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Analyst: $60 price point is safe for now
Roughly two months ago, Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald said publishers would ease up on the standard $60 pricing for Triple-A games, but now he's changing his tune. According to Greenwald (via GamesIndustry.biz), the $60 price tag won't change anytime soon, as consumers are satisfied with the current pricing and enjoy spending more on premium-priced special edition software. So it's all your fault.Although, with a growing market for cheap, used games (Toys R' Us and Amazon joining the fray) and a trend towards cost-cutting digital distribution, you'd think there would be even more pressure put on the relatively high retail pricing. Greenwald takes this into account, too; he states that although "near-term fundamentals are holding up well," a long-term projection is "cloudy." In short, as long as games continue to fly off the shelves like they are now, $59.99 is here to stay.
Analyst: Publishers potentially slashing $60 pricing
In this day and age of economic downturn, people are holding on to their hard-earned greenbacks. For some, the $60 price tag on new gaming software is a bit too rich for their blood and – as if sensing their trepidation – Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald says it might be on its way out. Greenwald points to this trend using retail and publisher-supported price reductions during the past holiday season (Mirror's Edge, Madden NFL 2009) as examples of what could become stationary in 2009. Consumers might be smugly smiling at the possibility of future software price cuts; however, such a move to counteract slowing sales would only be a brief riposte. In the long run, it would cut the industry deeply and would be "devastating for margins." That means more of this and less of that. In the end, it's a double-edged sword for both the industry and consumer alike.
PS3 is well-positioned for the first time, says Signal Hill analyst
Signal Hill analyst Tom Greenwald commented positively on the pricing strategy of the PlayStation 3, according to Edge Online. He said that "Sony [is] well-positioned for first time since launch" thanks to the 80GB PS3 selling at $399 and "Sony's biggest announcement was a strong counter-punch to Microsoft's $50 price cut on the 360." Greenwald also mentions what he feels is another advantage Sony holds over the competition: a strong game lineup. He also says that the $399 price point is a great advantage over the competition's similarly priced model, since it comes standard with so many more features. In the end, he's just one analyst -- your personal opinions are always the ones that count the most. Do you think he's got a point?[Via CVG]
