Was the 360 $500 when it launched? Shit man, that was a lot.
Nope,$399 and $299.Elite model bumped it to $480,I think.
My theory is that $600-$800 console can be a reality.It is a reality in Europe,time of dirt cheap consoles is over.
If you can't spend $600 every 6 years on your gaming(hobby) equipment... 
/don't have time to argue now
I really strongly disagree and you'd have to have the memory of a sea bass to not be able to think of a very recent example.
When you push $500 you have passed the amount of a minimum wage two-week paycheck in North America. You might say, so what, save a couple paychecks, but the console industry is fueled by people who are fiscally irresponsible. The other problem is that when you push $500 it leads to people thinking "Well, I could get a new computer for not much more than that", and that is yet another place console manufacturers don't want to be.
I think this generation pretty clearly cemented that $299 is the sweet spot, $399 can be gotten away with if necessary, and not one fucking penny more.
I think that competition is the key point here,if competition is better than you at cheaper price point...you are fucked
Sony problem(aside horrible architecture) was that they were trying to sell something that costed $800 for $600.I say fuck that,sell it with a profit and make sure that you get all third party support (moneyhat to get some exclusives,etc).Whatever you do just make sure that you have steady stream of games on monthly basis.And make your console design flexible so it can reach $300 point in 4 years.
Europe is pretty much like that,either put it up or shut up.If you want to play,you have to pay.
There also one another thing,warranty issues.In my county nobody cares anymore about brands,why?
Everything has like 2,3,5 years warranty.Buy some cheap TV from xyz company and you get 3 year warranty and everything is done through shops.
I agree that console manufacturers would be stupid to ignore the stuff you wrote,but prices are definitely going up.
3DS....$250
Nintendo 360...$350 minimum
Maybe Apple makes some gaming console and charges $800 for it,that would be fun to watch.