Suppy and Demand, or What can $750 Get You These Days? By Sky Render Video games: a multi-million dollar industry, full of controversy and strife, with just a dash of contradiction. For such a high-budget industry, people sure don't want to pay much for what they get (sound familiar, movie-goers?). The value of the US dollar may have dropped considerably over the last 30 years, but how much people are willing to spend on a video game system has stayed pretty constant. A fact that some are hesitant to believe... But let's be realistic: if you make under 75K a year, are you really going to want to invest more than about $750 of it into video games? This is, after all, a hobby we're talking about. Video games aren't a necessity in life. There's plenty you can do instead for entertainment (ride a bike, play board games, read a book, watch a movie, etc.). It's a fairly reasonable estimate that the majority of people aren't willing to invest more than about $750 into video games and systems annually (many will spend even less if they find can a way to, in fact). So, what can $750 get you these days? Well, let's take a look at the basic items available that are more or less given purchases: systems, controllers, and software. Sure, there's other peripherals out there to consider, but these are the things that are pretty much guaranteed purchases. Note that this only analyzes home consoles; handhelds are an arena unto themselves, and usually don't factor into these figures (yet, anyway; the industry is gradually gearing towards handhelds and consoles competing against each other). Also, sales taxes aren't factored in, since those vary immensely from area to area. The System: Nintendo Wii Extras Included: 1 Wii Remote, 1 Nunchuk, 1 Game (Wii Sports) Nintendo's Items Price Wii $250 Wii Remote $40 each +Nunchuk $20 each +Classic Controller $20 each Game Software $50 each The System: Microsoft XBox 360 Extras Included: 1 Controller Microsoft's Items Price XBox 360 Core $300 XBox 360 Premium $400 XBox 360 Elite $480 360 Controller $40 each Game Software $60 each The System: Sony PlayStation 3 Extras Included: 1 Controller Sony's Items Price PlayStation 3 Core* $500 PlayStation 3 Premium $600 PS3 Controller $50 each Game Software $60 each * - Discontinued in America, never released in Europe But of course, those are just raw numbers. What we want is some actual comparisons of what you can get within our yearly price range limit. So, let's look at some possible initial purchase combos that add up to (or close to but not over) $750. Note that a minimum of 1 game purchase is required for any system that doesn't come with a pack-in game, for the obvious reason that video game consoles are intended to play games. NOTE: The Wii ships with a game, so game count is listed as +1 on all possible Wii purchases. Nintendo Wii: Wii + 3 Remotes + 3 Nunchuks + 4 Classic Controllers + 4 Games (+1) Wii + 3 Remotes + 3 Nunchuks + 6 Games (+1) Wii + 3 Remotes + 7 Games (+1) Wii + 2 Remotes + 2 Nunchuks + 3 Classic Controllers + 6 Games (+1) Wii + 2 Remotes + 2 Nunchuks + 7 Games (+1) Wii + 2 Remotes + 8 Games (+1) Wii + 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 2 Classic Controllers + 8 Games (+1) Wii + 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 8 Games (+1) Wii + 1 Remote + 9 Games (+1) Wii + 1 Classic Controller + 9 Games (+1) Wii + 10 Games (+1) Microsoft XBox 360: 360 Core + 3 Controllers + 5 Games 360 Core + 2 Controllers + 6 Games 360 Core + 1 Controller + 6 Games 360 Core + 7 Games 360 Premium + 3 Controllers + 3 Games 360 Premium + 2 Controllers + 4 Games 360 Premium + 1 Controller + 5 Games 360 Premium + 5 Games 360 Elite + 3 Controllers + 2 Games 360 Elite + 2 Controllers + 2 Games 360 Elite + 1 Controller + 3 Games 360 Elite + 4 Games Sony PlayStation 3: PS3 Core + 3 Controllers + 1 Game PS3 Core + 2 Controllers + 2 Games PS3 Core + 1 Controller + 3 Games PS3 Core + 4 Games PS3 Premium + 1 Controller + 1 Game