K&AJones

Project Scorpio To Launch At $700: IDC's Lewis Ward

http://www.gamepur.com/news/26353-pr...ewis-ward.html

According to IDC's Lewis Ward, Microsoft will have a hard time trying to deliver Project Scorpio at the price of $399/499 as someone would like it to be (of course, us too.) The upcoming Xbox is going to be priced a lot higher, based on his intel, and Microsoft saying that this is a premium product sure looks to give this opinion lots of consistency

"I estimate the basic hardware will cost around $650, so if Microsoft wants any kind of margin at all, Scorpio will have to retail for $700 or more. If you look at the Alienware Aurora, which is a solid VR-ready PC, that currently costs about $1,000. I think Scorpio will come in below that, but how much below is unknowable at this point," Ward told GamesIndustry International.

"This is a step function difference in performance though. The PS4 Pro can generally run 4K (UHD) video at 30 frames a second. The Scorpio will run video content and games at 60, with room to spare for special effects and spatial audio. It will succeed at bringing AR and VR to the Xbox One platform, just as it's coming to all Win10 terminals, but even if costs, say, $750, that's still roughly double the cost of today's high-end Xbox One S bundle price. Scorpio will appeal to hardcore Xbox fans with money to burn, as long as it ships along with a solid lineup of 4K-ready content. I'm sure we'll see more on this at E3, but I sure hope they at least unveil something along the lines of 'Halo VR,' or perhaps it'll be 'HaloLens AR.'"

Jay G.

The source appears to be this article, where several anaylists were asked:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...to-scorpio-npd
So out of 3 experts, only one mentioned a price as high as $700. Of course, that's the one estimate everyone is running articles about.

Also, there's no info on how he came up with that estimate. It's likely another "breakdown of parts compared to retail prices of similar parts."

DJariya

Even at $600-700, I'm sure there are plenty of people (including here) who absolutely have to have the newest gaming hardware at launch.

For me, I don't game enough to spend that kind of money. I just got the XBox One S after trading a crap load of 360 games and the old 360 console and it cost $250.

I have no plans to jump on the Scorpio at that price point or even in the foreseeable future.

I don't sit in my room/bed room and game for 6-7 hours a day during my days off from work.

pinata242

Even if it does cost $650 to produce, $700 seems DoA to me. No matter what the guts are, the PC and Console consumer expectations are still so drastically different.

RichC2

I hate when article titles quote speculation in a factual manner.

It irks me.

That is all.

davidh777

I have a PS4 Pro and a regular XB1, and no 4K TV, so I won't be in the market for Scorpio for quite a while.

RichC2

Yeah... that's what I kept saying when I bought a PS4 Pro for VR... then I wound up buying a 4K TV to go with it, easier to do these days though, I think it was like $340 for a 50" LG 4K HDR tv.

fumanstan

Yeah, that $700 article is stupid. Hopefully people aren't dumb enough to believe it, but people just see headlines and run with it.

I'm pretty sure i'm buying Scorpio on launch. I just got a 4K TV and want a UHD player, so that's a big win over the PS4 Pro for me. I also like the generational upgrade model and the Scorpio specs look awesome - not just for future games, but what it can do for existing Xbox One and BC 360 games.

Now how about some unique and exclusive games?

K&AJones

I just put it out there but if you go back in history to the launch of consoles, it's part funny and part serious as to the cost of manufacturing. The initial cost of XB1 was $471 but that was with the mandatory Kinect included. The estimate on PS4 was around $370. Even going back further the PS3 was said to cost $close to $700 to make.

But tech has come a long way getting smaller and more efficient but still to get the latest & greatest you need to pay. But according to those in the know, both Sony and MS took some degree in loss on the manufacturing vs sell price at the beginning. Just how much of a profit or loss margin MS is willing to take to sell what they believe consumers are willing to pay. But in this age of "I need the latest & greatest" with people swapping phones each year, I bet MS won't have any problem.

