Nintendo Wii price $199? a good possibility? What do u think

[squarepants]

So pretty much everyone is speculating that the Wii is going to be $199 or $249.

A few articles I recently read seem to sugest that Nintendo might release it at $199.

Looking back, you can see that every console they've released has retailed at $199, with the exception of the very early release of the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was later repackaged and sold at $199 anyway.

Here is some quick reading if you want more info on why there is a good chance the Wii will be $199.

http://ibloggedthis.com/2006/05/12/a-brief-history-of-nintendo-consoles-and-why-nintendo-wii-should-be-199/

and also this:

http://www.forbes.com/technology/2006/05/11/nintendo-microsoft-sony_cx_kt_0511wii.html?partner=rss

what do you guys think? Taking inflation into consideration, is this even feasible?

[MegaDrive20XX]

"I like it!"- Barney Gumbel

It's a damn good price range for anyone this holiday season.

[FAMOUS]

I dont know if anyone else noticed but the purchasing went down starting with 60 million with the NES then down till it hit the gamecube at 20 million you think WII will bring nintendo back up?

[Richter Belmount]

Im sure everyone had expected the price range of 200.

[CAGrabbitt]

I think, obviousely, everyone wants the Rev--, err Wii, to be released at $199. Personally, $200 is more realistic a price point. Nintendo has been upfront that the Wii won't be that powerful. The core Xbox 360 is $300, and I think Nintendo has to keep that in mind.

[norkusa]

I'm expecting it to be released at $250. With the Premium 360 at $400 and the PS3's at $600, what does Nintendo have to loose by jacking the price up by fifty bucks? Their closest competitor still costs $150 more.

[klausien]

If they buck the system and throw in 2 controllers and a game for $250, they will make a KILLING. Wii Sports would be an excellent choice.

The 2 controllers is a stretch, but I really think the pack-in might return with this one.

[npward.]

I'm going with a price point in the $200-$250 range.


what do you guys think? Taking inflation into consideration, is this even feasible?

It's quite feasible. Like CAG said, the Wii is going to be the least powerful of the consoles, I dont see it launching higher than the 360's core package. It almost has to launch below $300 for what people are getting under the hood.

EDIT: I just read klausien's post. The system could launch above $300, depending on what is packed with it.

[drewbrim]

I think it would be a mistake to launch it too low. So many people out there subscribe to the "you get what you pay for" theory, that if it costs that much less, the public will perceive it as that much less of a product. Kids will look at it as the poor man's 360

[swlovinist]

I think the Wii will have a pack-in for $250, either way...I am picking one up day one.

[keiblerfan69]

Nintendo consoles have always been 200 at launch so why would they change it. I like the idea of a bundle with Wii Sports cause that game isn't gonna sell on its own. Kinda like Duck Hunt.

[MrSmiley381]

I'd say $200 because there's no need to break the trend.

As for the "get what you pay for" people will see a lot for what they're paying for. Wireless controller with motion sensor? Duck Hunt? Mario?

And Snake's in Brawl. That will garner a large crowd extra.

[RegSNES]

$199. $249. Either way, I'll be buying one.

[npward.]

You also have to keep in mind the crowd the Virtual Console will bring in at launch. If you buy the Wii at $200, you will be picking up a steal. The system just has so much to offer at that price.

[Daniel Thomas]

$200 has a psychological advantage for consumers. It's the longstanding "console launch" price. Folks remember Atari 2600, NES, Genny, Turbo, SNES, and N64 selling for $200. Over time, the price of the hardware drops to $150 (where it really starts selling), and then gradually to under $99 by the end of the console cycle.

That price puts Nintendo in excellent position, very reasonable by the public's standards. It also highlights how outrageously expensive videogames have become, with a $400 Xbox and $600 Playstation. There's a reason the customer base has been stagnant or shrinking, kids.

