Project Natal Release Details Emerge

scruffybr writes "Today the first information about the pricing and launch of Microsoft’s Project Natal has emerged. The pricing for the hardware will be much much lower than many had anticipated, coming in at around £50 when sold separately from the console. The idea being that it’s low enough that people will purchase on impulse."

Comments

realpeopleusedollars?

[FTWinston]

Pfft. Real people use beans.

$83

[bobbomo]

Who spends $83 dollars on impulse buys?

Re:$83

[CannonballHead]

Have you looked at how much clothes, especially "fashion" and "designer" women's clothes, cost? A lot of people spend $83 ... or more ... on impulse buys. At the mall. Or at Fry's...

Re:$83

[pankkake]

You don't seem to know many women.

Re:$83

[natehoy]

Clothes are not really the "impulse" item, accessories are. That $80 handbag is a "must have" accessory when seen with the two $120 dresses, but the intended purchase was a $240 in dresses. The handbag is an impulse buy that, in the buyer's mind, adds perceived value to the purchase already made that is more than the money spent. So the dresses are not an "impulse" item, but the handbag sure is.

In the same vein, if you are going in to spend $240 on 4 new games, and you see a controller that could potentially make all four games more fun, $80 could be a "must have" accessory. If it makes all four games twice as much fun, or you think it might, then it's a no-brainer to add that to the cart, right?

That's impulse. The "hey, in the context of what I'm doing right now, this item seems really important to me in relation to its price".

Purchase On Impulse?

[BJ_Covert_Action]

... coming in at around £50 when sold separately from the console. The idea being that it’s low enough that people will purchase on impulse.

Maybe I am just a cheapskate...but isn't 50 pounds a little above the 'impulse buy' margin? Usually impulse buys for me run in the arena of $20.00 or less. 50 pounds converts to, according to google, $83.27. That's approaching that dreaded $100.00 limit. When I am walking through wal-mart stocking up on whatever I need, I rarely, if ever, see an $80.00 item and say, "Ooooh I need that!" and throw it in the cart. That's a week and a half's worth of groceries... I don't know, maybe I am the exception to the rule, but I think 50 pounds is a little on the high side to term it an 'impulse buy.'

And yes, people can fill in all the snarky responses about, "Oh, well, since YOU wouldn't spend the money I guess NOONE would...its not like anyone else has DIFFERENT buying habits..." and so on. I am not trying to say that nobody will fork over eighty bucks for the Natal, but it just seems a little high to be deemed an impulse buy type item...I mean hell, I won't even impulse buy new release games that I am excited about and they retail for $60.00.

But like I said, maybe I am just a cheapskate.

Re:Purchase On Impulse?

[Tony Hoyle]

No it is.. £50 is a lot for what sounds for all the world like a wiimote ripoff.

£50 with a bundled game (where the game is £30-£40 anyway) makes more sense.

Re:Purchase On Impulse?

[chrysrobyn]

I think OP was onto something when he defined an impulse buy as "in the area of $20.00 or less", and I don't disagree. The whole point being that £50, regardless of how you convert currencies, isn't an impulse thing. Admittedly, after looking at what MS charges for other XBox 360 accessories, anything short of $100 is a bargain.

Re:Awesome

[MeatBag PussRocket]

its not an xbox 360, its an attachment _for_ an xbox 360. imagine a $75-100 wii-mote (depending on exhange rates)