Wait, I Thought Xbox One Wasn't Going to Sell at $499?

Gamestop has sold out, Best Buy has sold out, and the latest retailer to sell out of Xbox One pre-orders is Amazon. But, Den of Geek's Robert Bernstein thought everyone was dead set against buying Xbox One at $499. So, he asks the question, what happened to change everyone's minds?

[Wizziokid]

We have no idea how much stock either MS or Sony put out there so them selling out means nothing really.

[Abash]

Yup, and I think these pre-orders selling out for both consoles are thanks to scalpers really. I mean it's obvious the PS4 is significantly more favored than the Xbox One, but I still think both will have good launches and the sales in the months after the holidays will be the reality of how much consumers want either console

[Cmk0121]

exactly, and if MS sells less units the console also cost more so opportunity for more profit since higher price. Both of them will have great launches with Sony having the better of the two early on for sure.

[georgeenoob]

@Abash

Only thing more favorable over X1 is price. X1 has the more favorable line-up (Halo alone is what makes it more favorable to consumers), and on top of that it comes with a very advanced camera. Sure N4G hates kinect, but the average consumer will almost always look at it as a big plus.

[monkey602]

@georgenoob
Do you work in retail and deal with the gaming public? I can swear the biggest factor in a sale is the price. Halo will not sell the xbox one ay this time. Its usually spouted that the hardcore adopt on day one and the casual follow after but that is not so this time around. 400€ is a killer price for a launch console and the average consumer want fifa and battlefield here in ireland. Its a landslide for the ps4 here so far with store targets for the ps4 being an amazing 3 times the xbox one's. The one will find its feet in due time but this holiday season its in for a grueling

[gaffyh]

Who said it wouldn't sell out? The PS3 sold out at launch and it was $599, new consoles ALWAYS sell out. What matter is what happens after, because the mass market (not necessarily casual gamers), tend to go for the cheaper console.

[mcstorm]

@monkey602 I have to disagree with you in a way because the bulk of fifa and bf and cod fans will not get a Xbox one or ps4. They will buy the ps3 or 360 version. None of them games will be a system seller including the other games like watch dog ect.

I've said since we knew the one and ps4 were announced that there won't be a big jump of early adopters like in the past gens because of the support the current gen is getting come the latter end of this year. All the big name games gta 5, gt6, cod, bf4, ac black flag and more are on the current gen consoles and alto won't want to spend £350 to £420 on a console and then another £54 for bf4 when they can get the same game on there current console for £40.

Its the very hard core and exclusive games like forza 5 that will sell the next gen. I see sales of the one and ps4 getting bigger come the 1st 12 to 18 months of being on sale but would not surprise me if the 360 and ps3 numbers carry on doing well come the next 12 months.

[MysticStrummer]

@George - Less than 1/3 of 360 buyers bought a Kinect, and the lineup strength is entirely subjective.

[christian hour]

Obviously both consoles were going to do great during launch, that was never an issue for me, but longterm I think xbox one could be in high water unless they start working now to fix the mistakes they've made these recent months.

From my own personal experience from people within my social circle (old school chums, close friends, work mates etc on Facebook or down the pub) anyone I know that seems to be ordering an xbox one has proven to be either misinformed or just unaware of gaming news in general.

They all happen to be the kind of people that don't generally game that much apart from the yearly fifas and cods etc, so in short, casual gamers.

Anyone I know who is a "hardcore" gamer, and pretty much all of em were 360 last gen so i never had anyone to play ps3 with, have completely boycotted microsoft in favour of the ps3.

So it seems to me, at least in my area, the people pre-ordering xbox one are:

casual fifa/cod folk that dont think too much about their gaming,

gamers that don't mind some of microsofts consumer fuckery for whatever reasons,

and fanboys in serious denial that their flagship console kinda pulled a lot of shitty fast ones hoping nobody would notice and got busted :P

Everyone else is getting ps4. I don't know anyone in Ireland who's getting a wii-u other than for the inevitable Zelda release. But thats not to say there arent people in Ireland getting the wii-u :P That would be silly.

[nveenio]

The One will sell. It just will. There are too many uninformed consumers out there. Will it last? Will it be competitive? That's another story.

[HammadTheBeast]

Georgenub

That Halo game isn't coming out in first year gg,

[denawayne]

@invenio - I'm a well informed, 30+ year console owner/player and I am buying Xbox One. I have my reasons as do thousands of other people who pre-ordered it. In fact, after all the negativity surrounding the Xbox One, you'd pretty much have to be informed to make the decision to buy one.