I'll be sure to cross my fingers for a deluxe package (with, say a second controller and Wii Sports), like everyone else. Not that it matters to us; we're all going to buy one anyway.

[NintendoMan]

I dont know if anyone else noticed but the purchasing went down starting with 60 million with the NES then down till it hit the gamecube at 20 million you think WII will bring nintendo back up?

I really don't think theres any question whether it will do better than the Gamecube, it pretty much will guarantee do better.
The total number though, who knows? I could see it doing better than N64 + SNES, but beating the NES is sales would be tuff!

[sega-trader]

I can't imagine it costing more then $200. Nintendo has always done a $200 launch price. With the 360 Core sitting at $300 and being a higher tech more powerful machine you don't want to get to close to that price point or people will just pay the extra couple bucks for the "better" machine.

Nintendo doesn't make hardware that sells anymore, they make games that sell. If the hardware is not priced significantly less then the competition then they won't sell.

[WanganRunner]

I just wish it'd hurry up and come out already, I'm getting antsy.

Although the DS is more than keeping me busy.

Funny thing is....they could charge $500 for the Wii and I'd still buy it at launch, but if the PS3 was $200, I'd still probably wait a year. LOL

[hezeuschrist]

From the way I've heard it worded by all the figureheads of NoA, I'm thinking $250. "Slightly more mass market price" is how I've been hearing it most recently.

But I also fully expect to see the return of the bundle, as I've stated before. A non-gamer is far more likely to pick up a $300 bundle with two wiimotes and a copy of wii sports rather than having to be fooled by a console price and find out they'll need to spend at least another $100 to play one game with one friend.

But with such a large emphasis on multiplayer, I'm pretty worried about the price of extra remotes. They've got an absolute load of technology in them, and with the 360 Wireless controllers being $50, I worry that the Wiimotes (sans Nunchuk) will cost at least $60.

[Julio III]

I've always thought $250, but then I didn't realise that the 360 cost $300 for a core. Nintendo have said they are going to be lower so really they need to be at least $100 less than the 360, so $200 or lower is the pricepoint to go for. As long as Nintendo don't charge the same amount in pounds as they do in dollars, i hope they wont but go the Sony route and have the same number in Euros. I hate Nintendo Europe but you know, they could change things around with the Wii, Nintendo going for a "global launch" and hopefully the same cheap price - I'm getting one whatever though, I wonder if it will be region free?

[Diatribal Deity]

If they can get away with it, but I would guess Microsoft (depending on how many 360's they have ready for the holidays) may be tempted to drop their price at least $50 to really put the screws to Sony and to some extent Nintendo. Microsoft will be less likely to drop the price $100 but then again they are projected to break-even next year with the 360 so they may be willing to go to extremes to capture more market share.

Plus they have been looking for ways to stimulate their stock price, and this tactic may boost it a tiny bit.

[odyeiop]

I'm hoping it comes out at about 200 USD, and if the Canadian dollalr nice and strong again by then, I may be taking a trip down south to pick mine up =).

I don't think that there is really anything that will deter me from getting one on Launch day. I'm going in with my VISA and grabbing everything that I can for it =) Then it's another long period of being broke. Bleh.

[SirDrexl]

I really hope it's $200. $250 would have fine if the system was as powerful as many of us thought it was going to be last year, but now that we know it's quite a bit less powerful, $250 seems too high regardless of how cool the controller is.

[diskoboy]

I'm waiting until it hits $150-175.

I've spent way too much building up the 360 collection, lately. So I'm not gonna get the Wii until well after launch. There's a slim chance I may buy one @ $200. Depends on what I see at launch...

Kinda like why I'm glad I held off on the DS. I pre-ordered a DS lite on Tuesday. Now some good games are out, and I've wanted one for a while now.

