Every console launched in GTA 6's week, in today's money
Nine consoles launched in the US between November 15 and 22, and GTA 6 lands on the Wii's 20th birthday. We priced them all in today's money.
Jake Bannister
14th Nov 2026 18:15
Image via Rockstar Games
GTA 6 finally arrives on November 19, and whether or not Rockstar planned it this way, it's landing slap bang in the middle of what's arguably the busiest week the console calendar has ever had. Over the years, nine different PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo machines have launched in the US between November 15 and November 22, and over the next week four of them hit a big birthday at the same time.
The original Xbox and the GameCube both turn 25, the PS3 and the Wii both turn 20, and the Wii's birthday falls on GTA 6 launch day itself. So we lined up every console that launched in that eight-day stretch, along with what each one cost in today's money, and the 60GB PS3 comes out at just over $1,000 (we'll get to that).
Nine consoles, one very crowded week
Here's every console that launched in the US between November 15 and November 22, oldest first. We adjusted each launch price using the US Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index (CPI-U), comparing the launch month with October 2026, the latest month published, and rounded to the nearest dollar, so treat these as a good guide rather than an exact receipt.
| Console | US launch date | Launch price | In today's money | Birthday coming up |
| Xbox | November 15, 2001 | $299 | $569 | 25th |
| GameCube | November 18, 2001 | $199 | $379 | 25th |
| Nintendo DS | November 21, 2004 | $149.99 | $265 | 22nd |
| Xbox 360 | November 22, 2005 | $299.99 (Core) / $399.99 | $512 / $683 | 21st |
| PlayStation 3 | November 17, 2006 | $499 (20GB) / $599 (60GB) | $836 / $1,003 | 20th |
| Wii | November 19, 2006 | $249.99 | $419 | 20th |
| Wii U | November 18, 2012 | $299.99 (Basic) / $349.99 (Deluxe) | $440 / $513 | 14th |
| PlayStation 4 | November 15, 2013 | $399 | $578 | 13th |
| Xbox One | November 22, 2013 | $499 | $723 | 13th |
If you're wondering why so many machines piled into the same week, the short answer is the holidays, as mid-November gives a new console a few weeks of buzz before Black Friday and a clear run at everyone's Christmas list. Microsoft launched both the Xbox 360 and the Xbox One on November 22, eight years apart, while the PS4 ended up sharing a birthday with the original Xbox, and the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S only just missed the window in 2020, arriving on November 12 and November 10.
Sony's $1,000 birthday boy
The PS3 is the clear outlier. Sony launched it on November 17, 2006 at $499 for the 20GB model and $599 for the 60GB one, a price that became a meme almost as soon as it was announced at E3 that year, and in today's money those work out at around $836 and $1,003. UK players had to wait until March 2007 for theirs, and paid £425 for the privilege.
To put that $1,003 into GTA terms, it's enough for 12 copies of GTA 6's $79.99 Standard Edition, with change left over for a large pizza. Even the cheaper 20GB model would cost more today than any Xbox on the list, including the $499 Xbox One, which works out at about $723 and was the priciest launch of 2013 by a fair distance (the Kinect in the box didn't come free, after all).
Nintendo, the cheap seats
Nintendo has spent most of this week's history as the bargain option. The GameCube undercut the Xbox by $100 when it launched three days later in 2001, and at about $379 in today's money it's still the cheapest home console on the list, while the Nintendo DS, which arrived on November 21, 2004 at $149.99, is the cheapest machine overall at about $265.
The Wii is the one that matters most this coming week, though. It launched on November 19, 2006 at $249.99, roughly $419 today, and went on to sell more than 100 million units, comfortably ahead of both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, so GTA 6 is technically arriving on the 20th birthday of one of the best-selling home consoles ever made. The Wii U, which shares the GameCube's November 18 birthday, gets a rather quieter 14th.
GTA has been here before
The obvious caveat is that a console and a game aren't the same purchase, and plenty of people will be buying a PS5 or an Xbox Series X|S alongside GTA 6 on Thursday, which is a much bigger outlay than $79.99. Console prices have also crept up rather than down in recent years, so today's machines aren't as far off some of these old launch prices as you might expect. We've already priced every GTA by the hour, and if you're in the UK, we did the same exercise for every Xbox launch in pounds.
It's also not the first time GTA has shown up in this week. GTA 5 originally launched in September 2013, two months before the PS4 and Xbox One, and its re-release on those consoles landed on November 18, 2014, the GameCube's 13th birthday. This time Rockstar has gone straight for the big date, and you can pre-load GTA 6 now if you haven't already.
Well, the Wii spent years getting everyone off the sofa, so it seems only fair that GTA 6 gets them back on it for its 20th birthday.
About The Author
Jake Bannister
Jake is GGRecon's Co-Founder and Operations Director. You'll find him covering our word game brain teasers, as well as sports games such as Football Manager and EA FC. He's also that teammate on your Rocket League team spamming "Wow!".
