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XBox (Games) Microsoft The Almighty Buck Hardware

Microsoft Reportedly Projects $1,200 To $1,800 Price For Next-Gen Xbox (arstechnica.com) 96

Posted by BeauHD from the new-normal dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: We haven't heard many details about Microsoft's upcoming "Project Helix" gaming hardware since the company announced it in March as a device that will "play your Xbox and PC games." In a new wide-ranging profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, though, Fortune alludes to a dual release strategy for upcoming Microsoft gaming hardware, with "a next-generation handheld device" planned by the end of next year and a 2028 holiday season console release that could cost between $1,200 and $1,800.

That future console price range is based on what has "internally been projected" at the company, according to Fortune. But the price for consumers could come down if "Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost," the outlet says, as many console makers have done in the past. While a $1,200 starting price would be historically high for the game console market, even accounting for inflation, it also reflects a new normal: The slowdown in Moore's Law and AI-driven component shortages mean cutting-edge gaming hardware just isn't as cheap as it used to be. This year, the Steam Machine broke the $1,000 starting price, while the 2-year-old technology in the PlayStation 5 Pro is now going for $900, and the 6-year-old Xbox Series X now starts at $750.

Microsoft Reportedly Projects $1,200 To $1,800 Price For Next-Gen Xbox More | Reply

Microsoft Reportedly Projects $1,200 To $1,800 Price For Next-Gen Xbox

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  • Thanks, but no thanks (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Sebby ( 238625 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @04:04PM (#66386718) Journal

    I've recently noticed an uptick in retro gaming (& computing), which I think will be the main growth in the industry for a while.... unless you're part of the 1% with the funds to finance the pedolf-supporters.

    • Yeah, hard pass on the overpriced Xbox.

      There are handheld retro-gaming emulators that come preloaded with every old game you would ever want to play for under $100. I have my mini-bookshelf pc hooked up to the tv in my living room for all of my steam games.

      I haven't spent money like that on gaming since I kicked my EverQuest addiction...

    • retro gaming is little more than a rounding error and that is unlikely to change even with these ridiculous prices.
    • I guess they are trying to boost Windows 11 gaming. :-)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by a4r6 ( 978521 )

      "Next Gen consoles" are now a dead industry. Nobodies mom is buying them a $6000 Xbox for Christmas. Children have to make do with the scraps they can find. Low fi games that are fun are what matters. 5090 graphics do not matter because no one can afford those chips and they were removed from the market. It is truly a different era.

    • I'm not a 'gamer', so this isn't really my area, but I don't see why you need a specific console any more. Back in the day, compute was hard, and so making a dedicated machine made some sense - you could put into it some special CPUs and GPUs and whatnot, and then squeeze that hardware until the pips came out to make some awesome games and effects that you simply couldn't get anywhere else - a bit like coin-op arcade games were dedicated hardware and beat the living crap out of a generic PC.

      Nowadays, a dece

      • Why would someone want to throw even more money away on a gaming PC? The economy is tightening up around everything, people are buying just enough gaming hardware, and just enough PC, and just enough anything else. "Why not buy more PC" is a losing proposition when people aren't really buying PCs anymore in the first place when they have just enough already - a phone. And you don't have to like it or agree with it, but it's what people are doing.

        Idk it's like if the price of dirtbikes got uncomfortably high

    • Retro gaming isn't really even retro anymore. I mean... this is coming from somebody who burned white bars into a crt with a Coleco TelStar.

      There are so many great games that are a quarter century old. You aren't giving up that much to go old school. When I think if the gaming experiences on the original Xbox, like Rallisport Challenge 2 or SSX Tricky, I have a hard time defending the idea that modern gaming has really advanced all that much.

      Prettier, sure. But sparkles on the lake aren't that big a deal wh

  • The cutting edge cuts back. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @04:26PM (#66386740)

    This is just one of the problems with using cutting-edge hardware: component prices are not always consistent. In extreme cases like this, Microsoft now finds itself with it's back against the wall. They want to rake in the cash with console churn (buy all your old games again) but they are now finding out that making cutting edge hardware is quite expensive. MS and Sony are both left with poor options while Nintendo has consistently used under-powered hardware and focused on marketing to boost their profits.

