If you haven’t heard, Nintendo had to aggressively slash sales projections by nearly 70 percent after a slow holiday season of Wii U sales. Despite the $50 price cut during late 2013, Nintendo is projecting sales of 2.8 million Wii U consoles for the 12-month period between April 2013 and March 2014. That’s down from a previous projection of 9 million consoles. It also pales in comparison to the 4 million Sony PlayStation 4 consoles and 3 million Xbox One consoles sold in the past two months.

Does this mean Nintendo is on the ropes? Long answer: Nope. Short answer: No. Here’s why:

1. Nintendo is an extremely solvent company with nearly 10 billion dollars in the bank, half in cash assets and half in bonds. The projected operating loss of $205 million is a drop in the bucket for the company and is typical of the gaming console hardware cycles that have occurred over the last 25 years.
2. While 3DS sales also dropped, it’s still the dominant, standalone handheld gaming device. Nintendo is projecting sales of more than 13 million 3DS devices over the same 12-month period, a figure that’s probably 4x to 5x the number of Sony PlayStation Vita devices sold.

Of course, there are definitely a handful of reasons why this will be good for gaming deals in 2014. Here are a few 2014 predictions:

1. Nintendo has no choice but to get more aggressive on the Wii U pricing structure and bundling options. While Nintendo didn’t have to cut the price on the first Wii for three years in North America due to gangbuster sales, the Wii U has much more in common with the Gamecube and N64 in regards to popularity. Historically, the Gamecube was cut to 50% of the original price in less than two years and the N64 got a 35% cut in the same time period. If history is any indication, the Wii U will hit a sweet spot around $199 before holiday 2014.
2. Nintendo has promised to “shake up management” and “think about a new business structure.” Hypothetically, this could lead Nintendo down the path of more mobile device integration (thus opening up the possibility of less expensive Nintendo games on smartphones) or branching out by developing multi-console releases of popular Nintendo titles. The latter is an extreme long shot (like 0.01%), but one that’s always delighted the imagination of PlayStation and Xbox devotees.
3. The starting MSRP for Wii U games will likely fall to the $50 price point (from $60) due to lagging software sales as well as the ever-prevailing view that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are much more powerful than the Wii U hardware. This will mean retailer sales could hit at the $40 to $45 price point at launch and offer more aggressive discounts during the 2014 holiday season at a $25 to $30 price point.

While it’s possible that we will see all of these things happening by the E3 Expo (June 2014), it’s more likely that major pricing announcements and aggressive cuts will hit around the time of the Toyko Game Show (September 2014). In any case, anyone who’s been waiting to pick up a Wii U should be delighted with the deals. Be sure to check Ben’s deal feed for up-to-the-second deals on Wii U hardware and software.

Revealed!! What Nintendo’s poor Wii U sales will mean for gaming deals in 2014

Why do we have to pay $60 for a new video game? It seems ridiculous. And don’t get started on downloadable content (DLC) and add-ons which can raise the total price of a game to $80 or $90.

Of course, this complaint isn’t exactly new. Video games, until the advent of digital downloads and mobile games, have always been (too) expensive. Go back to the mid ’90s when PlayStation and Nintendo 64 games were selling for around $50. If you go back 30 years, Atari 2600 games retailed for around $30, which is even more expensive when adjusted for today’s dollars.

Game publishers will tell you there are huge costs involved in the making of video games, especially today. And surely with next gen consoles like the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on the horizon, those costs will rise as they did 7 to 8 years ago with the arrival of the current generation.

And of course, consumers continue to pay those prices, but for how much longer? In the last few years, mobile games and digital outlets like Steam have siphoned away the attention—and more importantly the revenue—of gamers.

Let’s take a look at some of the reasons given for the high price of video games.

From the David Fincher trailer for Halo 4

Ballooning Budgets

In the movie industry, ticket prices for movies are the same regardless of budget, unless the movie is showing in a special format like 3D or IMAX. It’s the same for video games, except budgets are not cited as the reason for rising ticket prices nearly as frequently as they are for games. For movies, it’s exhibitors (theaters) on the defensive; for the games, it’s the publishers (video game makers)  that are forced to defend the high prices.

