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Wii manufacturing costs ring up to just $158?
We snuck a peek awhile back and found that Target itself was only making $12.50 per Wii it sold, and we knew the big N wasn't taking any losses on console sales at launch (unlike Microsoft and Sony), but is it really making money hand over fist? Per a shakily constructed Japanese comparison, it seems that Nintendo's brainchild is only costing $158.30 to manufacture, before you consider the Wiimotes and whatnot (not to mention marketing and distribution costs) that end up being bundled with it, while the 20GB PlayStation 3 clocks in at a whopping $805.85 (saywha?). Interestingly, there's a less-than-understandable $195.99 figure that mentions a "wholesale price," which could be a more realistic figure of how much Nintendo is shelling out when taking external costs (like Reggie flying all over the world) into the equation. Regardless, one thing's for sure -- Nintendo stands to make a sweet profit from the sold-out status its console is in, while Sony continues to fall deeper into a hole they hope will be redeemed with game / accessory sales. Of course, your Wii could end up costing you quite a bit more, especially if you don't have that recently-recalled Wiimote strap looked at.[Via Digg, thanks Mike]
Wii cost broken down
A poster by the name of DefectiveReject over at NeoGAF clues us all in to an interesting factoid: the Wii costs $158 bills to manufacture, not including the Wiimote and nunchuk). These guys take the spotlight to the console, shining its bright light into the various nooks and crannies of the system to find the total value of each of its parts, finally coming up with cost calculations for each component. Turns out, according to their findings, Nintendo is making around $40 bucks a console. Way to go Nintendo ... Graphics chip: $29.60 CPU: $13.00 DRAM: $7.80 Optical disk drive: $31.00 Power supply: $11.30 Manufacturing cost: $19.50 Cost total: $158.30 Wholesale price: $195.99 [Via NeoGAF]
EA Montreal boss calls development cost "crazy"
Maybe this explains why EA is laying on the microtransactions pretty thick. According to Alain Tascan, general manager of EA Montreal, it's "crazy" how much game development costs and new business models must be explored. Tascan is the same executive who said Gears of War lacked innovation -- even though he admitted never playing the game.In an interview with GI.biz, Tascan says, "I'm not sure that the model we have here will be the model in 15 years, and that the EA you know today will be the EA you know then." He doesn't feel that companies like EA are driving big game budgets, saying other companies are spending more and EA is, "Just here to deliver the show."Apparently things are all puppies and sunshine up at EA Montreal. Tascan goes on to say that they have small 35 to 85 member teams there and "small is beautiful." He expresses big budgets don't mean smaller companies are left struggling, "I think there are other ways to consume entertainment today - mobile phones, casual games... Games that take a shorter amount of your time are something where a smaller company can really have fun." In other words, leave the huge budget console games to the big boys and you little guys go have fun and focus on those cell phone and casual things. Wait, so "small is beautiful," but EA will continue to make the big budget games that require big teams to go with big budgets -- interesting, could somebody start the countdown before we get another EA workplace conditions story? There's something strange in the EA water lately and we still can't tell if gamers will benefit.
The interactive Wii cost calculator [update 2]
Let's face it: the true "price" of the Wii is nowhere close to two hundred and fifty dollars. It varies wildly from person to person, dependent on launch titles, extra controllers, and virtual console points. That's why some clever folks at N-sider.com have put together a lovely calculator for you, to determine how much you'll be spending come November. It gives accurate descriptions of all confirmed launch titles, and takes into account just about everything you could possibly desire ... except, unfortunately, an SD card. Still, with the limited number of Virtual Console titles at launch, the chances that you'll be needing a additional storage immediately are pretty slim. Check below for the entire Wii Fanboy staff's expected costs!Jason Wishnov - $476.94Extra controller w/nunchuk, classic controllerZelda: Twilight Princess, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz2000 Virtual Console pointsDavid Hinkle - $667.70Extra controller w/nunchukElebits, Excite Truck, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Trauma Center: Second Opinion2000 Virtual Console pointsAlisha Karabinus - $635.90Extra controller w/nunchuk, classic controllerExcite Truck, Red Steel, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Zelda: Twilight Princess2000 Virtual Console pointsNikki Inderlied - $558.99Extra controller w/nunchuk, classic controllerZelda: Twilight Princess, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Red Steel, Rayman Raving Rabbids500 Virtual Console pointsWhat are you guys spending? Let us know![Update 1: Added in Alisha's projected costs.][Update 2: Added in Nikki's projected costs.]
