Turbografx 16 mini announced by konami!

[Sarge]

I know they're including a lot of games, but $100 does feel like they're pushing it a bit. SNES has more cultural cachet, but cost $80.

[samsonlonghair]

I know they're including a lot of games, but $100 does feel like they're pushing it a bit. SNES has more cultural cachet, but cost $80.

Valid point. Didn't SONY already prove that the market will not bear a hundred dollar price point for this type of product?

I mean... you and I know that SONY botched the PS1 mini in multiple ways, but the buying public doesn't know that. They just see a price tag, and make a decision based on that.

I think there's a psychology to price point. If a product costs less than ninety-nine dollars, many consumers will buy it on impulse. If a product cost more than a hundred dollars, the same consumers will hesitate before purchasing. That switch from two-digit money to three digit money is a hard pill to swallow.

[Nemoide]

I'm not preordering this JUST yet, but I do plan on preordering one. I like the fact that it has the same games in the US and Japan, so I don't need to import a Japanese version to play the PC-Engine games.

SNES has more cultural cachet, but cost $80.

But this means Nintendo can get away with a smaller profit-margin. I can imagine the higher cost being partly due to the fact that they're going to be producing (and planning on selling) fewer units.

[PartridgeSenpai]

I know they're including a lot of games, but $100 does feel like they're pushing it a bit. SNES has more cultural cachet, but cost $80.

Valid point. Didn't SONY already prove that the market will not bear a hundred dollar price point for this type of product?

I mean... you and I know that SONY botched the PS1 mini in multiple ways, but the buying public doesn't know that. They just see a price tag, and make a decision based on that.

I don't think it's fair to say the average customer is THAT inconsiderate in their purchase to the point where buying the PS1 Classic was just "how much does it cost." Sure, I imagine the large majority of people didn't know (or probably care) about the more nitty gritty emulator and underpowered hardware of the thing. But I imagine a large majority of people also saw the thing, got excited, then saw so few (if any) of the big games from the PS1 that they would've wanted it for that they passed on it.

I think the bad library killed the PS1 Classic's prospects more than anything else, and then people weren't willing to pay $100 for the "best of the B-grade" of their PS1-era nostalgia.

[samsonlonghair]

I know they're including a lot of games, but $100 does feel like they're pushing it a bit. SNES has more cultural cachet, but cost $80.

Valid point. Didn't SONY already prove that the market will not bear a hundred dollar price point for this type of product?

I mean... you and I know that SONY botched the PS1 mini in multiple ways, but the buying public doesn't know that. They just see a price tag, and make a decision based on that.

I don't think it's fair to say the average customer is THAT inconsiderate in their purchase to the point where buying the PS1 Classic was just "how much does it cost." Sure, I imagine the large majority of people didn't know (or probably care) about the more nitty gritty emulator and underpowered hardware of the thing. But I imagine a large majority of people also saw the thing, got excited, then saw so few (if any) of the big games from the PS1 that they would've wanted it for that they passed on it.

I think the bad library killed the PS1 Classic's prospects more than anything else, and then people weren't willing to pay $100 for the "best of the B-grade" of their PS1-era nostalgia.

Also a valid point. The game library does matter. So if the consumers didn't see any games on the PS1 classic that scratch their nostalgia itch, then will the same consumers see anything on the Turbographx mini that they even recognize?

[isiolia]

But this means Nintendo can get away with a smaller profit-margin. I can imagine the higher cost being partly due to the fact that they're going to be producing (and planning on selling) fewer units.

Probably that, even if it's not necessarily driven by margins (none of these are really that expensive to build). I'd assume it's more that - globally - the platform is fairly niche. The way they're handling ROMs says to me that they're not designing this for the mass market (think of all the returns Wal-Mart would get due to half the games being in moon-speak). Nintendo's micro consoles could be impulse buys in major retailers because of their popularity. Sony's too if they planned it better.
$100 is probably the right price for this. For the customers that'd be inclined to buy one in the first place, it's a solid value - maybe slightly above impulse buy, but it's not Neo Geo X territory either. The vast majority out there that wouldn't drop $100 for one...probably wouldn't buy it at $30 either, because they just don't know/care about the platform. Offsetting the numbers with the higher MSRP, like you said, makes sense for a more limited production run.

[samsonlonghair]

I just saw this. Hori is making a Turbo Tap mini.
https://www.amazon.com/Hori-Turbo-Tap-T ... QPPX0643H0

Looks an awful lot like a USB hub to me, but I have to admit that it's still cool.

[PartridgeSenpai]

Also a valid point. The game library does matter. So if the consumers didn't see any games on the PS1 classic that scratch their nostalgia itch, then will the same consumers see anything on the Turbographx mini that they even recognize?

That is a very valid point, although one I think Konami has at least considered a bit. I don't think it's an accident that this thing is an Amazon exclusive (iirc). I think these things would languish on shelves, at least in America, for the rest of time at a $100 price tag if they were in big-box stores at all. Keeping it only online is a smart move on their part, I think, because you're totally right that collectors are the only ones who are gonna care about a TG16 Mini.

[Sarge]

That being said, if by some small miracle they localize Snatcher on that thing, I'll buy it day one. DAY ONE.

[pierrot]

I find the inclusion of Snatcher to be pretty cool, in general. I might actually need to play is again, to experience the "definitive" version of the game, if I end up getting one of these. That would be something, if they also translated it. I can't see Konami putting that kind of effort into this, though.