Nintendo Wii to launch November 19th at $249.99

[Anthony1]

I consider $367 cheap compair to $599 for a PS3 without any extra stuff. For $367 with a extra controller and component cables, plus a free game, that's good.

Damn, you must be making a heckuva lot more $$$ than me, because in my neck of the woods, $367 isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Heck, even $199.99 wouldn't be cheap to me, it would be understandable, but it wouldn't be cheap. Now, if the Wii was $149.99 and had Wii Sports packed in, then that would be cheap. I would actually consider that cheap, but $367 for the Wii and extra controller and component cables isn't cheap.


I guess I need to find a new job, because $249.99 isn't cheap to me. It might be cheaper than the alternatives, but you can't compare them directly. 2 of them are next-gen and 1 of them isn't. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

[Nature Boy]

and that Nintendo is milking me for everything I got

How can you rant on the one hand about people having a bad opinion of you and then come right out and say your buying something even though you think you're getting taken to the cleaners? How can I have a good opinion of someone who just blindly buys whatever the industry wants to sell him? You're a freaking Lemming! (and that's the bad kind, corrupt from sequelitis, not the good "hey check out this new game Lemmings" kind).

[Lady Jaye]

As others have pointed out, the Wii's price point is actually faithful to traditional console launch prices (and that's without accounting for the inflation of the past 20 or 30 years). It's the same thing EVERY SINGLE TIME a new console comes out: at first, its MSRP is at a premium price point.

If you wanna game on the cheap, you should never opt to be an early adopter. That was true 20 years ago (in the late 80s, those of us who couldn't afford a NES or whose parents refused to pay that much money for videogames, gamed on their old Atari 2600 or Colecovision) and it's still true today. You don't wanna dish out a few hundred dollars for a brand-new, just-released system? Stick with the previous generation of systems (GCN, PS2, Xbox) and wait for a couple of years before upgrading.

I really don't see what's the fuss with the Wii's launch price, especially when compared to the X360 and PS3's MSRP.

[jajaja]

It feels like Nintendo hyped the price to be damn cheap, but when the price got out many got pissed and "shocked". So if you have to pay ~$350 to be able to play 2 player, its not cheap anymore. Compared to PS3 its cheap yes, but in generaly and how Nintendo was promoting the cheap price (before it got known) its not cheap.

I never really understood the phrase milking tho. If you dont want to spend the money on something, just dont buy it. Its actually that simple

[jajaja]

But $249 for the console itself isnt a bad price i'd say.

[norkusa]

Wii is going to have a pack-in game? Too bad it wasn't sonething worth playing.

Wow, you really know allot about a game that you've never played before. What other unreleased games aren't worth playing?

[Anthony1]

and that Nintendo is milking me for everything I got

How can you rant on the one hand about people having a bad opinion of you and then come right out and say your buying something even though you think you're getting taken to the cleaners? How can I have a good opinion of someone who just blindly buys whatever the industry wants to sell him?

You can have whatever opinion of me you want. And I'm not saying that I'm getting taken to the cleaners, it's just all this shit adds up, and adds up quick. You start off with the base price of $249.99 and that's not too bad, but of course my little boys are going to want to play, and they are going to need two controllers, so now, I'm pretty much forced to buy a second controller or deal with the wrath of my little boys being dissapointed that they can't play too. So then you add a extra Wii-mote $39.99 and a extra Nunchaku $19.99, and I might as well view it in 480p, assuming some of the games run in 480p, so I might as well get the component cables $29.99 (I'm guessing they'll be $29.99 hopefully it's not even more than that). Then the guy at the counter starts ringing everything up, and whoila, He says, "That will be $366.31 sir".

Certainly, nobody is holding a gun to my head forcing me to buy it, but come on, you need a second controller unless you live all by yourself. I have two little boys that are both going to want to play, Heck, I might actually have to get 3 extra controllers so my wife can play as well, and we can play doubles. So I might actually get into the $400 range. Damn, now it's really starting to get pricey!

[BrokenFlight]

But $249 for the console itself isnt a bad price i'd say.

No, it's not bad.

But it's going to be $340 for the same pack over here.

The remote RRP is £30 and the nunchuck RRP is £15. £45 ($85) for a controller isn't good value.

[jajaja]

But $249 for the console itself isnt a bad price i'd say.

No, it's not bad.

But it's going to be $340 for the same pack over here.

The remote RRP is £30 and the nunchuck RRP is £15. £45 ($85) for a controller isn't good value.

Ye, same here. Price in Europe is set to 249 euro which is about 330 US dollars. Im sure its more like like $380 in my country, and that is just for the console itself.

