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With Microsoft's XBox 360 priced at a record high of $399 (or $299 if you don't want to be able to save or play old games) and the Playstation 3 widely expected to follow suit with a pricetag in the same neighborhood, is next generation gaming out of reach for the underfunded? Not if Nintendo has its say.

Company president Satoru Iwata confirmed in an interview with Yahoo! Japan that the Nintendo Revolution will debut for less than the $299 price tag of the bare bones Xbox system. This also puts the new Nintendo console below the price range of the PS2's launch, and seems to indicate that the Revolution will be priced on par with the Game Cube, which initially sold for $199. Perhaps unfortunately, it's almost certain that this comparative discount comes at the cost of power and graphics technology that Sony and Microsoft fans can expect.

Personally, graphics aren't everything to me--especially when we're talking a difference of at least a hundred smackeroos between the Revolution and the PS3. Given that I'm underfunded and probably won't be able to afford more than one next-gen system (and I can buy the one thanks to the housing allowance on my scholarship), price is important to me. Besides, if the rumors are true, Nintendo is more than making up for their lagging in the graphics department with other innovative features, like the controller and the announced ability to download and play old Nintendo games.

Source: IGN

With the X-Box debuting today for $299 or $399 depending on the 'extras' included, the pressure is on for Microsoft's rivals to announce a launch price for their consoles.

Sony CEO Howard Stringer announced to Fortune magazine that he expected the PS3 to launch for between $300 and $400 next spring, making it competitively priced.

This may come as somewhat of a relief to Sony fans, especially after another Sony spokesperson announced that the PS3 would be "very expensive" due to the Blu-Ray DVD technology. Stringer confirmed that the company would be taking a loss on the console price in order to keep it from being prohibitively expensive to gamers.

Stringer also hinted at the release of a media bundle to showcase the PS3s abilities. Whether these will be along the lines of the FFVII "remake" or actual demos of things to come is unknown.

Source: CVG

A new twist in Konami's Suikoden series of RPGs arrived in North America today. "Suikoden Tactics" ("Rhapsodia" in Japan) is a significant deviation from the typical style of the rest of the series. The game will feature a tactical scenario style of combat instead of the traditional turn-and-party based system, and is also the first in the Suikoden timeline to cover the same events as another game, namely, Suikoden IV.

Sources:
IGN
SARS

Personally, I'm not sure what to think until I've played it. I really didn't like Suikoden IV, and I think the release of another game with a completely different style is a way for Konami to gauge reaction to gameplay innovations before implementing them in the series proper (and risking backlash like that which accompanied Suikoden III's new combat system). If this is the game that gets the series back on track, it will certainly be ironic.

Perhaps hoping to spur holiday sales of its handheld system, Sony will be making available a new PSP package this month. The $299 "PSP Giga Pack" will bundle the PSP system with several extras, including an upgraded memory stick, a USB cable, and the new PSP stand, in addition to the peripherals already included in the $249 "PSP Value Pack." Sony also confirmed that the Value Pack will continue to be made available, and that the new 1 GB memory stick will be sold separately later this year.

With this winter being the PSP's first holiday season, a package containing everything a PSP owner needs to get started (except for games and movies, of course) is expected, by some, to sell well. But will a lack of variety and underabundance of games hinder Christmas sales? Die-hard fans of the system may already own one, rendering this new package already obsolete for them, while many interested gamers may be waiting on games instead of peripheral upgrades.

More information about the PSP and its accessories' hardware capabilities can be found at Gaming Age.