[PurpHerbison]

"casual fifa/cod folk" bring home the bacon.

[christian hour]

@PurbHerbison

Unfortunately that is true, and its why we're seeing less creative games outside of the indie circle.

Gaming has changed drastically in the last 8-9 years and although I'm not happy with a lot of those changes, Non gamers being the majority that are being catered too etc or at least thats how it felt with 360 this gen, but a lot of good changes have come about too so as with everything, pros and cons.

Sony seem to be the one remainging force that can balance its user base with diverse genres and experiences that fall outside of the currently popular fps/sports/action genres.

And if thats all they're in to, more power to em, I just wish they'd leave your comfort zone once in a while and join real gamers and unlock entirely new experiences for themselves :) It's like licking an apple and then saying you've tasted all you need to taste.

[FrigidDARKNESS]

Very true

[kayoss]

At $499 sells out this week since the it was available for Pre order but imagine if it was at $399? It would have sold out a few days after it was available for pre-order.

[hesido]

We have a rough idea by looking at best sellers of 2013 on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/be...

PS4 launch ed. sold out, number 3rd. Xbox launch ed. sold out, at number 6. Which means there was more PS4's allocated to Amazon, excluding PS4 bundles, which also seem to have sold out. Also, Xbox took much longer to be sold out.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

well ps4 is #10 in usa amazon and xbox one is #53..
http://www.amazon.com/best-...

lol odd for usa no?

[Primal Rex]

OUYA is at no.14 lol

[Lou-Cipher]

"well ps4 is #10 in usa amazon and xbox one is #53"

This right here has to be terrifying to Microsoft. United States & United Kingdom was their bread and butter for the 360 over the PS3.

With Microsoft losing those two huge markets to the PS4 this time around, (and it looks by a very large margin) It's not looking healthy for the Xbox ones future.

X1 will sell enough to stay in business, but it looks like it is going to be dominated this go round.

[Shadowsteal]

This guy is stupid. Sony allowed retailers to take unlimited per-orders until recently. I work at Bestbuy currently and my stores ratio of preorders were 3.5:1 another bestbuy near my house said they got 3:1 and my friend from GameStop told me his store got 4:1 and another store he asked got 3.5:1. All these stores are located in New York City. So if Sony allowed one gamestop to sell 100 ps4s that means they sold roughly 25-35 Xbox ones. Yet they're still both sold out.

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

whats your point? that microsofts problem if they are plannig on a launch day console only.. if i were microsoft id be like ight we sold out of launch day consoles start taking pre orders for day 2 and on or whatever but they dont want to... sony just had a different approach

[Scatpants]

His point is that the author is claiming that because the xboxone is sold out it is selling well when in reality they just provided less units so that it would sell out no matter how bad it is actually being outsold by the PS4. They want people to think that because it is sold out it must be really popular and they should jump on the bandwagon as soon as they can get one.

[Lvl_up_gamer]

Well MS did say they will be doing a world wide launch, minus Japan, whereas Sony has stated that they want to focus on North America at the cost of a late launch in either Japan or Europe.

So it makes sense if the PS4 has more units available in the US and are selling out at a higher unit count when MS have less units in NA but are launching world wide...

[Hicken]

21 countries isn't much of a worldwide launch...

[Lvl_up_gamer]

@ Hicken

And yet it's still much more then Sony is launching in...so your comment is pretty narrow minded and irrelevant.

Much like most of your comments.

[lgn15]

Yup keep telling yourself that

[ALLWRONG]

Welcome to the wall of excuses and fear. Sold out is sold out no matter how many times you say "but but but" it's still sold out.

[Hicken]

Selling out of five isn't the same as selling out of fifty.

[MikeMyers]

"Selling out of five isn't the same as selling out of fifty."

Ahh yes, the old immature comeback all because you want it to fail and in all likelihood because of your loyalty to Sony's consoles. Must explain why you're so interested in this topic.

[Lou-Cipher]

@MikeMyers

Not sure how you can criticize Hicken's statement?

Microsoft wants people to believe that they are doing as well as Sony, but the FACTUAL MATH shows that they are not even close to the same sells as the PS4.

It's not a fanboy hate thing, It's just MATH.

Sony is selling MORE consoles in every single country, and are doing it at a much FASTER pace.

[ALLWRONG]

And how would you know if it's 5, 50, or 500?