    I expect there to be some "creative" mistakes made in the next gen consoles, except Nintendo, they will keep milking the Mario brand/franchise and suing people [suedbynintendo.com] until there is no more Nintendo.

    • It's inevitable. If you're not Nintendo then people expect to be impressed by your graphics - the last Nintendo which fit the bill was the N64, and even then only briefly and with the RAM expansion. You can't impress without current silicon and it's too expensive to do it fully custom.

      • If you're not Nintendo then people expect to be impressed by your graphics - the last Nintendo which fit the bill was the N64

        they got burned on N64 because the carts caused the price to be high. However, the lesson they learned was that high-end graphics weren't worth the cost. Literally all of their systems use dated technology. However, they are brilliant when it comes to marketing. Also, they will sue the shit out of you for anything.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by AuMatar ( 183847 )

          They're brilliant at making games. They have their suite of exclusives that people love and will buy the console for. And they keep a consistently high quality bar for those games. Even the worst Mario game was still good. Same for Zelda. Same for Metroid. As long as they keep that the case, and their consoles are reasonably priced they'll sell. Which, combined with cheaper parts, is why they generally made a profit per console rather than a loss.

          Xbox and PS don't have that. They used to each have s

        • However, the lesson they learned was that high-end graphics weren't worth the cost.

          Yes, for them, because their games don't depend on the highest level of tech. It won't work for anyone else, there is only room in the market for one player like that at a time.

      • it's too expensive to do it fully custom.

        Well that sure is funny because everything used to be fully custom.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by bn-7bc ( 909819 )
          Yes becuse at the time ( at least back in N64 says) there where no cots components thst could do graphics for any product that would be priced for consumers. Thst is not so much the case today

        • Well that sure is funny because everything used to be fully custom.

          It's not funny, which in this context would mean unexpected, because it's gotten so expensive to make chips now because they are so complicated. This is in fact exactly what one would expect.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by batkiwi ( 137781 )

      So I'm not going to defend Microsoft about anything else, but I can play xbox 360 games (and a FEW xbox OG) games I bought on the latest xbox and I haven't had to re-buy anything.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Nintendo just focuses on making good games. Mario Wonder is a 2D platformer, but it's great. Nintendo is the platform for people who actually enjoy good games, not just flashy graphics and soft porn.

    • I expect there to be some "creative" mistakes made in the next gen consoles, except Nintendo, they will keep milking the Mario brand/franchise and suing people [suedbynintendo.com] until there is no more Nintendo.

      Thanks for the link!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      This is just one of the problems with using cutting-edge hardware:

      Hahahahahahahahahahahaha... tell me another one.

      Consoles are usually using out of date hardware by the time of their release. The PS5 was released with a Zen3 CPU and RDNA2 GPU. Sure good biz for AMD but it Zen 4 was released nearly a year before the PS5, it was less powerful than a gaming PC I built 2 years earlier and I've just bought a new one using a Zen 5 CPU (Zen6 is just around the corner though). Be careful not to cut yourself on that edge, it's so old you'd need a tetanus shot.

      component prices are not always consistent. In extreme cases like this, Microsoft now finds itself with it's back against the wall. They want to rake in the cash with console churn (buy all your old games again) but they are now finding out that making cutting edge hardware is quite expensive. MS and Sony are both left with poor options while Nintendo has consistently used under-powered hardware and focused on marketing to boost their profits.

      I expect there to be some "creative" mistakes made in the next gen consoles, except Nintendo, they will keep milking the Mario brand/franchise and suing people [suedbynintendo.com] until there is no more Nintendo.

      This is true thoug

      • Consoles are usually using out of date hardware by the time of their release.

        "usually"? I think you mean post PS3 when they started making x86 based systems. Anyway, designing, testing, and coordinating the construction of millions of these takes time. So sure, "out of date" for children with no grasp of what goes into building hardware, but when the systems are designed, they are cutting edge.

  • They are making YOU pay for all those hundreds of millions of dollars in completely flopped allegedly-quad-A titles that provided nothing of value, no entertainment and just an ideologically captured finger-wagging lecture from HR that would cost you $100.

