Sony originally planned $499 PS4 including camera – report

The PS4 was originally going to retail for $499 before Sony changed its mind not long before its E3 announcement.

That’s according to IGN, which says that the $499 SKU was to include the new PlayStation Eye camera.

IGN reckons that in the months leading up to E3, Sony nixed plans to include the camera add-on with every system and shave $100 off its originally planned price of $499”.

MCV understands that Sony did indeed have more than one presentation ready for E3 so that it could choose which offer it would present to the world dependent on what Microsoft announced earlier that day at E3.

The result of this, IGN argues, is that Sony has damned the [camera] to a future of fragmented consumer adoption and inconsistent software support” and that the decision has also rendered a major design element of the DualShock 4 controller — the built-in LED Move tracker — largely useless”.

The other argument is that Sony has given consumers the power to choose which configuration they would prefer. The fact is that a number of gamers have no interest in camera or motion control, so not forcing them to pay for the tech seems sensible.