And there’s no doubt that budgets for modern video games can be staggeringly high. The 2011 MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic reportedly had an Avatar-like budget of $200 million, while last year’s Halo 4 cost $100 million. Still, they were priced the same as other games like 2011’s L.A. Noire which had a development budget of a mere $50 million.

In addition to the development team, there are other costs involved, not the least of which is the distribution channel. Retailers take a cut—as much as 20% or more, depending on the in-store marketing of the game. Still, video games are hardly alone in this respect.

Licensing fees and royalties are another factor. Console manufacturers Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all receive a 10% to 20% fee per copy from third-party publishers. (However, you won’t see in-house games retailing for less.) Existing properties and movie tie-ins all demand licensing fees. Game engines developed by other companies require royalties.

Often the most expensive element of the budget is the marketing: the TV and internet ads, of course, but also social media, magazines and other outlets where the game is promoted. Games today have multi-million dollar marketing budgets like any big Hollywood movie.

Value Per Dollar

Game publishers will argue that consumers are getting more bang for their buck with video games. Top-flight titles like Skyrim and Halo may sell for $60, but they offer literally hundreds of hours of entertainment. A $20 IMAX movie entertains you for two hours and that doesn’t include the other expenses of multiple tickets, parking and refreshments.

This is the most compelling argument from the gaming industry with regards to high game prices. I will even go so far as to say that the entertainment value of some of these popular single-player and/or multiplayer online games could fetch even higher price points than the standard $60. The problem is, we all know that if and when the price of games goes up, it won’t just be the good ones.

A middling game that’s dusted off in five hours should not be priced the same as one that offers 100 hours. The majority of games simply don’t measure up to that $60 price tag. Many gamers will say that the average title warrants a price somewhere in the $30 to $40 range.

That’s where used games enter the picture, and where a lot of controversy has swirled around the Xbox One’s confusing policy on reselling or trading games. (You can and you can’t.)

Used Games

Game publishers like to blame used game sales for the high prices of games. This is a frequent refrain in the video game industry, although it does crop up in other places, notably the music industry.

Naturally, the counter-argument is pretty simple: people would buy new if new weren’t so expensive! They’d also be less likely to resell if they felt their initial investment was worth it and the resale value was not.

Another counter-argument is the GameStop angle. Trade-ins are common and a lot of this money is going right back into the coffers of video game publishers. According to this 2012 Wired article, 16 million out of the 26 million sellers of used games, five years ago, turned back around and bought new games with that money. GameStop also encourages purchases of new games by giving trade-in bonuses.

The alternative to buying cheap used games is to simply wait it out.

Wait It Out

Patience is the key to beating these high prices. You’re gonna pay $60 a pop for console games unless you take advantage of pre-order coupons and other promotions at launch. So you just have to wait three to six months for a popular game’s price to go down. After six months, the price of a popular game is often 50% or more off the original price, i.e. into the $20 to $30 price range.

If you’re following Ben’s Bargains, you’ll rarely have to shell out $60 for the newest high-profile titles. Many games are discounted 15% to 25% on pre-order or at launch or include an equivalent credit.

Take Far Cry 3, for example. Released in December of last year, Ben’s Bargains had it on a pre-order sale for $48 last fall, then it was as low as $35 for Xbox 360 and PS3 at Amazon for one day in January, and it’s now down to $20 at Amazon this week.

You’ll see a similar pattern for other recent titles, like the holiday 2012 release Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 which now sells for around $30, or the early 2013 title Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch which is also now down to $30 on sale, or last year’s Mass Effect 3 which dropped to under $30 after about half a year.

Video games are too expensive and may get even more expensive with the next generation consoles, but if you have a little patience and deal savvy, you can keep playing games without breaking the bank.

Revealed!! Why Video Games are So Expensive

Even though Blu-ray “defeated” its early rival HD DVD five years ago, it often seems as if Blu-ray is still fighting an uphill battle with public perception. However, that image is changing and while it may not yet (or ever) be the dominant force that Sony envisioned back in 2006, Blu-ray does have a viable future ahead of it.