[Anthony1]

Why are you limiting it only to Nintendo consoles. the Genesis launched at $250 remember? So did the Atari 2600 . And I remember buying my Turbografx-16 at launch for the same amount as well!

Your location says Seattle, did you live in another country back in 1989? Here in the U.S. the Genesis launched at $189.99 with Altered Beast as the pack in. The TurboGrafx-16 launched at $189.99 too, I think, or maybe it was $179.99, with Keith Courage in Alpha Zones as the pack in. I know it was either $189.99 or less. The Turbo came out in August of 1989 and the Genesis came out in September of 1989. I remember it pretty well, because I bought my TG-16 that December, and I got a Genesis in February of 1990.

[jajaja]

Well, $250 in 1978 (or when 2600 got released) was alot more money than it is today. Same goes for Genesis in 1989.

[Lady Jaye]

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

If your console cost you 179.99 in 1989, it'd cost 295.97 in 2006 dollars.

[LAGO]

and that Nintendo is milking me for everything I got

How can you rant on the one hand about people having a bad opinion of you and then come right out and say your buying something even though you think you're getting taken to the cleaners? How can I have a good opinion of someone who just blindly buys whatever the industry wants to sell him?

You can have whatever opinion of me you want. And I'm not saying that I'm getting taken to the cleaners, it's just all this shit adds up, and adds up quick. You start off with the base price of $249.99 and that's not too bad, but of course my little boys are going to want to play, and they are going to need two controllers, so now, I'm pretty much forced to buy a second controller or deal with the wrath of my little boys being dissapointed that they can't play too. So then you add a extra Wii-mote $39.99 and a extra Nunchaku $19.99, and I might as well view it in 480p, assuming some of the games run in 480p, so I might as well get the component cables $29.99 (I'm guessing they'll be $29.99 hopefully it's not even more than that). Then the guy at the counter starts ringing everything up, and whoila, He says, "That will be $366.31 sir".

Certainly, nobody is holding a gun to my head forcing me to buy it, but come on, you need a second controller unless you live all by yourself. I have two little boys that are both going to want to play, Heck, I might actually have to get 3 extra controllers so my wife can play as well, and we can play doubles. So I might actually get into the $400 range. Damn, now it's really starting to get pricey!

Ok, you're complaining about a price point because of all the extra shit you want to buy ... not the actual $249.99 price point.

[Anthony1]

Ok, you're complaining about a price point because of all the extra shit you want to buy ... not the actual $249.99 price point.

We are now towards the end of page 6 of this thread. If you check the first 5 pages, you'll see that I've complained about the $249.99 price as well



Since you obviously haven't read all that, here is a synopsis of it:

Seriously though, it's not that the $249.99 price is so horrible in and of itself, it's the fact that Nintendo has been going on and on about how cheap this thing was going to be, and how it would be so affordable to attrack a mass audience, and how it would be below $250. Well, they got 1 penny below $250, so I guess they really followed through on that, but you know what I mean. They kept bragging about how their console was going to be so cheap, and then it ends up more expensive than the GameCube. I think the GameCube is a great comparison, because alot of people are talking about inflation, and I really don't think inflation has been that huge in the last 5 years. Also, the GameCube was brand new technology, it wasn't a Nintendo 64 1.5. It was brand new, state of the art technology at the time it was released, technology aimed at going head to head with the PS2 and Xbox 1. While the Nintendo Wii is essentially a souped up GameCube. Even Nintendo themselves will admit that the Wii is a suped up GameCube. The GameCube sells brand new for $79.99 and I would guess they are making a small profit on that $79.99 version. So if you consider that, they are making a pretty huge profit on this $249.99 package.


From a business standpoint, you have to hand it to them, they know that plenty of people will buy it at $249.99 and they are making a very good profit from the very beginning. I just wished they gave us the option to get the system by itself for $199.99. If the system was available by itself for $199.99, I really wouldn't have anything negative to say at all. I guess I thought that $199.99 was guaranteed, so the $249.99 thing caught me off guard. As for Wii Sports, I think it's a $34.99 value, and I don't buy games, I rent them, so I would have never bought it. For me, I'm paying $50 more than I would want to, $50 that would have gone towards getting a extra controller and a component cable.

[Garry Silljo]

Ok, you're complaining about a price point because of all the extra shit you want to buy ... not the actual $249.99 price point.

