It has to beat or meet the PS4 Pro
Well, we’re one step closer to knowing what Project Scorpio will entail when it hits later this year, but there’s still a fair few unanswered questions — most notably, the price. Although Microsoft quickly folded into PR speak by saying “at the end of the day we are still a consumer product…we want to hit the price-points where consumers want to purchase this,” we still don’t know how much the damn thing will cost.
I mean, Microsoft packed quite a bit into its box, but I don’t see it hitting above $400, the current price of the PS4 Pro. At at least, if it does hit for more than that, I don’t see it doing particularly well, especially in regions where the OG Xbox One has bombed, like Japan. Eurogamer, who revealed the new console’s specs, speculates that it’ll be around $500, which could obviously happen — the Xbox One did launch at that pricepoint after all.
Either way Microsoft is in a corner. If they release this amazing system that beats the PS4 and Switch combined, hardware-wise, it won’t mean much if no one buys it and developers have no incentive to keep creating games for it. Then there’s the issue of 4K — right now good HDR-enabled sets range from $600 at their lowest (and even then, you probably won’t get a good refresh rate), and $1000 as a median. The future of gaming is expensive, and Nintendo is riding high with a non-4K system and a $300 price for its Switch.