The price of the current video game systems... unreal

[baseline bum]

It's crazy how cheap video game hardware such as the XBox360 and the Wii have been this generation. When XBox360 came out in '06, it was only $299 for the system with the memory card, wired controller, and SD cables while the system with the hard drive, wireless controller, and component cables was $399. Contrast that with the NES which came out in 1985 for $199 MSRP. In 1985 dollars, those brand new XBox360s were only $161 / $215 (source: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001519.html) . Unreal when you consider the level of hardware in an XBox360 and the cost of designing it. An XBox360 Arcade currently goes for $199, or $100 in 1985 dollars (just over half the price of the NES). Crazy. And you don't have to blow into the system, and are guaranteed at least 3 years of usage out of it.

[Cane]

Yea, especially when you consider the thousands or millions of X-Box 360s that were returned like mine due to the red lights of death.

But when you think about it from a business perspective, it makes sense. The 360 technology is more or less the same and by now the tech they are using now isn't as cutting edge (expensive) as it used to be, not to mention the R&D involved.

As for the NES, it was the only real video game console and Nintendo has always made a profit on their hardware unlike their Sony, Sega, and Microsoft counterparts.