Potential Wii price cut?

[Crazy]

Potential Wii price cut?

Well as any gamer would know, there was a huge price cut to the Playstation 3 console a couple of weeks ago with the new release of the Playstation 3 slim. People were complaining for awhile now, and everyone is wondering when the heck Nintendo is going to have a price cut for the Wii. The Wii sold incredibly in past times and has continued too, but with the new Playstation 3 price, along with Microsoft also thinking of doing a price cut, the Wii sales have dropped and the Playstation 3 sales are up! According to NPD Figures, compared to the same five-month period last year, sales of the Wii in the US are down a full 50%. Nintendo is still number one compared to the other top gen consoles but Nintendo is definitely not up to their usual levels.

Before the PS3 price cut, people mainly did not prefer to buy a PS3 because of the price. They went with either a Xbox 360 or Wii because it was drastically cheaper. With the Playstation 3 now only about $50 higher in price to the Wii everyone is going to go for a PS3 or Xbox 360 if they have a price cut.. Or even if EVERYONE does not go for a PS3 or Xbox 360, either way the Wii will suffer causing decreased sales.

Let's face it. This is not a good time for Nintendo and it would help if they could do a price cut. Sony has had a major price cut, and with Microsoft thinking about one, Nintendo needs to make a move. That is what everyone is saying and wants but hey it's Nintendo. They have been selling expert, thrilling, and the most original games since 1983. Shouldn't we just back off and let Nintendo do what they always will do? Trust me guys, they must know what they are doing.

However, my fellow gamers you may just get what you have been dreaming about. An early version of a Wal-Mart ad for the first week of October was recently forwarded to Kotaku, showing the Nintendo Wii console for a much more reasonable price. Kotaku didn't reveal this price, but I'm assuming it could be as low as $199! If this is true, this could benefit Nintendo greatly. They have New Super Mario Bros. and Wii Fit Plus landing, so a price cut could really propel their sales numbers back to their normal sky-rocketing levels. A price cut for the Wii could not only re-ignite the sales for the Wii, it could also encourage other people that are new to the Wii to pick one up along with the new games like Metroid Prime Trilogy. If Nintendo manages to get a price cut in, people with once again debate whether or not to go with good old Nintendo or go for Sony which would be much expensive. Nintendo has however responded by saying they don't respond to rumors and speculation but it's very likely that this could happen!

The bottom line is, a price cut is desperately needed for the Wii to re-ignite sales and if Nintendo pulls one off they will benefit a ton and compete with the other consoles like they always have.

Is it true?

- Thanks for reading and make sure to comment @_@

[ViddaXondi]

It seems very likely. Wii sales have been slowing and with the ps3 and 360 both receiving price cuts and having their own motion controls around the corner...

I think they'll actually start doing bundle deals soon too. A Wii + 2 games and extra WiiMote, maybe motion plus etc :P

[SaiyanFury]

I don't know if the Wii will get one. Nintendo has a long history of maintaining the highest price of it's products for a long time, even if their stuff isn't selling so hot. They don't follow the other guys. That's been evident with their other consoles since the N64. I remember the price of N64 cartridges running up to 80-or-so dollars even after the N64 was dead. GC games only came down a few dollars after the system itself was reduced to 150 or so dollars. Nintendo might mark down it's hardware to cheap since it's usually based on old technology, but the software will remain at it's usual price point.

[hcfwesker]

That's true, but mostly because their products are highest quality, maybe not in grahpics and games, but the products don't fail. After 3 long years of dominating the next gen market, I'm sure they can handle a price cut to get those sales boosted up for the holiday season.

[Omnipotent12]

I don't think Nintendo will cut their price, though they may have to due to the fierce competition. If Nintendo does cut the price, I think it will be a very grim prediction of the future for them.

[Crazy]

I personally think that Nintendo would benefit a lot more than they would lose if they had a price cut but that's just my opinion.

[Freezing Beast]

yep they have changed it

[SaiyanFury]

Originally Posted by hcfwesker

That's true, but mostly because their products are highest quality, maybe not in grahpics and games, but the products don't fail. After 3 long years of dominating the next gen market, I'm sure they can handle a price cut to get those sales boosted up for the holiday season.

They haven't been dominating the "next-gen" games market. Nintendo is in a demographic by themselves. They market the Wii to a different general audience. They've been going after the casual gamers for a long time with the Wii. Nintendo's Wii has been selling well because they go after everyone else. Wii Fit, and other casual, instant access games have been the predominating factor for the majority of system and game sales. They have some main titles that appeal to the Nintendo loyal (I was 14 years ago), but beyond that following, there's little to cater to the core gamer focus. Sony and MS are the only ones with true "next-gen consoles" offering superior functionality and hardware performance. Every new generation of consoles that come out, typical gamers demand better performance. Not just in graphics, but sound and innovation. They want games that push the envelope of console technology.

It's been that way since I was 7 years old when I started playing on my Atari 2600 Jr. Beyond that, I went to the SEGA Master System, far and above the Atari 2600. Beyond that, I went to the SEGA Genesis (Mega Drive in European countries). I got my NES in 1990 and loved it. Then I got my SNES in 1992 and loved it for years. I got a tonne of great games for it. TMNT4: Turtles in Time, the original Street Fighter II, Super Metroid, and many more. When I turned 17 in 1996, I got my first PlayStation. It was the first console I owned that I had over 50 games for. Especially as an RPGamer, it was a golden age. PS2 and the original Xbox, as well as Nintendo's own GameCube pushed the envelope on games performance. Nintendo's GC was even beyond the PS2 with it's superior ATi Hollywood GPU. It delivered some great graphics in many games. My favourite on the system, and the reason I got a GC was Tales of Symphonia. Now we are in the third generation of modern consoles, and while Sony and Microsoft took a step forward in technology, Nintendo took a step back. The first time in history a modern console did so. They employed the near copy of the CPU of the GC and the same GPU as the GC, and coupled the system to a fancier, albeit highly inaccurate, motion controller. Because of that, Nintendo can market the system, relatively inexpensively to the non-gaming masses and can enjoy great sales.

For those of us who keep up with the new technology, we're often labeled "graphics whores" by Nintendo fans. We're not graphics whores, we simply like to see more advanced technology from the new generations of consoles we purchase. The PS3 is the best example of new technology in this new generation that has recently been made very affordable to the mainstream gamers. Blu-ray's superior capacity, built-in wireless network connectivity, a painless PSN ID system, a superior CPU/GPU, built in 1.3a HDMI standard. Free online network game playability, and the ability to change out it's HDD with another standardised laptop HDD is the name of the game. The PS3 is the culmination of this new gen's technology demands. The PS3 is on a 10 year plan to deliver the best current-gen games the market can offer. Many developers are jumping on the bandwagon, including the elusive Square-Enix with the definitive version of Star Ocean 4 coming to the PS3 with it's International version. PS3 is the wave of the near future.

The Wii dominating the current-gen market? Maybe in sales alone. But in core game support, it falls even behind the 360 for gamers like me who have been gaming for over 20 years.

[Crazy]

This news is confirmed with the wii selling for $199.99 in most places.

Good move Nintendo ^_^

[Freezing Beast]

are they cutting to get more buisness or because they are going out of buisness do we know?