The Price Remains the Same: Xbox One Games Still $60 Bones
Plus: The Big M Claims They’re “Over-Delivering Value” at $499
Rejoice, friends, for the gift of not-change has been visited upon us. According to Microsoft representative earlier today, the company is adhering to the $59.99 pricing standard for Xbox One games.
You were just looking for the catch, weren’t you? Ooh, you’re a savvy one. Heads up: Microsoft has only confirmed the old, familiar price in regards to first-party titles – which covers your Halo’s and your Forza’s and your Gearses and so on. Third-party publishers, on the other hand, are given the freedom to set whatever the hell price point their corporate hearts desire. Trust me when I say a tightly shut wallet will keep publishers from siphoning your hard earned buckaroos through a hose.
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Here’s a real puzzler for you: You’ve just announced your next-gen system, your company’s ranks having wracked their brains for months over a fair price that’ll put up a fight in the market…But before you can even uncork the champagne, your direct competitor up and announces their own next-gen console at a hundred dollars cheaper than yours. What do you do?
You oversell the fucking thing. You tell your consumers that you’re giving them too much at that price. As Mr. Don Mattrick, Microsoft’s head of interactive ‘tainment, puts it, “We’re over-delivering value against other choices I think consumers can get” and “We’re delivering thousands of dollars of value to people…”
Mattrick backed up his bold, likely italicized words by illustrating the Xbox One’s advantage in devices like the Kinect and services such as Skype. He also stressed a one-two combo in the form of both the Halo TV series alongside Halo 5’s launch (up until now, the next installment of Halo had no name – a lot of leg work and sacrifice has led most academics and related experts to believe “Halo 5” was a potential moniker).
Before you anoint sainthood to Sony for refraining from shouting “We’re not charging you enough!”, I present to you the time Sony shouted “We’re not charging you enough!” Ahh, I love classic PR misfires.