    Turns out no audience showed up for that at all! Surely equally many people will drop 2k on a console with all the fixings...

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Bro.

      They weren't poor sellers because they were 'woke'. Get over it. There are so many titles out there that are woke, popular and good. What those triple A titles had in common is they were forced... not because they were trying to convey some kind of moral message, but because they were obviously trying to use a moral message for cynical profit...

      They wont drop 2k on a console because they don't have 2k to spare. The fact you don't get that says something by itself.

  • Not gonna cry for Microsoft... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @04:34PM (#66386762)

    After all, they're one of the main culprits who are driving memory and other hardware prices through the roof right now.

  • Fuck'em (Score:3)

    by paul_engr ( 6280294 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @04:48PM (#66386778)
    Xbox has been dead since the 360

  • If those prices are true, then that's suicide (Score:3)

    by jschultz410 ( 583092 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @04:54PM (#66386786)

    Very few kids' parents will spring for that high a cost. Adult gamers who can afford that will likely just invest in their computer rigs instead. This would be an epic crash and burn.

    • Yep. This will be total suicide. I will never feel right about spending $1200 to $1800 on a console. Never going to happen in my house hold. Xbox will be dead. Nobody is going to buy them at that price point.
  • No physical media and AI slop games, might as well just use your PC. AI has proven that all games are playable on PCs anyway so you are just paying for a proprietary app store. The game industry is going to get 1983'd with no Rob the Robot to save you.

    • The game industry is going to get 1983'd with no Rob the Robot to save you.

      Nintendo to the rescue again?
      But Big N is all about mobile console right now. Unless they smell the blood in the water and decide to get back to tabletop consoles, and get "mature" games like GTA6 on it.
      And, to be honest, would be a really winning move.
      The bad news would be that they'd win so hard that could monopolize the industry. Not good.

      • Mario and Pokémon are the two biggest game franchises in history. Nintendo probably doesn't need GTA. And if you count the merchandising, Pokémon is about 10X the revenue of GTA. Sure it can be good to open to more markets, but Nintendo is winning already and they tend to play very safe when it comes to their reputation of being kid friendly.

  • We wouldn't want their margins to suffer by having to spend 1% of the final cost on an optical drive after all!

  • It's Microsoft, and it's an AI world and MS at a corporate level is heavily invested in AI. I'm curious when it's announced how much of this new product will incorporate Copilot in some fashion (and I'm not advocating for it, just expecting it).

  • Microsoft Reportedly Projects $1,200 To $1,800 Price For Next-Gen Xbox

    At that price, I expect it to have at least 640K RAM. :-)

  • No.
    Sincerely,
    Everyone.

  • For $129/mo not only will you get the ultimate game pass, but you will get access to a console. That model seems to be working for some phone carriers.

  • That's not too surprising, given how much RAM has increased in price. 32GB of RAM has gone from $125 to $450 or so in the past year, and the cost of that gets passed onto consumers with a markup.

  • So let me just take stock for a moment (Score:3)

    by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Wednesday October 21, 2026 @06:48PM (#66386956)
    Young men don't have jobs. We have 25% functional unemployment largely among young men. Google it if you doubt me.

    Young men don't have women. Just Google the male loneliness epidemic. Women are not terribly interested in men who don't have jobs.

    And now young men don't have video games. Because we have made them on affordable. They can kind of sort of afford video games right now buying old hardware but supply and demand will eventually drive those prices up.

    So we're basically taking everything away from young men.

    So we're going to have a bunch of frustrated, dead broke young men with no hope and no futures.

    I've seen this movie, it was called world War I and the sequel was world War II. Sooner or later they get violent and somebody organizes that violence and off we go.

    I know what you're thinking, I'm old so I'm not going to get drafted and I'll just shoot anyone who trespasses on my property.

    You are going to run out of ammo before the world runs out of desperate people with nothing to lose.
    • It wasn't the social justice warriors coming for your video games.

      As usual it was the finance Bros. And the tech Bros but they're really just finance Bros.

      Nobody actually listens to the blue haired fat chick that runs the women's studies at your local Community College.

