How Important Is Release Date and Price

Next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony are now only months away. For all intents and purposes, they are close enough that using weeks or days wouldn’t be wrong. We do know that Microsoft plans to release the Xbox Series X (and possibly the Series S) in November, and we can only assume that Sony plans to do the same thing. Assuming that Microsoft wants to get out ahead of Black Friday, which is at the end of November and follows some patterns of their past in terms of releasing their consoles, then we are likely to see the next generation of Xbox between November 16-20.  The Xbox One and the Xbox 360 both released on November 22, however that day falls on a Sunday this year, which means the most likely day that we will get our hands on Microsoft’s next generation console would be November 20.

When it comes to Sony, trying to find a release pattern is much more challenging. Sony has released their major consoles in November, December and even March. Couple that with the fact that Sony has been tighter lipped than Microsoft, when it comes to giving fans morsels of details regarding the release date of the PS5. Although you can pre order to pre order on their site if that helps. 

As we eagerly await with patience (some people) the price and date of the next generation of consoles including the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5, gamers and fans find themselves in a game of chicken between these two monolithic tech companies. The big question is does Microsoft and Sony have good reason, outside of a global pandemic, to withhold revealing a release date and price. How important is price and date in the history of mainstream consoles? 

For the sake of relevance, the previous two generations of Microsoft and Sony will be used, which includes the Xbox 360 vs PS3 and most recently the Xbox One vs PS4. Taking a look a little further back at some of the more iconic console battles in history, I thought it might be interesting to try to include everyone in this questions that pertains to Microsoft and Sony including Sega and Nintendo. SNES vs Sega Genesis, Dreamcast vs PS2, Nintendo 64 vs PS1, and Gameboy vs GameGear are all competitions from the 90’s and early 2000’s that had other people asking which side you were on?

Xbox One vs PS4

The most recent example is the Xbox One, which released on November 22, 2013 at 499 due to its inclusion of the Kinect. This doesn’t seem all that different heading into this next generation launch, as Microsoft is aware that Sony has better first party offerings at the moment. In 2013, Microsoft wanted to offer a complete package for gamers, which tried to make amends for the lack of premium, first party offerings when compared to Sony. The experience was built around the Kinect, using Xbox as your station for watching TV and if you wanted to play your older Xbox games then they had a product for you called the Xbox 360. Today, Microsoft has bought up a plethora of new studios to help bolster their first party offerings. Until those games come to fruition, Microsoft needed to compete in other areas including GamePass, Smart Delivery, xCloud, Backwards compatibility for games and accessories as well as being the most powerful console ever made.

Sony launched the PS4 on November 15, 2013 at 399, which seemed like a much better deal considering that both systems seemed very equal when comparing the technical specifications. Although the PS4 had a smarter designed system architecture as it would become apparent in the early game comparison videos. If gamers are highly anticipating a new generation of consoles after around eight years and have money burning a hole in their pocket then releasing a week early is going to sell your system. After an initial surge of consumers purchasing the PS4 in the first week, then it becomes a domino effect of friends telling friends and family recommending to other family. The decision for the consumer, especially a casual one also becomes very easy when specs are similar but one is $100 cheaper.

Round 1 - Price and Release Date Win

Xbox 360 vs PS3

Moving slightly farther back in the time machine we see the second iteration from Microsoft on their home console with the Xbox 360. After their initial release of the Xbox, Microsoft was eager to get a new machine out ahead of the competition. The Xbox 360 launched just four years after the release of the original Xbox, which is about half the time of most console cycles of the modern age with the exception of a few outliers. Typically the exceptions are for systems that want to hit the restart button and start fresh. The Xbox 360 wanted a fresh start after the original Xbox hit the market after one of the best selling consoles, the PS2, which had already been on the market for a year ahead of it and was dominating thanks to its future forward features including the DVD player. The other example that comes to mind is the WiiU, which launched at the very end of 2012 and was replaced by the Switch very early in 2017 which is just over four years as well. However, the WiiU is a conversation for another day.

The Xbox 360 launched on November 22, 2005 for $399, which was more than the original Xbox launched for but was well under what the competition would eventually price themselves at. Introducing the PS3, the system that you needed two jobs to afford. You actually didn’t need two jobs, but the system was a little pricey for the time. Although it seems like we are on the verge of repeating the high prices for this current generation, we still aren’t at the same expensive cost that was the PlayStation 3. The system launched at $599, largely in part to a blu ray drive, but even with inflation the system would cost about $750.

A year on the market ahead of the PlayStation 3 wouldn’t be enough to win the generation for the Xbox 360. Although Sony was late to market by a year when compared to the Xbox 360 and they got off to a very slow start due to the higher price, they were still able to edge out Microsoft by a few million at the end of the generation. Not to take anything away from the excellent product that Microsoft offered as they made excellent headway into the console space during this generation selling an estimated 86 million. If the Xbox 360 only sold around 20 million like the original Xbox would Microsoft had continued in the gaming space?

Round 2 - Release Date and Launch Price Lose

Sega Dreamcast vs PS2

Moving our way back in time chronologically, we find ourselves at the first console battle of the millennium. Any excuse to talk about the Sega Dreamcast is a good enough excuse. As we all know by now this would be the last gasp of Sega to stay in the console business, as too many costly mistakes including the Sega CD, 32X and Saturn led to the company leaving the hardware business. I don’t fault Sega completely as the 90’s felt like the Wild West for technology and too many times tech would become outdated fast or never catch on at all.