PS3 Premium + 2 Games 2-System Combos: Wii + 360 Core + 2 Wii Games + 1 360 Game Wii + 360 Core + 1 Wii Game + 2 360 Games Wii + 360 Core + 3 360 Games Wii + 1 Remote + 360 Core + 1 Wii Game + 2 360 Games Wii + 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 360 Core + 1 Wii Game + 1 360 Game Wii + 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 2 Classic Controllers + 360 Core + 1 360 Game Wii + 1 Classic Controller + 360 Core + 1 Wii Game + 2 360 Games Wii + 360 Core + 3 Controllers + 1 360 Game Wii + 360 Core + 2 Controllers + 1 Wii Game + 1 360 Game Wii + 360 Core + 1 Controller + 1 Wii Game + 1 360 Game Wii + 360 Premium + 1 360 Game Wii + 1 Remote + 360 Premium + 1 360 Game Wii + 360 Premium + 1 Controller + 1 360 Game This is, of course, a first-year analysis of what you could get, and there's a fair number more possibilities for the Wii and the Wii/360 2-system combo. The systems themselves aren't really on the list for later years, so let's look at what that would entail for our $750-a-year budget (skipping the 2-system combos this time; that would be a huge mess to map out): Nintendo Wii: 3 Remotes + 3 Nunchuks + 4 Classic Controllers + 9 Games 3 Remotes + 3 Nunchuks + 11 Games 3 Remotes + 12 Games 2 Remotes + 2 Nunchuks + 3 Classic Controllers + 11 Games 2 Remotes + 2 Nunchuks + 12 Games 2 Remotes + 13 Games 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 2 Classic Controllers + 13 Games 1 Remote + 1 Nunchuk + 13 Games 1 Remote + 14 Games 1 Classic Controller + 14 Games 15 Games Microsoft XBox 360: 3 Controllers + 10 Games 2 Controllers + 11 Games 1 Controller + 11 Games 12 Games Sony PlayStation 3: 3 Controllers + 10 Games 2 Controllers + 10 Games 1 Controller + 11 Games 12 Games This is pretty revealing, overall. The Wii has the most options listed in all cases, but almost always lets the buyer get more games than a comparative purchase for PS3 or 360. In the cases where the number of games you can get for the Wii is less than the competition, it's reduced by (at most) 1 game. Even at $80 for a full Wii controller set (Remote, Nunchuk, and Classic Controller), you still end up paying very little extra overall due to the $10 price difference in games between the Wii and its competition. In other words, the extra cost for the controller is balanced out by the lessser cost of the games. Now let's look at why the PS2's still around, shall we? This will be a brief little foray (particularly since the PS2 has only 2 controller ports), so no worries. The System: Sony PlayStation 2 Extras Included: 1 Controller Sony's Items Price PlayStation 2 (Slim) $130 PS2 Controller $20 each 8MB Memory Card $15 each Game Software $40 each (average) First-Year Purchase: PS2 + 1 Controller + 2 Memory Cards + 14 Games PS2 + 1 Controller + 1 Memory Card + 14 Games PS2 + 1 Controller + 15 Games PS2 + 1 Memory Card + 15 Games PS2 + 15 Games Later-Year Purchases: 2 Memory Cards + 1 Controller + 17 Games 1 Memory Card + 1 Controller + 17 Games 1 Controller + 18 Games 1 Memory Card + 18 Games 18 Games Talk about thrifty! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why the PS2 is still doing so well (though the size of the game library certainly helps). The industry may be going on about how we've entered the "next-gen" era, but the consumers have responded with their wallets by giving "last-gen" gaming far more attention than "next-gen" gaming, so far. And why? Well, it cannot be denied that the price factor is a big part of it. Because really, what do you think the average consumer would like to have more? 15 games that look pretty good, or 5 games that look great? The 15, of course! You get more bang for your buck that way! While a hardcore gamer might disagree, hardcore gamers are severely outnumbered now, and the industry goes where the majority wants it to. And right now, that direction is not onward and upward, but rather, a bit off to the side (and perhaps with a quick flick of the wrist too).