Just this week, in an attempt to outdo Sony in the all-in-one entertainment device department, Microsoft announced its next-gen video game console, the Xbox One. And, look, the Xbox One has a Blu-ray player! Not bad for Blu-ray considering it’s been proclaimed dead by various pundits and competitors over the past few years.

It’s true that tech giant Apple remains the most noteworthy holdout on Blu-ray. Meanwhile, Netflix and streaming high definition video services and set-top boxes have become commonplace and relatively cheap for consumers. Plus, over 80 million U.S. households (75%) have an HDTV or HD-capable TV, but only 50 million have a Blu-ray player.

Still, 50 million is a pretty significant number and the gap is closing, especially if the Xbox One and/or PlayStation 4 (also with Blu-ray) are successes. With more and more consumers owning HDTVs (15% more in 2012 vs. 2011), the demand will be there.

The future of Blu-ray is a lot less cloudy than it was just a few years ago, and the format has proven to be surprisingly resilient in the face of stiff competition, due to gradually decreasing costs and technological adaptability.

Blu-ray is Cheaper Now

Blu-ray players, even ones with Wi-Fi and web-connected apps, are now relatively inexpensive, coming in under $100 for Wi-Fi models and under $50 for barebones models. Today’s Blu-ray players, in addition to playing Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs, can stream Netflix and deliver other Internet content like the Roku or other set-top boxes.

By incorporating features that mimic a Roku-type device while staying in the same price range, Blu-ray players have become a worthy competitor to streaming media players and avoid the dilemma of being a one-trick pony.

As a storage medium, Blu-ray is an inexpensive alternative to USB flash drives and portable external hard drives. A blank, single-layer 25GB Blu-ray disc can be found in multi-packs for as little as 25 to 50 cents per disc when on sale (and under $1 a disc for dual-layer 50GB discs). Compare this to USB flash drives and portable hard drives which average around $1 per gigabyte.

Of course, you also have to buy the Blu-ray burner, which is anywhere from $60 to $200 depending on whether it’s an internal or external drive.

Movie Fans Like It

Blu-ray is the superior format for movie fans. High-definition video streaming services do not currently have the special bonus content and better picture quality that Blu-ray can offer. Also, Netflix now boasts an impressive Blu-ray selection, and Blu-ray movies have dipped down to the bargain basement DVD prices consumers have become accustomed to, with catalog titles routinely being sold for under $10.

The recent releases of the Star Wars trilogies, Indiana Jones series and the James Bond collection on Blu-ray demonstrate the increasing popularity of the format. With a market penetration of over 50 million households, studios and home video companies like Criterion are willing to commit the money to dip into their back catalog and release movies that have yet to appear on Blu-ray in the seven years of the format’s existence. This summer, enduring favorites like The Jerk, The Public Enemy (with Jimmy Cagney), Disney’s The Sword in the Stone and The Ice Storm (Criterion Collection) will appear on Blu-ray for the first time.

Adaptable Technology

According to this excellent article at Tested.com, Blu-ray has proven to be a very flexible and adaptable technology. Back in 2009, Blu-ray was able to adapt to 3D with the release of the Avatar 3D Blu-ray, which was not in Blu-ray’s original spec.

However, new technological challenges face Blu-ray, such as high frame rate movies (48fps in The Hobbit) and the recent advent of 4K HDTV sets which offer four times the resolution of regular HDTVs. In the same article, Andy Parsons, a spokesperson for the Blu-ray Disc Association, believes Blu-ray can meet those challenges by utilizing the new H.265 codec (versus the H.264 codec currently used) to squeeze the amount of data required to fit a 4K resolution movie transfer onto a Blu-ray disc.

While these changes would save Blu-ray for another day, they would also require people to buy new players. Still, Blu-ray is far closer to delivering this kind of super high resolution content than streaming services, which could be many years away.

Yes, Blu-ray has a future, but like many new technologies today, it will have to coexist in the marketplace with other alternatives and target the right consumers. Gone are the days where something like VHS could dominate the marketplace for many years. Blu-ray has heard the naysayers before, but it’s stronger than ever and it will survive.