The Dreamcast was in some ways ahead of it’s time, most notably with the inclusion of the built in modem for online play, but lacked major features of the competition. I still remember getting a drive to Electronics Boutique to place my preorder for the system and every month of so would save up enough money to go back in and preorder something else to go with the system including games like Sonic Adventure, Blue Stinger, House of the Dead 2, NFL2K, Ready to Rumble and accessories like the VMU. Memory is a little foggy but I also remember buying the fishing rod controller with Sega Bass Fishing and putting too many hours into virtual fishing with friends.

However, being a teenager can blind you from seeing the bigger picture and the big picture is that new wave of technology would make the Dreamcast obsolete, literally. Once the PlayStation 2 come onto the scene, around a year later, everything else was irrelevant. Sony had the games, online capability and most importantly, it easily ushered in the full adoption of DVD, which in 2000, many people still had not made the switch from VHS. Just five short months after the release of the PS2, Sega made the announcement that the Dreamcast would be discontinued and they would be exiting the console business. Shortly after the release of the PS2, the original Xbox would hit the scene along with the Nintendo Gamecube as the console market became increasingly competitive.

Round 3 - Release Date and Price Lose

N64 vs PS1

It wouldn’t be proper to talk about console competition without talking about Nintendo. This would be the last time that Sony and Nintendo basically competed directly with each other. The Nintendo 64 and the original PlayStation or PS1 would usher in 3D graphics, although in hindsight a lot of these polygonal graphics don’t quite hold the test of time. After trying to partner with Nintendo unsuccessfully, Sony decided to launch their own gaming console, which in hindsight turned out to be a pretty great idea. Every single iteration of the PlayStation has gone on to be a success of varying degrees.

The PlayStation hit the ground running with a massive library that seemed to cater to everyone with experiences that were never had before with games like Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Crash Bandicoot, Castlevania: Symphony of the night, Parappa and countless others. Some of these series are still around to this day and likely the others will make a return at some point this upcoming generation. Launching in North America in September 1995, there was nothing that felt like the future of gaming like this system. The PlayStation would also enjoy being the only next generation console on the market for over a year before Nintendo threw their hat in the polygonal ring.

The Nintendo 64 hit store shelves in September of 1996 and would eventually be home to some genre defining experiences including Ocarina of Time, Super Mario 64 and GoldenEye. However, these experiences wouldn’t be enough to lift Nintendos first foray into 3D gaming as the Nintendo 64 would go down in history as one of the companies worst selling consoles. The N64 would only go on to sell around 33 million units, which isn’t terrible and some companies would be thrilled, but Nintendo had tasted success much greater with other releases at that point including the Gameboy, which sold almost 120 million and NES, which would sell almost 62 and even the SNES would sell 49 million units. These numbers mean that by the end of the N64 lifespan, it would be the least successful home console from Nintendo, not taking into account the Virtual Boy which wasn’t a dedicated home console.

Round 4 - Release Date Win, Release Price Lose

Sega Genesis vs SNES

You can’t talk about console wars without talking about Sega and Nintendo. One of the most iconic console battles in history is Sega Genesis vs Super Nintendo. Back in the day, it was either are you are Nintendo fan or are you a Sega fan. You either preferred the clean cut and friendly Mario or you liked the edgy and blue Sonic. The Sega Genesis hit the market almost a full two years ahead of the Super Nintendo, even though they both would be 16 bit consoles. The system wasn’t able to outsell the Super Nintendo despite the two year advance it had to market, the Genesis being the best selling Sega console ever, and launching for cheaper than the SNES.

Round 5 - Release Date and Release Price lose

Verdict

After looking at some of the biggest consoles battles of the last thirty years, how important is launching cheaper and earlier? Out of the five different console wars that were pitted against each other, more frequently, the one that hit the market earlier actually ended up losing. Getting a head start on the competition and giving gamers a reason to spend the money burning a hole in their pocket seems like it would be essential to selling more consoles, but its not.

When it comes to the pricing of a console, the overwhelming majority of times, when a console launched at a cheaper price than the competition, it didn’t become the best selling console of that generation. Despite the notion that people are looking for value and whatever system is cheaper will sell more just isn’t accurate. The only cheaper system in our examples that would go on to win the generation was the PS4 and that could be argued was much more of Xbox failing monumentally at the launch.

As we have seen over the past thirty years of gaming, there is so much more to a console succeeding than just price and release date. Everything matters and it can’t just be boiled down to a few simple categories. As gamers and fans await the highly anticipated release date and price for next generation consoles, the important thing to remember is that It doesn’t overly matter, whether Sony or Microsoft announce first and it doesn’t matter who will offer the cheaper console. Instead its much more of a Venn diagram of categories like exclusives, ecosystem, price, release date, accessories, services and everything else.

Game Gear - April 1991. Price 149. Approx sales 11 million

Gameboy - April 1989. Price 89.99 Approx sales 118 million

N64 - September 29, 1996. Price 199.99 Approx sales 33 million

PS1 - September 9, 1995. Price 299.99. Approx sales 102 million

Sega Genesis - August 14, 1989. Price 189.99. Approx sales 31 million

Super Nintendo - August 23, 1991. Price 199.99. Approx sales 49 million

Sega Dreamcast - September 9, 1999. Price 199.99. Approx sales 9 million

PS2 - October 26, 2000. Price 299.99. Approx sales 155 million