Michael Corvin

Not really analogous though. A phone does a helluva lot more than a box that plays games and movies under my TV. For most people it's their lifeline.

$500 will get some takers that have to have the latest and greatest. $700 is just suicide. I doubt casual gamers will be in at either price and anything in between.

DVDTalker76

Consoles are also not generally subsidized so the consumer can pretend the hardware cost isn't actually there.

I agree this has to come in at $500 or less no matter their production costs, and I think MS understand this. As for those arguing whether or not this will sell in large numbers, I think it's pretty clear this is a niche/prestige item designed to recapture a certain image for Xbox. It will sell to a small segment that does exist for a $500 high-end console. No more, no less, and isn't expected to within Microsoft.

fumanstan

Agree with everything. It's kind of funny to hear some folks question the point of this since it won't "save" Microsoft this generation when I think Microsoft already knows this. It'll be a nice item for Xbox fans and gamers that want the latest and greatest, and if done right Microsoft gets a little bit of hardware bragging rights for the next couple years where they can say they have the most powerful console out there which they haven't been able to all generation.

Rob V

There is nothing to be gained from MS selling this at $700... nobody will buy it. It's probably likely they floated the $700 rumor so $500 comes in as a sigh of relief. Let's face it, we were all probably hoping for $400 or so considering you can get an X1 for $250.

Edit: I'll be getting this day 1 as a primary for my 4K home theater setup.

Raul3

Yep, I think $550 max. But let's look at the supposed components:

- CPU/GPU. They didn't go with Rizen, just upgraded the old tech (Jaguar). That's always cheaper.
- Memory. They went with GDDR5, instead go GDDR3, but GDDR5 is mainstream now.
- There are some custom hardware components, including the GPU (but this is related to the CPU), but they usually don't go overboard with these.

Jay G.

MS didn't "float" the rumor. Some "analyst" pulled that number out of their ass, and every site repeated it.

Kedrix

Welp, while we discuss the inflated price of a system, there is a Spring sale going on....

https://majornelson.com/2017/04/10/s...tlight-sale-2/

mattysemo247

$30 (50% off) for the Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle. I believe that's the cheapest it's been.

fumanstan

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is coming to Xbox One Backward Compatibility today and is on sale in the Spring Sale https://t.co/qPMRNrLoTQ pic.twitter.com/rfWNKnfoUU

— Larry Hryb �� (@majornelson) April 11, 2017

<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Adam Tyner

Gamasutra held a pretty terrific Q&A with Phil Spencer about how Scorpio came to be.

DVDTalker76

The photo of all the dev kits perhaps shows us what Scorpio is going to look like. None of the previous dev kits look much different from their actual consoles.

In this case, very "familial" with the S and impressively compact. Not sure it actually looks GOOD, though.

fumanstan

http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/12/152...ore-games-apps

Mentioned this before, but while they're suffering big time as far as new and exclusive games, Microsoft is doing good things for existing owners.

pinata242

The "must be downloaded and launched before" bit seems a bit unnecessary. But I can't imagine requesting a refund based on less than 2 hours of play anyway. That's barely out of the opening sequence and tutorial in most games!

nickdawgy

They need to make it where you can get a credit for digital games you no longer want.

Dan

I read through most of this, but damn his answers are so long.

I like what he's saying about how he wants new and old users to be able to experience "must-play" classic games on new hardware, just like how you can still play classic PC games on a brand new PC.
It makes me think he's got something on the way for original Xbox backwards compatibility, completing his goal of unifying the Xbox family that way. I never had that system, but I'd be curious enough to play a few of the more well-regarded titles. I don't think they could charge more than a few dollars for each title, though.

DVDTalker76

I'd love to see that but I can't see it being realistic until they get a lot closer to completing the 360 library. There's probably much less sales potential in games from that generation.

I'm just crossing my fingers that they actually do finish every 360 title they've been given permission to work on. They've already far surpassed my expectations - not being dismissive here at all - but as long as there are more titles I own, I'll hope I can play 'em on the One.