      But when Mark Zuckerberg wants a Data Center built it gets built whether you want it to be or not.

    • What a bizarre take. You're suggesting men need either easy dates or cheap AAA video games or WW1 and WW2 happen?

      • There is substantial scientific and historical evidence supporting the theory that socially imposed monogamy was adopted by civilizations to reduce societal unrest, male violence, and political instability.
        Anthropological research, notably a landmark 2012 study led by Joseph Henrich at the University of British Columbia, shows that pools of unmarried, marginalized men drastically increase a society's baseline of violence.
        Not a new idea.

        Bread and circuses:a political strategy of using superficial appeasement

        • But why AAA video games? Why not phone games? Indie games? Older games? Movies? Drugs? Something else?

          It's not like there's no other entertainment options out there.

          • Richard Nixon set up our drug policy to attack the political enemies of the right wing and the Epstein class so those are basically right out the door. Moral panics around drugs are also a great way to get right-wing politicians elected while they destroy the economy.

            Phone games are highly predatory and that's the only way they can make money. Because of that they aren't really sustainable as a hobby. It's not something you can unwind with and blow off stress and steam because it's constantly trying to
      • When the Mormons did polygamy they would end up with a bunch of young men who couldn't get wives. So if you couldn't get a wife at a certain point they would kick you out of the community. That's because you would become frustrated and angry and dangerous.

        We've known for a long long time that young men with no jobs and no girls aren't safe to be around. In small numbers you can deal with them but once you start getting 10 or 15 or even 20% of your population like that which we are absolutely getting to

        • For young men in San Francisco, there's 10% more men than women. Where is the fascism? China has 7% more men than women, a 30 million surplus - if you're talking about urban areas with jobs, the numbers are far higher - and are people getting violent frustrations out in the street? India has 46 million more men than women - where's their WW2?

          The theory may just be shit. Stop writing essays about it.

    • I've seen this movie, it was called world War I and the sequel was world War II.

      Normally you just post about how you don't understand what statistics mean. It's refreshing to see you have no idea about history either. I mean there are actually "movies" you could cite which would relate to what you are talking about, but the two you chose are not them. Try again. At least you're on the right continent though.

    • Young men don't have jobs. We have 25% functional unemployment largely among young men. Google it if you doubt me. Young men don't have women. Just Google the male loneliness epidemic. Women are not terribly interested in men who don't have jobs. And now young men don't have video games. Because we have made them on affordable. They can kind of sort of afford video games right now buying old hardware but supply and demand will eventually drive those prices up. So we're basically taking everything away from young men. So we're going to have a bunch of frustrated, dead broke young men with no hope and no futures. I've seen this movie, it was called world War I and the sequel was world War II. Sooner or later they get violent and somebody organizes that violence and off we go. I know what you're thinking, I'm old so I'm not going to get drafted and I'll just shoot anyone who trespasses on my property. You are going to run out of ammo before the world runs out of desperate people with nothing to lose.

      It's a different world now. I don't doubt there's another world war coming. I just doubt the young men of today are going to be angry enough to want to fight it. They've been told there's no future their entire lives. Most of them are either nose to the grindstone to ignore that constant refrain, or so depressed they have zero ambition, zero hope, and zero fucks to give. Some are transferring their rage into political discourse that's almost as brazen as the current assholes in office, but none of them have

  • At this price, that is. May be too few to even make releasing games for it worthwhile.

    • They'll just pull an Apple and manufacture about 1000 and claim they are sold out while hoping to take back orders at stupid prices.
    • It is a good couple of years off and even current gen is not far off these prices. As long as it is not crippled spec wise it will probably be fine, Sony will be releasing in a similar price bracket as well unless something happens like an AI collapse to reduce component costs (unlikely in the timeframe)

  • At that price don't even bother.

  • FYI, the original XBox release price back in 2001 is the equivalent of $569.18 today.

    So they're still doubling or trebling the price of something that's now commodity, even once you take into account inflation.

    • The original Xbox was sold at a serious loss to gain market share. component cost wise it would have been around $450 or around $850 today. They may still do something similar

  • So it's just a gaming PC with an X-Box sticker on the front. Don't forget to do your weekly security patching.

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