The £429 price in the UK looks like a mistake to me - I know the launch price of the 360 was ~£280 and a Kinect is ~£100 but I still think that in these times of austerity it is a bit steep.
Mind you, I will buy one once Halo 5 (for me) or FIFA 14 (teenage son) comes out...
I think you may have answered your own complaint there.
IIRC the PS3 was even more expensive when it came out.
One advantage of a console is that it is an "investment" in that you know buying one will give you at least 5 years worth of supported gaming. Compare that to buying an iPad, the first gen iPad was released in 2010 and it basically obsolete now.
I wasn't thinking of my own situation. Whether it is £300 or £429 doesn't make much difference to me - but there will a lot of households where it does.
[Even my teenage son, who thinks that money magically grows in the Bank of Mum & Dad thought that £429 was a lot - if he noticed then MS probably have a pricing problem].
That's true enough, I guess those households will wait for a price drop or find one on the back of a lorry.
I remember when I was a lad, the "posh" kids would get the new gaming systems when they came out. Everyone went over to their houses to marvel at them, so when the price drop came next xmas they went on everyone's list.
Mind you, I will buy one once Halo 5 (for me) or FIFA 14 (teenage son) comes out...