Recalculated console costs

[hypernova]

After reading a few days ago about Sony's Move system and its pricing I was curious about a console's true cost as of today.  Here's what I came up with.

It's interesting, because when figuring in Sony's new Move system, a single person's controllers (both the DualShock and Move) now costs them a cool $123.  Ouch.  It remains to be seen how much the Move's sub-controller will be utilized, but I'm betting that it will be used a decent bit.  Due to Sony's limitations, however, there won't be any need for more than two sub-controllers.  PS3 can either handle 4 Moves, or 2 Moves + 2  Sub-controllers (basically 6 extra pieces of equipment total).

I personally am skeptical of Kinect and it's abilities to recognize players' movements correctly, especially when multiple players are present.

This chart is by no means perfect.  I tried going with one site's price (walmart.com) and going from there.  Obviously prices change when considering the new bundles that will be hitting stores, but this should give everyone a general idea still.

[Malenko]

why is a year of live $60? its 49.99 everywhere Ive ever seen (and $48 on walmart.com right now) and on sale right now for like $36 on xbox consoles. The only real MAJOR flaw I see in this is that you think people want Kinect/Move 

[jimmy2x2x]

Im not that interested in the upcoming 'motion wars' but I have been impressed by the tech.

The PS3 Move has amazing tracking and combined with the camera it offers something over and above the others for gaming applications.

Kinect, I feel like you, isnt really suited to gaming applications for the same reasons, if someone else moving in the vicinity of the sensor can interrupt your game then its destined to flop.

However I think the Kinect tech is amazing and would love to use it to control something like multi room media centre.

Feels like a cheap way to extend the longevity of existing systems, and in time I think it will be viewed as such.

[DJ_Izumi]

This is only an accurate price however if you do indeed buy EVERY accessory they have.

And why did you calculate $40 for PS3 rechargers?  It can charge directly off of the PS3 you just need a USB cable.  Heck you can charge it off a a computer over USB cable even.  Why assume that every user will get motion controllers for 360 and PS3?  Why assume that every user gets FOUR controllers?

What this chart utterly FAILS to caculate is the AVERAGE number of differnet accessories that each system owner gets so the numbers are thusly useless.

[Malenko]

What this chart utterly FAILS to caculate is the AVERAGE number of differnet accessories that each system owner gets so the numbers are thusly useless.

I think the point of the chart was if you bought everything, while not practical, does establish a base line. Also its not all the accessories, because it lacks guitars, dance pads, zappers, drums,etc

[DaveMMR]

This is only an accurate price however if you do indeed buy EVERY accessory they have.

And why did you calculate $40 for PS3 rechargers?  It can charge directly off of the PS3 you just need a USB cable.  Heck you can charge it off a a computer over USB cable even.  Why assume that every user will get motion controllers for 360 and PS3?  Why assume that every user gets FOUR controllers?

What this chart utterly FAILS to caculate is the AVERAGE number of differnet accessories that each system owner gets so the numbers are thusly useless.

Being a little harsh, maybe? I don't think hypernova was trying to calculate every possible scenario, but instead comparing cost on the same playing field (i.e. assuming 4-controller, motion, online-play setup with best picture possible for each system.)         

[SavannahLion]

It can charge directly off of the PS3 you just need a USB cable.  Heck you can charge it off a a computer over USB cable even.

I need to point out the following. I am a PS3 owner that has very little desire to leave my PS3 on just to charge my controller and I do not want to sit two feet away from my big screen just to charge while playing.

To add insult to injury, I do not have a single PC in this house that can successfully charge the controller as everyone states can be done. Massively irritating and a bit of a mystery.

Therefor, unless I charge my controller in the PS3, I have no other option to buy one of those bastard accessories.

[hypernova]

why is a year of live $60? its 49.99 everywhere Ive ever seen (and $48 on walmart.com right now) and on sale right now for like $36 on xbox consoles. The only real MAJOR flaw I see in this is that you think people want Kinect/Move 

It will be 60 coming up.  That's why they're promoting these specials.  I saw it for 39.99 on Live myself about a week ago.

This is only an accurate price however if you do indeed buy EVERY accessory they have.

And why did you calculate $40 for PS3 rechargers?  It can charge directly off of the PS3 you just need a USB cable.  Heck you can charge it off a a computer over USB cable even.  Why assume that every user will get motion controllers for 360 and PS3?  Why assume that every user gets FOUR controllers?

What this chart utterly FAILS to caculate is the AVERAGE number of differnet accessories that each system owner gets so the numbers are thusly useless.

I took a charger into the picture because another site did the same years ago when they did their comparison.  I know nothing of the PS3, so I am unaware of what is and isn't needed.  I assumed since they still sell in retail that they were still required.  If they aren't, then you can forget that minor charge.  Though it looks from SavannahLion's post that it is useful for many people.

To your second point that my chart "utterly FAILS"...My chart isn't meant to cover every single possibility.  That kind of research would be nearly impossible.  In your eyes, I should've bargain-searched for every single piece of equipment too, huh?  Should I have included ebay as well?  Then this comparison becomes 1000x more complicated.

It is set up this way to be able to compare things with relative ease without going into too much detail, so calm down.  Someone must be a PS3 fan.    It's like I hurt your feelings or something. 

If you're only comparing consoles with one player in mind, then all you need to calculate is whatever accessories you want, plus the console, and games.  You can do that yourself with relative ease.  I decided to do this because of Sony and MS's foray into the Motion portion of gaming.  They obviously can't sit idly by and let Nintendo reap the benefits alone.  Nintendo's doing well with it NOT just because of the motion control.  (In fact, it's not exactly the best stuff.)  They're doing well because of the ease of getting FOUR people together and playing.  I've seen that sentiment on these boards countless times.  "I don't play the Wii unless I have a bunch of friends over."  That's the reason I calculated this particular setup with four players.

[Cakemeister]

Your total cost of ownership does not include electricity.

http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-356-1.htm

This link might be outdated as the newer 360s and PS3s use less juice.

[hypernova]

WOW!  Undoubtedly they've been lowered, but damn, that's quite a gap from the Wii to the 360/PS3.

[DJ_Izumi]

Yeah that's way old.  I know for sure those are numbers for a Xenon 360 cause it's over 175w.  The Falcon's only had 175w bricks and consumed less than that, Jaspers were 150w bricks.  (So you can't use a Jasper brick on a Falcon or a Xenon).  The 360 S is like 20w less than the Jasper even but I'm not sure of it's wattage.

Though I doubt the Wii's consumption has changed much.

[DJ_Izumi]

Actually you can.  You take a pair of needle nose pliers to the connector on your Xbox and you can use any brick with any system.  Have run it for hours, no problems.  Probably runs a little hot but meh.

You can also replace the fuses in your home with quarters but it doesn't mean you should.