PS4 Originally $499, Included Camera Peripheral

Sony had planned to package the PlayStation 4 Eye with the PS4, but pulled it to compete with the Xbox One’s price.

Where once Sony’s E3 press conferences earned boos from the audience, its showing at E3 2013 won the crowd over with an anti-DRM and pro-consumer message that elicited a rare moment of vocal enthusiasm. The knock-out punch, however, was arguably the announcement that the PS4 would be priced a full one hundred dollars cheaper than Microsoft’s Xbox One. It’s now been revealed, however, that the PlayStation 4’s lower price may have come at a cost.

According to sources, Sony had originally planned on launching the PS4 at $499, the same price as the Xbox One. The extra one hundred dollars would have paid for the inclusion of the PlayStation 4 Eye, which Sony had planned to package with the PS4 a la the Xbox One with the Kinect. Hoping to beat Microsoft’s console price-wise however, Sony opted to remove the Eye, which will apparently be sold separately for $59.

Some have been arguing that Microsoft needs to take a similar step and sell the new version of Kinect separate from the Xbox One. Such a move could be viable and even beneficial for the Xbox One, given that the Kinect can be shut off at will any ways. That said, whereas the Kinect can be turned off with apparent ease, the removal of the Eye holds some implications that are unique to the PlayStation 4. The PS4’s controller has earlier been reported to possess built-in features reliant on the PlayStation 4 Eye, including things like controller identification and player tracking. Without the Eye the PS4’s controller will lose that functionality, at least until a player decides to pony up the dough and complete the PS4 package.

Source: IGN