4. It Will Help Sony And Microsoft "Euthanize" The Obsolete Systems Faster
Alongside the release of new consoles, there's always a secondary trend - the current generation consoles have their prices plummet. At launch, the PS2 and original XBOX went for $299 each, which was seen as a fair price, and both consoles were successful in unique ways - the XBOX carved out its niche in the gaming market, despite its endless supply of hit-or-miss titles, games such as Forza, Halo, and Fable allowing it to hold its own. The PlayStation 2 on the other hand, already had a well established gaming library, most of its studios from the PS One days simply making new titles to fit the new console, which resulted in it becoming the best selling gaming console...
ever, at least until the Nintendo DS catches up. Upon the release of the PS3 and 360 (their lowest launch prices at an absurd $499 and a far more reasonable $299, respectively), the already low retail prices of the PS2 and XBOX plummeted - to new units costing in the area of $99 -$129. Seven years later, this is likely to hold true as well - Sony's third generation Slim and the latest iteration of the 360 can already be bought for $199 by themselves, to say nothing of the packages that are offered for each console. Strange as it may seem, once the PS4 and One are available, a $99 PS3 or XBOX 360 is very much a realistic possibility. And while there are plenty of latecomer opportunists who will scoop them up at those prices, releasing Call of Duty solely as a next-gen title may do Sony and Microsoft a favor by encouraging more people to choose the new consoles rather than solely pick up the outdated, cheaper ones.