European PS2 price drop and pretty new pink model [update 1]
Following April's North American PS2 price drop, Sony has announced a European price drop for their top-selling console juggernaut. The formerly €149.99 and £104.99 prices will be lowered to €129.99 and £94.99 respectively, still a good deal more expensive than the $130 US asking price. They've also lowered the price of the Memory Card to €19.99. While this isn't quite the budget pricing we imagine the non-PS2-owner is waiting for, Sony has readied another flank in their assault on these stubborn holdouts.The formula has worked disturbingly well for companies like Nintendo and Apple: a fresh coat of paint and you've opened up a whole new customer base. The new Pink PlayStation 2 will debut at the Leipzig Games Convention in Germany, August 23-27th. This sexy little thing is going out dancing with a pair of Dual Shock controllers and a Memory Card, and they're all wearing their prettiest matching pink outfits. And, UK-only, they'll be joining up with SingStar Pop at the karaoke club! Just how much will this little bundle of fun cost? €159.99 or £129.99 in UK (bundled with SingStar Pop). Seriously, resistance is futile Europe.[Update: These things come in threes. It looks like the PS2 isn't the only console getting the pink treatment. Those rumors (from last year!) may have been premature, but Sony is finally making a pink PSP! Joy! It will be available Oct. 27th in Europe only for €229, or £169. They're also employing colorfully-named popstress P!nk to pimp their pink PSPs. We can think of a lot of things we'd rather have Sony invest their efforts in PSP-wise than a pink version. Just saying.]Read - SCEE Announces Introduction of Pink PS2Read - SCEE Announces New Price for PS2Read - A pink PSP to match the PS2
PSP games surprisingly cheap to make
It should come as no surprise that the Japanese market is completed dominated by handhelds right now. Thanks to both the DS and the PSP, the handheld sector has grown to control 63.2 percent of the entire video game market there. Sales of both hardware and software rose 13.9% in 2005, as consumers just can't get enough gaming on the go. To make all of you fanboys happy, I should also give you some numbers you'll throw at a DS fanboy's face: According to Gamespot, Nintendo exported 7.34 million DS systems while Sony exported 11.36 million PSPs in 2005.Also, more numbers you'll want to use in your online fury against DS owners involve how cheap PSP games are to make. The claims that it costs as much as a PS2 game are just wrong. The average cost to develop on PlayStation 2 is 139 million yen ($1.2 million) a game. A PSP game costs on average 63 million yen ($541,000). Sure, that's still more than developing a Nintendo DS game, which costs an average of 39.8 million yen ($342,000). But when you consider how much more technology goes into a PSP game, it's still not too expensive at all.
System Shootouts: Mac Pro vs Dell Precision 690
System Shootouts has pit a Mac Pro against a Dell Precision 690 workstation in an in-depth feature-for-feature comparison to see who gets to go home with the prom queen. This match is of particular interest in part because of how detailed the feature criteria is (it included extra drive/bays like a floppy or memory card readers, as well as any included backup solutions and even web authoring software), but also because of how ultimately mismatched these two machines are. One machine is so overpriced that System Shootouts opted to break traditional policy and include a display and/or extended warranty program in the name of mercy for the losing contender.In case you can't tell, I'm trying not to spoil this particular match because I think it's such an interesting upset, especially in light of how Apple did their own hardware match-up on stage at WWDC 2006. Check out the shootout for yourself to see whether the Mac Pro or the Dell wound up spending prom night home alone.
Motorola Q broken down by the numbers
iSuppli's back doing what they do best -- ripping apart your favorite piece of hardware, adding up the component costs, and letting you know how much you're getting taken when you whip out the plastic. Today's victim is Motorola's text-tastic Q, and though the margins are pretty slim, it looks like Moto and Verizon are in the black on every unit they push. All told, iSupply totals the cost of the Q's guts to be $150; tack on another $8 for manufacturing and you're looking at $158 out the door. The most expensive component, not surprisingly, is the device's 320 x 240 display at $25, with memory and the XScale rounding out the top three. If you've invested in one of these bad boys lately you know that Verizon's charging $199 on a two-year contract, meaning that in the worst case, the two companies are splitting $41 -- and if you opt for a one-year at $349, well, they're just rolling in fat city.
PlayStation 3 game prices revealed from Best Buy
That's right boys and girls, Best Buy Canada is touting bold game prices on their website. For the ripe price of $74.99, these jokers don't come cheap. But if you thought the next-generation of gaming was going to cost you anything less than an arm or a leg, you might as well dust off your cartridges.Does this really come as a surprise though? With a console as steep as the PlayStation 3, it'd be naive to think the games would be bargain-priced. As much as I'd like to say "Keep your eyes out for an amended page" or be wary of the current costs, we may be kidding ourselves thinking that next-gen games are going to be anything cheaper than 75 bucks a pop.
