Activision CEO Says Next-Gen Consoles Need To Hit $200 Price Point

Activision CEO Robert Kotick has said that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles must break the $200 price barrier before either of them can reach mass-market appeal.

In an interview with Reuters, Kotick said Sony's PlayStation 3 was a good system, but that Nintendo was setting a pricing standard with its massively successful Wii console. The Wii currently lists for $250, while the Xbox 360 from Microsoft starts at $280 and the lowest-priced PlayStation 3 model is $400.

Kotick said the price point for mass adoption was $199. "The Wii at its price point is now setting a standard and an expectation, and people say, well, the Wii is less complex technically. I don't think that really matters as much to the consumer," he added.

"In the next 24 months they all will need to be at that $199 price point, and you can imagine Nintendo will be down to the $129 price point over the next few years," he said.