Revealed!! What’s the Future of Blu-ray?

If you’re old enough, you’ll recall that plasma TVs were the first commercially available flat-panel TVs in the late ’90s. A 42-inch Philips set boasted a price tag of $15,000! Fast-forward over a decade later and most TV makers today are producing LCD panel HDTVs, more specifically LED-backlit (or edge-lit) LCD panels, which are becoming thinner and more inexpensive by the month.

In recent years, plasmas have fallen out of favor with mainstream consumers, and then a few months ago came the news that Panasonic, the market leader in plasma HDTVs, would actually stop production of their plasma line in 2014! Videophiles around the world were in a state of mourning. But why would anyone shed tears for the plasma TV? They’re not cool anymore.

Well, because plasma TVs are better, that’s why.

Then, just last month, order was restored when Panasonic announced that those “rumors” were actually incorrect and that it plans to continue developing plasma TV technology and producing new sets. Huzzah!

So hold off on those obituaries and poetic Betamax analogies, folks, because plasma is going to stick around a bit longer, and the world will be better for it. And here are the reasons why plasma TVs are still alive and better (than ever).

Plasma Is All Growns Up Now

This 152-inch plasma behemoth premiered at CES 2010.

Let’s get the usual objections to plasma TVs out of the way. Number one is: “Plasma TVs are susceptible to burn-in.” Only in really extreme circumstances. Over the years, manufacturers have added “anti burn-in technologies” that minimize the likelihood of image retention, and if these “ghost images” do crop up (unlikely), they disappear after a few minutes. If you’re among the 99 percent of people who do not leave still images up on their TV screen for half an hour with the contrast jacked up to retina-scorching levels, you’re gonna be OK. Nothing is going to happen if you pause that movie for 5 minutes. Plus, on new plasmas, letterboxed movies and sports tickers are no cause to worry for burn-in.

Another common objection is the lifespan of plasma TVs. While the early models had a 30,000-hour rating, recent models can last as long as 100,000 hours. You’ll be getting a TV chip planted in your brain before your new plasma TV reaches its natural end.

Also, plasmas were known to be power-sucking vampires. The reality is, because new plasma TVs have improved energy efficiency and are generally cheaper than the so-called green LED HDTVs, the overall savings to the consumer is a wash (about $13 a year on your electricity bill).

But wait, there’s more! Plasmas are super heavy and thick! Yes, years ago this was a problem. (Sensing a common theme?) However, let’s compare Samsung’s 51″ 4550 Series Plasma with the 50″ F5500 Series LED. The plasma is 39 lbs. without the stand and about 2 inches thick and the LED is 29 lbs. without the stand and about 2 inches thick. All right. Plasmas are actually heavier. It must be tough watching that movie on your plasma TV as you hold it in your hands.

It’s Beautiful!

Samsung F8500 Series Plasma

If you’re particular about your picture, plasma TVs have a lot going for them. Plasma TVs have the best image quality of consumer TVs today. This includes black level, viewing angle, uniform brightness, color range, contrast ratio, and for gamers and sports fans, vastly superior response time (i.e., there’s no motion blur on fast moving objects).

Granted, plasma TVs technically do not put out as much overall brightness as LED TVs, but very few of you will ever leave an LED TV at its top brightness settings. Because that would be like staring at the sun.

As of May 2013, CNET’s top three HDTVs by picture quality are all plasma TVs. Two are Panasonic lines and one is the fantastic Samsung F8500 series, which is great for bright rooms (to answer the naysayers).

Even better, Plasma TVs are cheaper than the newer LED TVs by an average of $300 or more. The older LCD TVs (CCFL-backlit) are comparable in price but are much lower quality all around. Over at Ben’s Bargains, we recently had a 42″ Panasonic 1080p Plasma HDTV going for $400.

Revealed!! Why Are Plasma TVs Still Around?

Whenever we post LEGO deals on Ben’s Bargains, they’re usually quite popular because regular-price LEGO sets just seem outrageously expensive for children’s toys. The 3,803-piece LEGO Death Star (10188) is frequently cited as an example, retailing for $400.