[Bronty-2]

I think nintendo will find themselves caught between wanting to price the system higher after sony revealing their price point, and wanting to keep the price low to win back market share. I figure 219 or 229 for a bundle with wii sports is the best bet. I think it's pretty much a lock that wii sports will be included - with a console as different as this they will want a fun little game for people to be able to immediately test the controller out on.... they need something to sell people on the concept right out of the box.

[-hellvin-]

This is great news to me. It will defenitely be a system I'm going to buy this holiday season. I have little interest in the ps3 and it's price point, and I'm already excited about several of the announced wii titles. Can't wait to pick one up.

[Mangar]

I think that for Nintendo to really be able to compete, they need to debut at 200$ or lower. People here are clamoring for one, but the people here really don't represent the average console consumer. There is a reason why Nintendo has been number 3 for quite awhile now.

X-Box and Playstation are what most people are familiar with, and wish to duplicate in the Next-Generation. They don't want Next-Gen Mario. They want next-gen Halo, next-gen Final Fantasy, Next-Gen Grand Theft Auto. None of which will be on Nintendo's console. So when faced with a decision of a 300$ X-Box 360(May be lower by then even) with a slew of games and the X-Box arcade which has turned out to be much more fun and cooler then anyone could have possibily imagine, a 400-500$ PlayStation 3 with an included Blu-Ray DVD player(which is something anyone with an HDTV wants) or a 250$ Nintendo which essentially just plays a bunch of rehashed Pokemon, Mario, and Kirby titles - I'd predict yet another 3rd place finish for Nintendo.

What Nintendo should do if they had anyone in marketing with half a brain(Changing the name to Wii proves that they don't BTW) is debut at 150$, pack in a stellar Mario Game, and accept a short term loss in order to get the console into peoples homes. Nintendo does make some excellent games. They just suffer from the worst marketing this side of the Atari Jaguar, and really need to shed off the "Kids Only!" reputation that makes people shrug them off and pick up an X-Box or PS.

[playgeneration]

The fact that its not much more powerfull than the cube means that the wii has to be cheap. Your average person pays the high price for a new console with the expectation of improved visuals. Sure the new contoller may have fancy new electronics inside, but people will be annoyed to pay too much more than a cube costs just for that. Unless the wii is cheap people may start wondering why nintendo didnt just release the new contoller for gamecube, instead of combining it with a whole new console. It would also be a mistake for wii games to be any more expensive than cube games, infact they should start a trend and make them much cheaper. If the games were cheaper then the average person would buy several a month, instead of a few a year.

[tritium]

I noted that the DVD Player is going to be an add-on if my memory serves correctly. With this in mind, I would guess at a $200 price point.

[Muscelli]

hopefully nothing over 200

.. not a penny more

[segagamer4life]

Nintendo Confirms Wii Pricing
Posted by mdalonzo - Thursday, May 25, 2006 9:52 AM
It's official. The Wii is going to be cheap. This makes it perfect for parents who are not going to want to drop nearly a grand on their kids' gaming system for the holidays. Of course, when I was a kid, we didn't have holidays. We just sat on burlap sacks and played our Atari.

Oh, the price. I forgot. It's going to be less than $250.



Kotaku.com: Wii Price Confirmed at $250 or Less

[wufners]

Anything approaching $250, while not bad, wouldn't really be percieved as a value. (Or maybe it would to everyone who is not a cheapskate like myself.) A fair price, maybe, a value probably not.

I think Nintendo will be more aggressive than that and make sure the Wii is a BIG value when compared to the 360 and PS3. $220 is a possibility, but there's a huge psychological advantage to being under $200. $199 is a safe guess, a smart price, and my assumption.

$250=I won't be getting one for awhile.
$199=I'll probably get one in the first year or so.
$150=I'm getting one on launch day.
>$149=Are they mad??! I'll buy two!

[norkusa]

Kotaku.com: Wii Price Confirmed at $250 or Less

It'll be $249.99. What I expected it'll be all along.

