Obvious Diversion

It seemed like a little math would be helpful to see where all the consoles stand going into this holiday season.

Of course add $60, for Xbox 360 and PS3, or $50, for Wii, for each additional game you plan to buy at launch.

The thing I found most surprising in the process of doing this was how much a purchase of the Xbox 360 really is once you add the WiFi and Xbox Live subscription you’ll likely need to get online. Xbox 360 finds itself only $50 short of the Playstation 3 cost, which is remarkable considering you get a blu-ray player with the PS3. Seeing it up close like this leads me to believe that we may see a modest price drop for the 360 before we hit the prime gift shopping season. Of course, as far as Holiday 2006 is concerned, the advantage goes to Xbox 360 because it will be in plentiful supply while getting your hands on a PS3 will likely involve ponying up to some evil ebay opportunist.

The Wii comes in at half of the Xbox 360 cost, putting it in a great position to establish lots of marketshare. With four million units available by the end of December, Nintendo’s first volley into this generation is looking very healthy.