Yet, we love LEGO anyway and continue to fork over our hard-earned cash for these fantastically well-crafted pieces of (ABS) plastic. The LEGO Death Star has been in production for 5 years (!) and is frequently seen on eBay for significantly more than the MSRP during peak buying periods, as are many other popular and/or rare LEGO sets.

Among LEGO buyers, it’s known that the price per brick hovers around 10 to 13 cents. According to Andrew Sielen’s excellent analysis What Happened with LEGO, the price of a brick has been relatively static for the past 8 or 9 years and was even significantly higher two or three decades ago — you know, back when most adults today were playing with LEGOs. And this price stability has occurred in the same time period as the advent of LEGO’s licensed sets (Star Wars, Harry Potter) which actually carry very little to no price markup compared to the non-licensed sets.

Expensive, Just Not Crazy Expensive

LEGO toys aren’t always tremendously more expensive than its closest competitors (knockoffs) MegaBloks and KRE-O, which have increased in popularity in recent years with its own licensing deals like Halo (MegaBloks) and Star Trek and Transformers (KRE-O). For example, while the 413-piece LEGO Tie Fighter (9492) can be found for around $45 to $50 and the 443-piece MegaBloks Halo UNSC Mantis is a comparative value at $32,  the 432-piece KRE-O U.S.S. Enterprise is the most expensive at $50.

LEGO USS Enterprise? Nope, this is the KRE-O USS Enterprise!

Even a comparison of plain bricks is a close call. A 450-piece MegaBlocks Ultimate Building Tub is $25 (5.5 cents/brick), while the 405-piece LEGO Ultimate Building Set (6166) is around $30 (7.5 cents/brick). So, yes, LEGO toys are generally pricier, but not by a huge margin.

Resale Value, Quality and Size

The thing is, LEGO sets hold their value and then some. Sealed and mint brand-new sets from popular lines like Star Wars have been known to go for twice as much as the original price, and sometimes even used sets can fetch higher-than-sticker prices. The LEGO Star Wars Slave I (8097) sold for $80 three years ago and can now be found on eBay for as much as $100 new and $75 for used.

LEGO is famous for its crazy attention to detail and precision engineering of the billions of pieces they’ve produced over the decades (over 400 billion since 1958, according to the company).

Not only do pieces from different decades fit together with consistent clutch power—which is not always the case for its competitors’ offerings (i.e. MegaBloks) from the same set!— but its high-priced molds are ridiculously accurate with tolerances as minute as 0.0005″. You’re not gonna be pumping out LEGO-quality bricks with a 3D printer anytime soon. You’re also not gonna find this special sauce in MegaBloks bricks, either.

Besides quality, the size of sets is a major factor in the perceived expense of LEGO toys. The aforementioned Death Star is one of the top-five largest LEGO sets with over 3,800 pieces. The more advanced Architecture series LEGO sets often have over 500 pieces with a few over 1,000 pieces. By contrast, the top-of-the-line LEGO set in 1980, the Inter-City Passenger Train Set (7740), had  786 pieces and the classic LEGO Main Street (6390) had 591 pieces—these sizes are now commonplace.

LEGOLAND Main Street — a classic of its time…

Higher quality production, the ever-increasing size and complexity of high-end sets and the impressive resale value of LEGO all contribute to its high price tag. But the number one reason is, of course, demand. We’re still willing to fork over more cash for LEGO sets, and that’s that.

Revealed!! Why LEGO Toys Are So Expensive

If you’re a regular online shopper, you may have noticed Microsoft’s commercial promoting the Bing shopping search engine over Google Shopping. In it, a couple discuss how “Google sells its shopping results, so while they look like honest search results, they’re really paid ads” and “you’re not even sure what stores they’ve left out.”

While it’s true that Google Shopping (formerly Google Product Search) transitioned from a free model to a paid model in 2012, that move only puts it in the majority of price comparison sites.

So does Bing really provide a better shopping search experience? I’m going to take a look at five popular shopping search engines, including Google and Bing, and see how they stack up. Three of the sites are “paid,” meaning they only accept paid (sponsored) listings, and two of the sites are “free,” meaning they accept a mix of paid and free submissions.

