How much would it cost to manufacture a Dreamcast in 2010?

[Rocketman]

I'm just asking out of curiosity. I don't even know the original development costs from (1999 - 2001) when it was being sold at $199 US in the North American launch.

Actually, what were the original costs for making a Dreamcast? Was it being sold at a profit like the Wii or was it sold at a loss at launch like the XBOX360 and PS3 with the intention of making money back through software sales? (Games).

The only thing I was able to find was the average cost of development for a Dreamcast game, not for the console itself.

Platform - average development cost / number of titles used for calculation
Xbox - 202 million yen ($1.8 million) / 13 titles
PlayStation 2 - 96 million yen ($877,634) / 194 titles
GameCube - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 11 titles
PlayStation Portable - 90 million yen ($822,857) / 6 titles
PlayStation - 80 million yen ($731,429) / 1 title
Game Boy Advance - 53 million yen ($484,571) / 47 titles
DS - 37 million yen ($338,286) / 3 titles
Dreamcast - 25 million yen ($228,571) / 2 titles

Does anyone know how much it would cost to make a Dreamcast today? Do you have an educated guess, an un-educated one?

[d123456]

Great thread!
Surely the DC costed more at launch than 199. USD
maybe the chips are expensive/rare/uncommon.

[Pabstblueribbon]

Great thread!
Surely the DC costed more at launch than 199. USD
maybe the chips are expensive/rare/uncommon.

nope, launch price was $199.

After it got discontinued I recall seeing them for like 60-70 dollars in some stores.

[Hobie-wan]

Great thread!
Surely the DC costed more at launch than 199. USD
maybe the chips are expensive/rare/uncommon.

nope, launch price was $199.

After it got discontinued I recall seeing them for like 60-70 dollars in some stores.

They were referring to the actual cost of the parts going into making each unit and having it sell at a loss to be recouped by software licences.

[Frizz.Meister]

I reckon it would be less. Think how much it cost to manufacture a basic colour screen phone (£2-5) and that is not alot less complex than a dreamcast at its core and contains trace amounts of precious metals. So at a guess i would reckon it would cost around £25($45). But then again if DC were to be made again they wouldnt be made in such huge bulk which would push the manufacturing cost upwards.

[Hobie-wan]

But then again if DC were to be made again they wouldnt be made in such huge bulk which would push the manufacturing cost upwards.

Making things in bulk makes the overall cost go down.

[jfrost]

But then again if DC were to be made again they wouldnt be made in such huge bulk which would push the manufacturing cost upwards.

Making things in bulk makes the overall cost go down.

That's his point, Hobie.

[Hobie-wan]

But then again if DC were to be made again they wouldnt be made in such huge bulk which would push the manufacturing cost upwards.

Making things in bulk makes the overall cost go down.

That's his point, Hobie.

I totally missed the "wouldn't" in there. Oops.

[Weekend_Warrior]

"About a hundred dollars"

[skyknight]

Depending on what you are aiming for.

I'm aware that I posted to a thread criticizing if SEGA should come up with a DC2, but I personally do love the DC.

Everyone should be aware that many things get lost with time, even though our technology has advance - how would men go back to the moon is a topic that NASA is trying to figure out now. One shouldn't assume that in the age of PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, restarting the DC would be cheaper.

One of the most important aspect in business making, is supply and demand. At this time, how many will demand a DC? If it turns just over a few thousand would actually want one, then forget about it.

Also, since it has been more than several years since the last DC was shipped and SEGA quite the console business, there will be a need to find a factory to restart production, and keep in mind very rarely technology companies will hold on to old technical products - do you see any computer companies coming out with PCs with Pentium processor?

So in short, no, it may actually cost more to produce DC now than a PS3 or Xbox360; just ask if Nintendo is will to produce a NES + SNES duo console.