"sold out" must be painful for you.

[HammadTheBeast]

Well PS4 is #10 on Amazon US, while Xbox One is #50.... sooooo....

[Upstate8987]

agreed.

[3-4-5]

Gamestop was taking 64 orders per store compared to Xb1's 16 per store.

Then Once PS4's were sold out, they extended it.

There is a big difference between selling out of 2 million units and selling out of 3 million units.

[saint_seya]

Please dont make sense here, its no allowed..
No matter if theres only 100k consoles, they are sold out ;)

[Ausbo]

i think people are buying the xbox one cause it has a pretty good launch lineup. Despite all thier f**kups, a lot of people could care less about the bad PR and press.

[greenlantern2814]

Sold out means nothing how many sells it what matters. Now idk who has what available at launch, but everyone knew the fans of Xbox and the fans of sony not to mention the scalpers trying to make money where gonna guarantee these systems to sell out. But sales in the long run not just launch day is what matters.

[redcar121]

well said

[avengers1978]

Well PS3's still sold at 600$... It's not really the 500$ it's the fact PS4 is 100$ cheaper, and believe it or not there are people that will choose the PS4 because the price difference, some people are not brand loyal... I know it's hard to believe

[NYC_Gamer]

" Robert Bernstein thought everyone was dead set against buying Xbox One at $499"

That's wrong to claim everyone was against the X1 price since many of the comments were coming from online gaming forums which doesn't represent every gamer

[Upstate8987]

I see your point, but it wasn't just from online gaming forums. I don't know about you, but everyone I spoke to in person pretty much said they weren't ordering an Xbox One.

[NexGen]

Are you really pretending to be confused?

I'm sure you're aware that you did not speak with everyone in the world/region/city/neighborhood . Nice attempt at being cute.

[Seraphemz]

Just curious, was that before or after the 180?

I think that more people bought the system AFTER they decided to change the DRM policy..

[torchic]

people on forums and people in the know how don't equal general population, you know that.

[pete007]

you didnt speak to me and alot others around the world, me, on the other hand, my friends and relatives only think of xbox one, because of kinekt 2.0, cause we all have kids at home and kinektimals, etc, is still one of their favourite games, so dont forget that we, parents, with kids dont give a penny for ps4, due to the lack of innovation, besides a refreshed online, new plastic quality, i dont see my kids playing ps4 when all they want is a 360 right now, its more family driven than playstation, believe me. even my wife doesnt bother when we play, cause its fun

[n4rc]

Myself and all my friends got our x1 ordered the day after e3.. And I personally don't know anyone getting a ps4..

Different circles yields different results.. Fact is the fan base is pretty even..

Same with my area.. GameStop dude said they sold out in hours.. Had to look around to get ours.. But I don't argue another area might be the exact opposite

Many of us are getting both.. I think the public opinion is blown out of proportion.

[Kryptix]

That's true, it's just like in the PS3 days where it still sold at launch even with that really high price. Loyalists will always buy their favorite brand without knowing what it does on all sides. The difference this time around is that the PS4 sold out way quicker than the Xbox One's. And Gamestop's "unlimited" supply of PS4 preorder stock have run out a long while ago. Sony might have underestimated how good it would sell but I'm also guessing the stock was high and ended selling all of it. Launch day is gonna be crazy!

[Scatpants]

Honestly if I could buy both right now I would, but I'm already getting the PS4. I'll probably pick up the Bone around tax return time. I really like the looks of the controller a lot better and the rumbling triggers sound like a cool feature. Also Halo and Titanfall.

[greenlantern2814]

While the 500$ price tag or 100$ price difference won't matter to some people it will matter to other people. The system selling out is not an indication ( even for ps4) of how many they sold. Also as mentioned numerous times pre orders are not sales people could cancel. And if a small % of 360 owners let's say 5% decide the 100$ is a reason not to buy xb1 and opt for ps4 than ms losses around 4 million and sony gains around 4 million.
I know that is pure speculation but it could happen

[Stryfeno2]

Well people buy 2nd generation IPad at that price so why wouldn't you think Xbox One won't?

[hkgamer]

Because apple products are hip and cool (man I sound like such a geek).

[kayoss]

Because its Apple's rule
If you buy a Iphone 3G, its the law to buy Iphone 3GS because the "S" stands for Special. Eventhough its the same thing.

[Dno]

Wii u was sold out also from preorders so was the vita.

This article is stupid.