Revealed!! Battle of the Shopping Search Engines

Over the past few months, you may have noticed that there are very few memory deals (desktop and notebook) appearing on Ben’s Bargains. Did we forget? Did we start adhering to the (Apple) philosophy that you suffer with the memory you’re dealt with?

Well, no. Unfortunately, memory prices have gone up at least 10%  since the end of last year, which was a pretty good year for cheap memory, as was 2011. Back in 2009 and 2010, we had a long drought where memory deals were few and far between. I’m hoping that’s not the case this time, but we may be in for rising prices for the near future as the market stabilizes after a couple years of dropping prices.

Unlike the Great Hard Drive Flood in 2011 that disrupted worldwide HDD supply and sent prices skyrocketing, the rise in PC memory prices has been far less dramatic. Tablets (namely iPads) are winning the war with PCs, and the number of memory makers has decreased in the past year.

Consequently, the supply of PC DRAM has dwindled, contributing to the rising prices. Just a few months ago, you could find a 4GB module deal for under $16 and 16GB deals between $60 and $70.

In the past week, we’ve seen prices on memory deals that are considerably higher than deals we posted back in December. For example, the G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Memory is currently $93 shipped after code. Back in December, the exact memory was $60 shipped, which we didn’t even consider all that unusual. That’s a 55% jump in four months.

At $93, that’s not a bad price relative to the current prices out there. At Ben’s Bargains, we’ve been avoiding posting these kinds of sales, because we typically prefer to spotlight price drops or static sale prices. When hard drive prices went up at the end of 2011, we eventually posted sales that represented the best relative prices, even though they were considerably higher than deals we had posted earlier that year.

Let us know in the comments if you’d like to see more memory deals, but keep in mind that higher prices are here to stay…at least for now.

Revealed!! Where Have All The Memory Deals Gone?

While you’ll mostly see brand-new products at Ben’s Bargains, you’ll occasionally run across the word refurbished on some of the deals that we post. What exactly does refurbished mean, and is it just a marketing term for “used” or “spit polished”?

Manufacturers and resellers are legally required to label a product as refurbished after they recondition it and sell it. This typically occurs when an opened product is returned by a customer for whatever reason or the product was damaged in shipping from the manufacturer. The process of reconditioning can be as simple as replacing the box and resealing it or as complicated as replacing a screen, swapping out a battery, and running tests. So, yeah, it may have been used, but “used” in the context of a 30-day return. It also may not have been used at all.

Refurbished, reconditioned and recertified all pretty much mean the same thing. Recertified may refer to some kind of warranty being included, but it’s not an exclusive label. If you’re buying any refurbished product, you want to first make sure there is a warranty, then check the length of the warranty and lastly whether it’s a manufacturer or store warranty.

At Ben’s Bargains, we focus on refurb deals that are manufacturer refurbished. The Apple Store is one of the best examples of manufacturer refurbished bargains. Apple Store refurbs are nearly indistinguishable from their brand-new counterparts–new battery, new shell and same one-year warranty–except at a savings of 10% to 25% off. (It comes in a brown box instead of the retail box.) With Apple, this may be the only time you see any significant savings outside of Black Friday.

Manufacturer refurbs can also be found at online resellers like Amazon, Newegg and eBay. eBay will even distinguish between “manufacturer refurbished” and “seller refurbished” on the product page. We avoid explicitly labeled seller refurbished deals because we’re not sure if this meant some guy wiped down the screen with a bottle of Windex or Scotch-taped a bashed-in box. It’s one step closer to “pre-owned,” “used” and “ewwwsed,” and we don’t do used deals on Ben’s.

Traditionally, we’ve also avoided refurbished hard drives and small kitchen appliances (what’s that stain?). There are occasionally some great savings to be found in those categories and we could change that policy if enough of you would like to see those types of refurbs.

So, what do you think of refurbished deals? What has your experience (good or bad) been with refurbs? Would you like to see more, or are we doing too many of them? Let us know in the comments!

Revealed!! What Does “Refurbished” Really Mean?