The price ceiling for PS3 games is under construction
Nothing in life is free and if 'Fun' had a price, then recent videogames are out to bankrupt you. I mean what with the cheaper medium of CDs and all, who can blame them for charging upwards of 60 bucks for a single game? Okay, sarcasm aside, there's probably a small army of people out there who are ready to hear something official about the pricing of the PlayStation 3's titles.Our favorite talking bobble head Kaz Hirai is at the presses again spreading the gospel. This time he's finally said something about the game pricing of the next-gen console. "I think it would be a bit of a stretch to think that we could suddenly turn around and say 'PS3 games now $99.99,'" he said to PSM. "So, if it becomes a bit higher than fifty-nine bucks don't ding me, but, again, as I said, I don't expect it to be a hundred bucks."So it's a "stretch", but we shouldn't expect a three-figure price point for those nifty new Blu-ray games... yet. Actually when you get down to it, what he's saying is that the titles won't be less than $59 or more than $100, while keeping their distance from the latter. They've got such an uphill battle with just the price of the console that I really don't think Sony would have the cojones to push the games to, say, $69.99 or more. Then again, Sony likes to surprise us. But seriously, how much are YOU willing to pay for next-gen games?
PS3 worth its weight in Uranium
When hordes of gamers stand in line at a press conference, eagerly awaiting a disgruntled security guard to open the doors and let them storm through, the conversations one can overhear seem to fluctuate wildly between intriguing and painfully moronic. One of these discussions, which nestles snugly between those two extremes, was regarding the PS3's rather hefty cost. It didn't take long for someone to make the joke that the PS3 is just about worth its weight in gold. The remarks got a few laughs, despite the fact that current gold prices don't quite match up to such a claim.The $599 PS3 is, however, worth its weight in Uranium. The radioactive substance so popular amongst terrorists is expected to hit $54 a pound this year, meaning that if you choose to buy 11 pounds of Uranium (and why wouldn't you?), you'll actually end up saving $5. Cutting-edge console and Blu-Ray player, or a vast quantity of apocalyptic material? Not an easy decision to make, but either investment will likely end up blowing you away (sorry).
Petition against XBLM prices
Another day, another online petition yelling into the internet void. This one is complaining about the "ridiculous prices" on Xbox Live Marketplace, and seems inspired primarily by the Oblivion horse armor currently fetching almost as much as a Starbucks Latte. It has 13 signatures so far.[Thanks Corey]
Engineering the DS Lite: 2 Nintendo hardware vets speak
Ever wonder what decisions go into a hardware redesign? Thanks to the latest edition of Nintendo's Japanese online mag, we finally get a portable peek into the DS Lite.Two Nintendo engineers who worked on the cuter DS sibling reveal how they pulled off the svelte new look while maintaining things like usability, battery life, and cost.Who knew that the new stylus was made "longer and wider to accommodate older users" (the Brain Age demographic who'd taken such a shine to the now shinier little system)? Durable, reliable hardware: it's what Nintendo does best. Let's hope they continue that trend with the Lite, as well as whatever other slicker iterations of the handheld that we're tempted to purchase -- or repurchase -- in the future.[Thanks, Princess Zelda; also via DS Fanboy]See also: Nintendo DS proven toilet-safe Playstation 2 goes silver (redux)
iMacs cost $898 to make?
MacSlash has come across a report from analyst firm iSuppli that claims the materials used to build the latest Intel iMac cost Apple roughly $898. This includes an estimated price of $265/Intel Dual Core chip, which is based on prices from Intel's site that are $294/chip in orders of 1000. The estimate, however, does not include other elements such as the mouse, keyboard or advertising. I won't regurgitate the rest of the price breakdown though, so check it out for yourself.While I'm no professional analyst, most of the pricing in that report sounds just a little bit high to me. I'm sure Apple is *probably* buying Dual Core chips in batches that are slightly larger than 1000, and $265/chip sounds nuts. Heck, a computer that costs $898 in mere parts (nevermind designing, building, advertising, shipping, etc) that sells for only $1299 sounds pretty nuts to me too, even for a company like Apple who could probably benefit from news like this hitting the streets.Just in case this report is right, though: that is one expensive computer, and one heck of an expensive chip. Here's hoping this big transition is ultimately worth it.