[punisher99]

Yeah but the question is. How many pre orders did the Wii U and Vita have? Actual numbers is the real question. Not sell outs.

[Manic2014]

True but nintendo had a big pre-order limitation due to product cost compared to last gen and the pre-orders of the xbone and PS4. They were going through a bad time as a company.

[coffinxnails]

nobody preordered the wii-u

[Dno]

http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed...

http://mashable.com/2012/09...

http://www.ibtimes.com/wii-...

theres more but im bored already

[D-riders]

system not sell out??? what a stupid person to write this.

of course it will sell out.

also look at stock the ps4 is sold out of four bundles on amazon and a "Unlimted" supply at gamestop

[hkgamer]

Well, we don't kow how many stock sony and xbox allowed retailers.

Also everyone, or alot of people predicted that if PS4 sells out than people will buy the Xbone. People want a next gen console.

[2pacalypsenow]

Ps4 sold out at $600 in 2006 ,consoles will always sell out on release date , its how many they sell after that , that matters

[Wikkid666]

3

[T2]

true and also how many they can manufacture... plays a big part as well

[Pinkdolphin]

The whole internet HATES and bashes the iphone evry chance they get and the gs4 gets nothing but praise on the internet yet the iphone 5 is still outselling it. The internet verses the real world is a very unpredictable scenario.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The whole internet? There are boatloads of Apple lovers everywhere, my man. I'm not gonna sit here and say there's more one way or the other.

[ginsunuva]

No. We hate samsung and their greedy giantness.

HTC ftw!!!!!

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Every game system sells when it's new. It's selling to the hardcore user base. Even PS3 at $600 had people waiting in line in the rain, but it struggled post launch. We won't see the general public response until afterwards for the Xbox as well. You can't ignore the fact that there will be a cheaper alternative sitting right next to it on the shelf.

[Riderz1337]

Lmao every console sells out prior to launch. It's after launch console sales that matter. Look at the Wii U and PS Vita.

[supraking951]

Hardcore fans will buy the systems no matter what price. its the causals or the fans not ready to make the jump to next gen who will question the $499.99 price tag. $499.99 is gonna be too high for many and so people will stick to 360 until price drop. Or just buy a PS4

[Whitey2k]

There was a different price when ps3 came out. The ps3 was $599 not $499

[sparta76]

Actually yes it was.
They had two models
One was 599
The other was 499

[HammockGames]

To be honest, it's not a surprise that a lot of folks will still want the Xbone.

$500 isn't an impulse buy for most people, but some have to have the newest gadgets to hit the market (and brand recognition and loyalty still counts for a lot too).

Value is in the eye of the beholder, after all.

[Whitey2k]

Anyways dispite the 599 model when ps3 came out I still went n got it yeah didnt have a good launch at the start but still had great games coming out for it

[InTheLab]

Xbox One isn't available in as many countries so the fact that the thing is selling out isn't a surprise. I'd like to see the numbers for the second batch of shipments...

[solidworm]

Early adopters have always been prepared to pay over the odds. Its the regular and casuals who decide the console war winner and at that price the PS4 is a shoe in, never mind all the other MS bollocks.

[illtownNJONE]

game journalist, fan boys, etc.... are a very small percentage, the features alone are a system seller there's alot of people who love kinect xbox one is gonna be successful then you have the people with 360 who r gonna wanna carry over their tag,friends,and achievements

[illtownNJONE]

price is not a factor for most considering most people pay more than that for a cell phone

[CPTN MITCHELL]

So your point is what?

[AnteCash]

Only place where One is gonna sell good is USA , in lets say europe ,forget it.
Watching the forums in my country One is getting like 10% attention.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Well here's some interesting gossip for you.

MS is keeping their minds open to a $400 no-Kinect hardware bundle, but they won't consider releasing it until after the holidays. I personally believe that if this rumor is true MS will use this option just in case Sony and the PS4 jump off to an early lead. (which is very possible)

[Game4life]

they wont take it out. its in the os

[n4rc]

Agreed.. Its part of the system, it isn't a peripheral and isn't treated as such..

They will never exclude it.. Imo

[MultiConsoleGamer]

OS can easily changed. You're both grasping at straws.

[n4rc]

That's not what I meant.. But you probably knew that

Its included in box so 100% of users have it.. Taking away the reason we havnt seen much in the way of games for kinect and move, nobody has them..