[Tamashii Sensei]

hopefully nothing over 200

.. not a penny more

If they launch the thing at $250, it better come bundled with a game or several Virtual Console downloads in addition to an extra controller.

[Daniel Thomas]

Well, Nintendo said the Wii wouldn't sell for more than 25,000 yen, which is roughly $220 US. That's the maximum price, so we can expect to see it on shelves for $200 even.

[MarioAllStar2600]

Anyone know the date it drops or when stores are gunna start taking reserves?

[segagamer4life]

Anyone know the date it drops or when stores are gunna start taking reserves?

I think they have quoted around christmas time frame, but I don;t have anything concrete.

[kevin_psx]

Funny thing is....they could charge $500 for the Wii and I'd still buy it at launch, but if the PS3 was $200, I'd still probably wait a year. LOL Nintendo fanboy. LOL

None of the consoles interest me much. I will wait for the pricedrop in 2008-- then I'll buy.


The person who changed "Revolution" to "Wii" should be fired.
What an incredibly dumb name.

[swlovinist]

If they come out at $249, then I predict it will be bundle of some sort. I agree with many others on this post that Nintendo would be better off at offering the system at $199. If they do offer the system any highter, I hope that is has a bundled game. From what they showed at E3, I am praying for a bundle or extra remote! Either way I am sooooooo excited about being actually able to afford a new console!

[aaronpetrosky]

Pretty much the same launch price as their other sytems.

[j_factor]

They said no higher than 25000 yen, and Gamecube launched for 25000 yen in Japan and was $199 in the US. I don't see them keeping the same price in Japan but jacking it up $50 for the US.

On another note, I don't see Wii having two different versions like 360 and PS3. It'll be $199, period, with anything more than that being bundles done by retailers.

I bet it'll come with two 'wiimotes' but only one nunchaku, and probably come with Wii Sports.

[jdc]

I just received the JULY issue of Nintendo Power in the mail (it has Link on the cover for the new DS Zelda game) and incase you're interested, it's got a huge section on the Wii in it. Grab it when it hits the stand if you want Wii info.

[Anthony1]

There is a rumor floating around supposedly that says the official price in the U.S. is $224.99. If that is the case, I'm probably going to pass on getting one at launch. For some weird reason, I have no problem buying one at $199.99 but I just don't like buying one over that price. It's kinda sad, considering I got a SNES on launch day, a Nintendo 64 on launch day and a GameCube on launch day. Only Nintendo home console that I didn't get on launch day was the NES. I got the NES as a Xmas present in 1986 if my memory serves me correct.


I know that $25 is a really trivial thing, and maybe if there are component cables included or some other bonus, it will make me deal with the extra $25. I know the Wii isn't High Def, but it can still do widescreen 480p, so I damn sure am going to need some component cables for it. With the 360 I was able to get a cheap set of HD component cables and they even included the 5.1 optical audio cable as well, a real value for only $19.99.


By the way, does the Nintendo Wii feature Dolby Digital 5.1 decoding on the fly?

[Nature Boy]

If the Wii were to the Gamecube what PS3 is to the PS2 and the 360 is to the Xbox, I'd buy one at $200 or $250 on launch in a heartbeat.

But that controller changes everything.

I'm not *touching* the Wii until I see it firsthand, experience the games, and most importantly, see what non Nintendo games are going to be released. There weren't enough Ikaruga's or Eternal Darknesses on the 'cube for my tastes, and they're not getting any dough from me until I see they've gotten more 3rd parties who will develop games with their revolutionary hardware.

[segarocks30]

I'm getting it very quickly, no matter what the price is.

[exit]

But that controller changes everything.

I'm not *touching* the Wii until I see it firsthand, experience the games, and most importantly, see what non Nintendo games are going to be released.

I agree with you on that one, I really want to try the thing out befor droping the money down and see what games come out for it. I don't want to be stuck with a console that has a bunch of virtual fishing games and maybe one or two games I'd actually want.