience, neither console is a good choice anyway - PC is a far better gaming platform than any console.

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 11:02 PM

      U get what u pay for, a substandard product with no games for ps4 or pay a little extra for robust online services, UI, seamless tv/chat/social/twitch, games of AAA caliber only on 360 (Forza, halo, quantum break, ryse, sunset overdrive, killer instinct, d4, crimson dragon, dead rising 3, and of course the game of the show titanfall all these are exclusive to the best leading system in the world all available for just 100 dollars more than a lesser product of ps4. Cheaper this time actually fits the bill of a lesser product. Day one buy for me is Xbox one!!!

    • reply
      June 10, 2013 11:46 PM

      Courting indies like crazy, seemingly more powerful (GDDR5, GPU etc.), smaller and less VCR-like, no pre-owned restrictions or online activation bullshit (!), no Kinect requirement, PS2/3 games via cloud, 80 quid cheaper. I think I'll be voting with my wallet this generation. (Well, until the Xbone gets a few price cuts *cough*)

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 12:08 AM

      Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_rRzx_1c10

      Fucking lol, they're really enjoying this.

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 12:20 AM

      And now confirmed no region locking, weeeeee.

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 8:27 AM

      Will it include a voice communicator this time around?

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 8:30 AM

        yeah, every PS4 has a headset packed in

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 8:28 AM

      can i play my friend's huge library of PS3 games on it?

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 8:34 AM

      Have they said what the HD capacity will be for the $399 model?

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 8:36 AM

        No, neither Microsoft nor Sony has.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 12:04 PM

        PS4 hd is also upgradeable IIRC.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 12:08 PM

          which is good because I want to put in a 256gb ssd the moment I get one
          i want the smallest loading times possible, I played deus ex hr on a 8gb ram drive and it was amazing

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 1:45 PM

            I wonder if PS4 will support SATA 6Gbps and/or USB 3.0. AMD's PC equivalent setup supports them, so it would be real nice for the PS4 to fully support SSD transfer rates.

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 9:57 AM

      I find it odd that the Kinect is "mandatory" and causes the console to be an extra $100 more, but is totally optional and can be turned off in the user's settings. That really doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 10:09 AM

        Leads to developers feeling safe in implementing kinect functionality or making kinect-oriented games, since they know that the install base is 100% of XBone owners, whereas add-on peripherals historically have abysmal attach rates and so no games get made for them making them doomed from the start. How many games supported the Power Glove well? How many games came out for the 32X or Sega CD?

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 11:01 AM

          That's true, but the original Kinect was in the same boat. The *only* game that is totally amazing with it and almost made me buy the damn thing was Harmonix's Dance Central. That is the only game that made people want to go out and buy one. If there were more games that was excellent and memorable, then the add-on would sell.

          Another add-on that sold well was the GT Wheel for PS2. Lots of the driving fans went out and bought one just because of Gran Tourismo. It was just nuts seeing so many people buy them.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 12:20 PM

          One thing i'm curious about is sony's eye toy. They've said very little about how it works functionally. If it was very similar to kinect they could be an advantage. For example, if a developer is making a game with kinect functionality, if the eye toy is pretty similar it might not be a great deal of work to include that functionality on the ps4 version even though there is a far smaller install base on the sony system.

        • reply
          June 11, 2013 1:57 PM

          who the fuck wants kinect in their games

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 2:05 PM

            [deleted]

          • reply
            June 11, 2013 2:06 PM

            Most of us don't really know what Kinect version 2 will be like yet. If optional stuff in games I'm all for it - who knows, it might actually turn out some cool ideas in games this time around... (there were some games that was 'ok' with it afaik)
            One thing we can be sure of though - it'll be better than the first 'prototype'.
            As for Kinect being '"mandatory" - better having it this way, making sure the developer knows that every user has one installed. The problem being 3rd party titles for both consoles - where there is probably no reason to spend time on implementing a use for it.

    • reply
      June 11, 2013 10:09 AM

      Omg! I would be very happy to buy it at a launch. $399 isn't too bad.

      • reply
        June 11, 2013 2:07 PM

        $399 not bad? I cant even buy a GTX 680 or a AMD 7970 card for that price. Fuck.

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