Is PS5 Pro the most expensive console of all time? Comparing prices with the PS3, Neo Geo, and more…

The official announcement of the PS5 Pro has not been without controversy due to its very high price. Marked with an MSRP of $699.99, you must add the fact that the console does not include a disc reader or its standard vertical support. Adding these “extras”, the price of the “complete” version of this machine goes above $800. This, in turn, raises a key question: Is it the most expensive console in history? We compare these launch prices with other cases reported at the time such as the PlayStation 3 and the Neo Geo AES.

What is the launch price of PS5 Pro and when will it be available?

PS5 Pro will be available in stores around the world on November 7, 2024. According to Mark Cerny himself during the official presentation, the PS5 Pro has a GPU 67% more powerful than that of the standard PS5, advanced ray tracing, and AI-driven graphical improvements, as well as a 2TB SSD hard drive.

However, as we mentioned above, this machine has a peculiarity: This is a digital-only model to which we can, if we wish, attach a disk reader whose price is well above $110.

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Besides, it also does not include a vertical stand, which, again, costs around $29,99. In other words: The full version of the machine would cost around $840.

What were the most expensive console launches?

Throughout the history of the industry, we have seen a wide variety of machines that offer different features in a varied price range. Below we compile several of the most expensive consoles that were ever launched, taking into account original launch prices and adjusting for inflation as of September 2024.

Neo Geo

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Neo Geo was, at the time, considered the “Rolls Royce” of video games. A luxury option, technically far superior to the experience that other contemporary consoles such as Mega Drive or Super Nintendo could offer. Its exorbitant price, and more so in a context in which it was not common to spend so much on video games, made this machine only available to a few privileged users.

The reason it was so expensive was mainly due to its advanced hardware compared to the competition. Broadly speaking, its components were identical to those of the Neo Geo MVS arcade machines, so the titles that came to the home console had arcade quality without losing a single bit of detail and were essentially the same versions. The only notable difference was the size of their cartridges, but there was an adapter so that MVS titles were compatible with the AES, and this home console could run them without any problem.

3DO Interactive Multiplayer

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The 3DO was a console manufactured by multiple companies, including Panasonic. Although its hardware was very advanced compared to other machines of the time such as the first Sony PlayStation or Sega Saturn, Its extraordinarily high price added to an absence of notable titles made it one of the most notorious failures in the entire history of video games.

Only around 200 games were released for this platform, and there were very few exclusive titles that justified their purchase. In hindsight, this machine would be best remembered for being the one that gave birth to the Gex and Need for Speed franchises, since the first games of each of them were first released here.

CD-i

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This multimedia game console was way ahead of her time, given that Philips decided to do without cartridges and opt for CDs since its launch in the early 90s, ahead of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Nevertheless, This technology considerably increased the price of the machine, which cost a real fortune for the time.

The life cycle of the CD-i was very short and failed to penetrate a market dominated mainly by the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo. It was a remarkable machine because it received several licensed Nintendo titles such as Hotel Mario, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Link: The Faces of Evil, although their quality was debatable.

PlayStation 3

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The launch of the PlayStation 3 was also surrounded by great controversy due to its high price. PS3 was launched in two different models: a basic one with a 20 GB hard drive, and another premium one with 60 GB capacity.

During the first years of its life cycle, the PS3 faced great challenges since apart from its high price compared to that of Xbox 360 —its direct competition, which offered a more affordable option at $399.99 and came out a year and a half earlier—, development difficulties were also present given its complex architecture. The latter meant that many multiplatform titles did not even come out on PS3, and the versions that did come out were usually inferior to those on the 360. Although at the end of its generation, it managed to surpass the Xbox 360 in sales, it had a hard time getting off the ground, especially in its early stages.

The final verdict: is PS5 Pro one of the most expensive consoles of all time?

The answer to this question is yes, but with nuances:

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