The Wii currently holds the record for being the first console to last three years without a price drop. At least that what’s the clerk at GameStop told me, so it’s gotta be true! So just how long will the record last? It seems like the company is shooting for at least four years, maybe even five, if recent comments from the company are to be believed.
When asked at a “recent investor meeting” if Nintendo is planning a price cut for Wii to combat slowing hardware sales, company president Satoru Iwata said “no” without really saying no. “I think the current decline in hardware sales is due to the fact that there aren’t many big titles (at the moment),” Iwata said, without pointing to the recently released Wii Sports 2. “So right now, there aren’t a lot of (internal) discussions going on about hardware pricing.”
Translation: Wii will sell for $250 in 2010, assuring the 50 million current owners that they were right not to wait for a price drop.
They are trying to follow the Apple pricing model, without Apple’s regular re-releases. Apple can get away with never dropping prices because they release a new model every year, and the old model gets price reduced until it is sold out. I think Nintendo mentioned this once before. I think the best we can expect is pack-ins, maybe Wiimotion Plus’s, and game packages. I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t drop the price until year 4 or 5.
Oh, I don’t think this is a good move, btw.
I think it does seem kind of selfish on Nintendo’s part, we just hear from Sony that since launch they’ve decreased manufactoring costs on the PS3 by 70%, admittedly they’re keeping some of the profit to themselves but they have already dropped the price since launch, and another price drop seems extremely likely in the near future.
Nintendo have the Wii, which as far as production costs go, is a gamecube, it does have licensing costs for the bluetooth or whatever (if that still applies) but most of the tech inside the thing is low end at best, they aren’t even allowing people to play DVDs on it, just to make themselves more money, which is a sign that Nintendo are becoming heartless, yeees I know, they’re a business whose primary focus is indeed making money, but all it’s doing is making me dislike them as a company, the other post made on infendo not long ago, about the new disney game, and people not liking disney as a company, Nintendo seem to be trying to follow suit.
Apple’s pricing model works only because we get new iterations pretty much yearly, which either improve functionality (like the iphone 1st gen adding 3g internet), usability (like the new iphone 3gs making everything a LOT faster), or looks (pretty much every ipod iteration has been an improvement from its predecessor). People have a choice, thye can upgrade, or stay where they are, and if they don’t have one already, they benefit from waiting.
I already have a wii, I got it on launch day, but what would I be getting if I waited to get one? the console was old on day one, now 3 years down the line, it’s even older, and I’m still paying five times as much as I would for a PS2 and eye toy.
Nintendo have so many options to decrease the price of the wii, and pass that lower price to consumers, I mean, why, for one, aren’t they using newer fabricating methods? a CPU that’s still made with 90nm technology?
Yeah, anyway, a price drop is needed if you ask me.. Nintendo needs to play their own game, not become one of those mindless profit hungry companies that doesn’t care about the consumer.
well i think it’s a good and bad move. bad because lowering the price would be good for slowing hardware sales and i’m sure that they’ve made their roi on the wii, so it should be all profit. at the same time it’s good for the initial buyers who won’t feel slighted that they bought it at release only to watch the pricepoint fall for all other consumers.
Dear Nintendo, while you guys keep the Wii so expensive, I simply am not going to buy it. I have plenty of older systems, and you just really aren’t making the Wii very appetizing.
And what do you guys have against making more colors and stuff for the system? Everyone would like it and it would almost definitely encourage sales. And all you need is some different paint. It’s these little things that just get to me. It’s just lame.
$250 is not expensive. If you pay your own bills, do the math on what you spend on crap you don’t need every month and you’ll find that you probably spend closer to $250 than you think.
Don’t pay your own bills? I didn’t when I bought my Wii. I took a seasonal job painting backdrops for a haunted house to pay for it. Less than a month of some elbow grease grunt work bought me a video game system. And that was a job that paid terribly, mind.
Do I think a price drop would be smart on Nintendo’s part? Sure, since they still would be making a profit (I don’t imagine the console costs them more than $40 to make). But do I think it’s totally necessary? Not really. People are still buying it.
And while Wii Sports Resort is a big release, we can’t assume that one title should have to carry an entire season. Iwata’s right: there’s not a ton of stuff to look forward to in the immediate future as far as first party software is concerned (repackaging Metroid Prime doesn’t count, even though I’m going to buy it). It’s an honest answer, more honest than I’m used to from Nintendo.