When everyone has it, you'll see it included in every game in some way.. And with all the gesture and voice controls for the system etc. It is treated by ms as part of the console. Hence why no price has ever been released.

[Yodagamer]

Of course it was gonna sell, but it hadn't sold out at the rate it has been until the drm was reversed.

[Deltaguy]

the ps3 sold out at 599 as well...the hardcore will be buying these consoles first..once the launch wine down casual people will be making their decisions

[Supermax]

The original 360 was 499 8 years ago didn't bother me then and it dosnt now

[SuperSteve]

Nope, $399.99 for the Premium SKU, $299.99 for the Core.

[christocolus]

Pre orders never tell the full story. You can never judge d sucess of a console using pre-orders. The majority of buyers wiil pick their console of choice after the launch. So. Those already claimin sony the victorious one shud knw the real battle of numbers will start well after launch. Those who wil buy these consoles then are the gamers who are nevr active on forums and who will pick a console of their choic for themselvs, friends and family irrespective of all this fan boy wars.(They are the majority)

[GraveLord]

These are the early adopters. Even the Wii U sold well at launch.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

-P.T. Barnum

[mochachino]

I don't care if other people are buying at $499. All I know is I'm getting a PS4 for $100 cheaper.

With what early reports indicate is a better controller and more power.

[Tzuno]

i will put both consoles at 600$ you know why? because desperate people will still buy.

[theshonen8899]

I would like everyone to take a deep breath and consider the following: Surface RT sold out on launch day. Look how it's doing now.

[nnodley]

What the hell? Who the hell said it wouldn't sell at $499 anyway? It was the shit DRM that was gonna make the XBOne not sell.

[Flames76]

Xbox One brought the games at E3 while sony didnt really have anything for the PS4.Its sold out everywhere because you get the best exclusives on the Xbox One.Plus so much more entertainment,Skype,NFL,WWE,ES PN,UFC and Xbox Live the best way to play multiplayer games period.PS3 lost over 5 billion this gen while Xbox division brought in billions in profit and no doubt it will happen again next gen.Why do you think PS4 fanboys are trying to bring back the DRM on the Xbox so it can fail?They are scared because they know the PS4 could be sonys last console

[Chevalier]

Yeah cause in your opinion it's better so it will sell more?

You want actual facts? In my city our Gamestop/EB our store allocations for Xbox One are only 25-30 per store, whereas ps4 had unlimited stock till recently. Only half our stores sold out of xbox ones and every store in my city has sold 100+ ps4 per store. In fact Canada as a whole is 3 to 1 in favour of ps4.

The xbox one allocations are extremely low so selling out is NOT a big achievement. My store for example has over 200 ps4 preorders already and only 31 xbox one preorders. It was ridiculous how slow xbox one presold. It took us 2 weeks to sell our last 8; in that time we sold 35 ps4. Our average allocation per store across the country was only 25-30 for xbox one and ps4 our stores average 100.

For people who think this launch is like every other you are wrong. I have seen every launch of current gen systems and NONE of them have these kind of numbers, 360/ps3/Wii/Wii U/3ds aren't even close to ps4.

[NeoTribe]

Ofcourse people are gonna buy it. Just nowhere near as many as it did in the past. Shit, ouya is outselling xbox in canada on amazon. What matters is that sony stole alot of there userbase and is set to be the lead console for this next gen.

[jairusmonillas]

PS4 had more stocks , Xbox One had very limited stocks.

[Rexey]

Awww they sold out theyr 10k consoles and sony outold theyer 30k rigth after

[Picnic]

Americans don't care how lucky you are with prices in comparison to the rest of the world.

If the Xbox One is 499 dollars that would convert to 331.06 British pounds.

But that's not what the price is in England - it's 425 pounds here.

Now, given that it comes with Kinect 2.0 and some pretty nice exclusives, and if I give them the benefit of the doubt that cloud might make the games more dynamic (or would have done if they'd stuck to the original idea that everyone should connect once a day), I would say that 425 pounds is a high price to make it an absolute must buy for masses of people from the start.

But what the US are paying? The equivalent of 331 British pounds? Surely you'd see that to bundle in Kinect that's not a ludicrous price to ask for at a launch.
(although what is annoying to me is having to pay to play online and to only get some ancient games thrown in every month to sweeten the 'deal'. That's why PS4 still comes across as the kinder deal to me).

The rest of the world pays for American consumers to get the best price.

So if you're American never complain about prices ever. Leave it to Europeans to complain.