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> It doesn't cause game consoles to not exist, they would just work differently. You would pay the actual cost for the hardware and less for games. That’s simp

by simonh 5y ago

> It doesn't cause game consoles to not exist, they would just work differently. You would pay the actual cost for the hardware and less for games. That’s simply not an option for a lot of people. $800 for a console is just beyond many people’s reach. The economics of consoles work for several reasons. One is the person buying the console often isn’t the person buying the games. An uncle might get the console for a kid and a parent might mainly buy the games, or several adults might buy games for them. This efficiently distributes the cost over people and over time. Yours is typical wealthy person thinking, but people on more modest incomes find it hard to make up front capital purchases. They may not be able to plan their finances long term if they have highly variable income. Pushing more of the cost into the games means they can easily scale their spending to match their current circumstances. Up front costs or even regular monthly payments on a financed purchase don’t let them do that. The net result would be a crash in console sales that benefits nobody.

AnthonyMouse 5y ago
> Yours is typical wealthy person thinking, but people on more modest incomes find it hard to make up front capital purchases. Making the overall cost lower causes things to be more affordable. Up front cost is solved by installment plans. > The economics of consoles work for several reasons. One is the person buying the console often isn’t the person buying the games. All of these people are generally on good terms with each other. So now the parents and the uncle go in together on the console with the parents using some of the money they're saving because the games now cost less. Or the uncle buys the generation N console on an installment plan and the parents, having saved money on games all through generation N, use it to buy the generation N+1 console instead of the uncle. > Pushing more of the cost into the games means they can easily scale their spending to match their current circumstances. This is possible regardless. If you have less money, you have either a PlayStation or an Xbox instead of both. If you have less money than that, you have the previous generation for longer. And then the games cost less so you get more of them. Having half as many consoles with twice as many games is a good deal. > The net result would be a crash in console sales that benefits nobody. When the total cost goes down, people generally buy more of a thing.

by simonh 5y ago

AnthonyMouse 5y ago

> Yours is typical wealthy person thinking, but people on more modest incomes find it hard to make up front capital purchases. Making the overall cost lower causes things to be more affordable. Up front cost is solved by installment plans. > The economics of consoles work for several reasons. One is the person buying the console often isn’t the person buying the games. All of these people are generally on good terms with each other. So now the parents and the uncle go in together on the console with the parents using some of the money they're saving because the games now cost less. Or the uncle buys the generation N console on an installment plan and the parents, having saved money on games all through generation N, use it to buy the generation N+1 console instead of the uncle. > Pushing more of the cost into the games means they can easily scale their spending to match their current circumstances. This is possible regardless. If you have less money, you have either a PlayStation or an Xbox instead of both. If you have less money than that, you have the previous generation for longer. And then the games cost less so you get more of them. Having half as many consoles with twice as many games is a good deal. > The net result would be a crash in console sales that benefits nobody. When the total cost goes down, people generally buy more of a thing.