By the way, to *everyone* who keeps bitching about new colors: the color of your system doesn’t make a difference about how it plays or what games it is compatible with, or even how much fun you might have with it. If the fact that your Wii doesn’t match your lamp, your shelves, and your shoes truly bothers you, then that’s a terrible reason to be missing out on so many great games.
@ Andrew
I’m not Complaining about colors, I couldn’t care less. But why NOT have more colors? Having lots of colors is fun and people enjoy having the option.
And I’m not missing out on any games, right now I’m playing great games I didn’t get to on the Gamecube and I’m also enjoying Final Fantasy III on the Snes. I’ll just play the Wii later when it gets to a price that is better for me. Gaming isn’t my main reason to spend money–I spend a lot on music equipment and art supplies. I just believe that because the Wii COULD be less money and still make Ninty a profit, the current pricing is a bit unnecessary.
And I can still play Wii when I visit my friends and such. I’m just saying that there’s just not anything about the system right now that’s so incredibly compelling to me that I need it NOW and not LATER. And I think if you’re doing a Really good job with a system, people should want it that badly that they desire to buy it now. I’m a pretty passionate gamer, I just haven’t found the system compelling enough yet and that’s a matter of personal opinion on my part.
The Wii is in 1st place so if it needs a price cut what do the others need?
@ -_Q
I’m not targeting you specifically. I’m just saying, a loooot of people keep complaining about there not being any other color options for the Wii, and how many refuse to by the console until more options are offered, and I think it’s a shame.
Nintendo’s strategy of offering only one color at first was pretty smart: it was a good idea to offer an attractive, sleek white Wii and nothing else so as to avoid giving the consumer too many options, and therefore confusing them in the process. If your kid asked for a Wii for Christmas, you knew exactly what to get them because you didn’t have to choose between varying factors. Only one SKU to worry about.
Admittedly, more color options should be available by now (black being the most obvious choice for inclusion), and I’m not totally sure why Nintendo hasn’t changed their strategy. But I’m not saying that new colors wouldn’t be cool, because they would. I’m just saying…it’s an unfortunately picky excuse for not wanting a Wii. I understand that’s not necessarily your excuse.
I’m glad that you’re catching up on great games on other consoles (lord knows there are tons that I never got around to playing, either), but you *are* missing out on some great Wii games.
I still don’t understand how $250 isn’t considered a good price. There are phones that cost more than that. I guess it all boils down to your individual priorities. Gaming isn’t my main source of entertainment anymore and I’m sure if the Wii were coming out tomorrow, I would probably have a different view on the price point. But as it stands, I just think it’s fairly reasonable for a company to want to squeeze all of the profit out of a machine that they can, *if* they can. And Nintendo clearly can. And has.
I agree with Andrew here. $250 is a good price point for the Wii. And I think Iwata’s reasoning is pretty sound. The majority of people who don’t buy the Wii aren’t refusing to buy it because of the price point. I very much doubt that lowering the price would have any significant impact on the Wii’s sales. Slashing prices is a competitive move to try and undercut opponents, but Nintendo has no real opponents. Nintendo isn’t really competing with Sony or Microsoft. The consoles offer completely different things. Nintendo has no reason to cut prices if they don’t believe it will impact sales enough to justify the loss that they take.
But we’ll have to wait and see to make sure. If New Super Mario Bros. comes out and has no impact on the Wii’s console sales, maybe Nintendo should consider lowering the price. Or maybe not. There’s a lot more in determining the sale of a console than just the price point. If the console’s sales are failing, then Nintendo needs to diagnose the problem and treat it. Just slashing prices every time a problem arises isn’t smart business at all.
-_Q we all know you are not going to buy it no matter what price or color.
Your an artist and from what it sounds like a struggling artist. I bet you typed that crap on a high price mac too LOL. I’m really glad nintendo doesn’t listen to any of you guys. They are doing just great because of it also i might add.
Jamie seriously shut the hell up you made no sense at all. Apples crap starts as 400+ and up and so does SONY’s crap. A price cut is just stupid and what will they gain out of it. Obviously Nintendo knows what they are doing and people are fine with paying 250 they got the price right from the beginning so they don’t need to jump thur hoops.
