Initial PlayStation 4 Price Will Be Lower than the PlayStation 3, Analyst Says

The initial price of the recently announced PlayStation 4 will be much lower than the original price tag of the PlayStation 3, according to analyst Michael Pachter, who speculates that the new console could be priced at either $399/€399 or $449/€449.

The PlayStation 4 was revealed to the world yesterday and, while Sony did present plenty of games and features, it didn't showcase the actual next-generation console or share important details, like its price.

As such, analysts have now begun to speculate just how much Sony will charge for its new device.

Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities has revealed that the new PS4 will have a lower initial price than the PlayStation 3, which made its debut at a whopping $599/€599 back in 2006.

"We remain confident that the new console will have a lower initial MSRP [manufacturer's suggested retail price] than the PS3, which had a lofty starting price of $599 that we believe negatively impacted its longterm popularity," the analyst told GamesIndustry.

What's more, Pachter also noted that, seeing as how the new games for the console don't represent that big of a jump in terms of quality, developers and publishers won't invest in bigger development budgets just yet.

"The smaller jump in graphics this cycle, coupled with a PC-based architecture, should result in a smaller incremental increase in game development spending by the publishers than in prior console cycles," Pachter said.

"Although the PS4 will likely be able to play games at higher frame rates than its predecessors, we believe publishers will be reluctant to significantly increase their development budgets to maximize game frame rates, as the improvement will be largely unnoticed by many gamers."

The PlayStation 4 will make its debut in the holiday season of 2013 so expect to hear about a price until then.