this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023
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The PS3 is absolutely not the most expensive console on launch, either adjusted for inflation or not. The CD-i and the 3DO both were $700 at launch and the 20GB model of the PS3 started at 499$, just like the Xbox One, which many people have memory holed because the 60GB 599$ made such a stir for being expensive.
The launch lineup was relatively weak out of the gate, though, that much is true, although a bit exaggerated. There are some underrated games in that early batch, just no proper system seller. It was a bit better in Europe where at least CoD 3, Oblivion and a bunch of third party games were available soon after launch.
I don't think CD-i and 3DO should be counted for this.
The 3DO had a weird business model and the price point was considering it didn't sell at a loss like most consoles do -- It didn't catch on because it was a weird interstitial thing that was more powerful than the then-popular SNES/Mega Drive but leagues less powerful than the (already announced, already on the way) PS1 and Saturn.
And the CD-i? That one didn't even intend to be a games console at first. Philips was trying to make a ~multimedia machine~ out of a belief that those 90s interactive encyclopedia/activity center CD-Roms that were popular on PC were the future of consumer media. It was priced like a high-end media player, because that's what they meant for it to be. They only pivoted to games at the ass-end of its lifecycle in hopes of salvaging the unmitigated disaster that had turned out to be. And when they did, they did so with a redesigned model that had a lot of the high-end features removed to "console-ize" their multimedia player, making it much cheaper.
Hey, they were both advertised alongside the rest of the gen 5 consoles, they absolutely count.
But hey, if you're gonna be that guy AND ignore the post-PS3 consoles that all launched at higher prices, how about the Neo Geo? Because that launched at $650 in 1991 money.
The point is that no, the PS3 does not hold "have the dubious honor of most expensive console at launch" by any definition of that concept.
Fair enough.
I mean I was only thinking of the major, mainstream home consoles. But that's why I said "may”, the history of experimental game consoles and regional price differences is a whole study itself. But certainly nobody at the time expected Sony to go from a more lower priced option to the most expensive one.
The 20 GB isn't remembered much because even the Xbox 360's 20GB model was considered way too small even a year later. Even to this day, the basic model of any console or GPU isn't really considered the standard, but the budget option.
At least the PS3 let you toss in your own HDD though. The Xbox 360's proprietary ones (and all its other accessories) were way more expensive.
Really, with all the accessories considered, the PS3 was actually a cheaper console even at $100 more.
The base model of the 360 shipped with no hard drive at all, it used memory cards. I know because that was the SKU I got until I bought an add-on drive. The 20GB one was the big one. Nobody thought the 20GB PS3 compared unfavorably to the base Xbox SKU.
I mean, you're right that people fixated on the 60GB model in that the $600 tag was a psychological barrier, but it certainly wasn't the most expensive console at launch, mainstream or not. It takes a bit of cherry picking to argue that the Neo Geo wasn't mainstream or that the absolutely existing 20GB model (also the SKU I got) doesn't count.
Ultimately, price was a factor and the PS3 launch was weak, but it wasn't a disaster and it wasn't as overpriced as people make it out to be, as you said.