Stop being a hate sheep. Nintendo needs every penny to get ready for the next gen and we all know it. What a 70% drop in production cost shows me is the tech you used was over priced… there was no die shrink or any thing, just bam look it cost 70% less… they cleaned up the MB also but really 70% drop in cost WOW…
Nintendo is right they need more games people don’t buy a system that is 250 already because of a price drop LOL. They buy it because of games. Also whos games are they playing MS? They had to drop the price also because they had no games no one wanted.
Seriously got and buy some Sram and tell me how much it cost… here is a hint it cost way more than Dram or the ram in your high end video cards. it is also on the chip… now tell me how much a intel server chip cost with almost 88 megs of ram on it?
Stop listen to the HD fanboys and maybe do some research first.
@ Run line 10
“we all know you are not going to buy it no matter what price or color.
Your an artist and from what it sounds like a struggling artist. I bet you typed that crap on a high price mac too LOL.”
Um, okay… I never made any sort of comment about never buying it, in fact my whole point implies that I will buy it eventually, it’s just not that time yet and I prefer to spend less money on things rather than more. Maybe my writing would be less crappy if you actually read it.
“LOL”
Well… duh
I mean we’ve kind of known about the lackluster lineup for a while
I agree with rfLarke – lack of quality games is an obvious problem for Wii, just as it was for Gamecube. I’m not sure why developers are cranking out such awful crap for the Wii – I mean there are a LOT of reasons, but I’m not sure what the primary reason is. They don’t have to work hard to sell into a market with 50 million units out there (which is why the iphone has 60,000 pieces of garbage and 1,000 gems.)
They also don’t have much to work with and are probably discouraged by the lack of graphics horsepower. It’s also a lot more work to come up with a control scheme just for Wii when essentially the same control scheme will work on 360 and PS3 just fine.
But Nintendo, as I’ve said before, really needs to get with the “trial versions and demos” program. That’s a big part of the problem. I think that If developers knew that gamers were going to try their game before buying, they would be pushed to make a better gaming experience. It will also push game sales significantly (hence the higher tie-in ratios on the XBOX).
Nintendo would also do well to notice that every time Microsoft or Apple or Sony issue a firmware update with new features, there’s a significant uptick in game sales. Generate interest in turning on the console more often, and you’ll sell more software.
@ Run Line 10
Why get so personal and hateful with your comment? It detracts from your argument.
And anyway, I don’t believe New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be a system seller, though I think it will do well for itself as software. It’s just not a killer app. That’s where fully-3D Mario games, Zelda titles, and Metroid titles come in. People will buy a system for those, but I’m sorry to say that side-scrollers don’t necessarily evoke the same response on the console front (handheld, on the other hand…).
I prefer some “big titles” over a price drop, so go for it nintendo
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Why does Nintendo ‘need’ to drop the price?
Because lackluster sales mean they are only selling 121,100 – 197,000 consoles a month more that Microsoft and Sony respectively?
Because Microsoft did it with their arcade model and it now outsells the Wii?
Because when you are number one you should learn from all the wrong moves made by numbers two and three and do the same as them?
Microsoft and Sony drop prices to get more gamers to either cross over from each other or to upgrade from the PS2. They don’t drop the price to try to win new customers (non-gamers) into their fold.
Nintendo has no desire to go after ‘the core’. Why jump in the middle of a two person fight over a small prize when they can go after new markets (non-gamers) where there is no competition?
I would think that would be the only reason for Nintendo to decrease the price on the Wii. If they decided that all new markets have already been penetrated and they want to expand their base in each when (and if) Microsoft and Sony ever get their motion controls to market.
It’s not the lack of games…it’s the lack of good games, and some might say lack of core games!
Any drop in hardware sales is not lack of games but because of so many consoles already sold. There are plenty of good games (wii sports resort, little kings story) not to mention anyone buying a console probably wouldn’t have played older games (galaxy or metroid) so most of these arguments about no good games hold no sway.
Graphics have never mattered that much in a game for me I’m more interested in good gameplay or story above great graphics.
New super mario bros. could be a system seller to people who played the DS game and at the very least it could push them over the edge.