We are now towards the end of page 6 of this thread. If you check the first 5 pages, you'll see that I've complained about the $249.99 price as well



Since you obviously haven't read all that, here is a synopsis of it:

Maybe people would read your rants more closely if you didnt have to write a god damn novel every post. I don't blame anyone who skims past your endless babble.

[SkiDragon]

To all who complained about the launch price, here's something for you.
The Gamecube launch price was $199. Since many of you called the Wii a "souped-up Gamecube" I think it's worth paying $50 over the GCN launch price. And I say launch price, because in about six months the price will drop.

By that logic, if the Wii is 100x as powerful as the NES, we should all pay $20,000 for it.

Technology makes these things cheaper. That's why Gamecubes go for $80-$100 now.

[eggwolio]

Technology makes these things cheaper. That's why Gamecubes go for $80-$100 now.

Well, that and the fact they removed the digital video port.

[LAGO]

Ok, you're complaining about a price point because of all the extra shit you want to buy ... not the actual $249.99 price point.

We are now towards the end of page 6 of this thread. If you check the first 5 pages, you'll see that I've complained about the $249.99 price as well



Since you obviously haven't read all that, here is a synopsis of it:

Seriously though, it's not that the $249.99 price is so horrible in and of itself, it's the fact that Nintendo has been going on and on about how cheap this thing was going to be, and how it would be so affordable to attrack a mass audience, and how it would be below $250. Well, they got 1 penny below $250, so I guess they really followed through on that, but you know what I mean. They kept bragging about how their console was going to be so cheap, and then it ends up more expensive than the GameCube. I think the GameCube is a great comparison, because alot of people are talking about inflation, and I really don't think inflation has been that huge in the last 5 years. Also, the GameCube was brand new technology, it wasn't a Nintendo 64 1.5. It was brand new, state of the art technology at the time it was released, technology aimed at going head to head with the PS2 and Xbox 1. While the Nintendo Wii is essentially a souped up GameCube. Even Nintendo themselves will admit that the Wii is a suped up GameCube. The GameCube sells brand new for $79.99 and I would guess they are making a small profit on that $79.99 version. So if you consider that, they are making a pretty huge profit on this $249.99 package.


From a business standpoint, you have to hand it to them, they know that plenty of people will buy it at $249.99 and they are making a very good profit from the very beginning. I just wished they gave us the option to get the system by itself for $199.99. If the system was available by itself for $199.99, I really wouldn't have anything negative to say at all. I guess I thought that $199.99 was guaranteed, so the $249.99 thing caught me off guard. As for Wii Sports, I think it's a $34.99 value, and I don't buy games, I rent them, so I would have never bought it. For me, I'm paying $50 more than I would want to, $50 that would have gone towards getting a extra controller and a component cable.

Actually I have read all 6 pages of the thread. I also know that you've basically been complaining about the price from the get go, but your latter argument seems to be honed on all the extra stuff you have to buy to play it instead of the $249.99 price point.

Ok so Nintendo's new system has a slight graphics upgrade, but I wouldn't necessarily call it GC 1.5. The freaking controller is motion detectable. That in itself changes the scope of playable games.

Also if you compare prices to the other current gen system that is uot now, the 360, it is cheap. $250 + game vs. $400 - game. You could even put it up against the core system and it would still be cheaper.

I just don't understand how come people aer complaining about how expensive something is when it happens to be $150 cheaper than the closest competitor.

[Nature Boy]

Certainly, nobody is holding a gun to my head forcing me to buy it, but come on, you need a second controller unless you live all by yourself. I have two little boys that are both going to want to play, Heck, I might actually have to get 3 extra controllers so my wife can play as well, and we can play doubles. So I might actually get into the $400 range. Damn, now it's really starting to get pricey!

Nobody *needs* anything. If the price of that second through fourth controller is too much money and you don't feel right buying the system without them (the kind of decision I applaud - knowing up front how much the whole thing will cost to make you satisfied) then, well, DON'T BUY THE SYSTEM. Wait for a deal (we all know they're coming, right?). You've got a 360, don't you? Spend a fraction of the cost of the Wii and buy yourself a couple of games you can play with your family!

If we all act like consumers we should win because they'll have to charge what we'll pay. If we all act like cheese eating fanboys who have to buy the next Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft machine just because it's out then they win because we'll end up paying whatever they want us to.

[bunbunz23]

I really believe the price is fair compared to the other next gen systems. Nintendo stuck by it word stating the Wii will be cheap and I believe it is cheap comparing it to Xbox 360 and PS3. The pack in game is okay with me becuase not everyone will be able to buy the system and a 50 dollar game. It sucks on Christmas to get a new game system and have no game to play becuase you parents can afford only so much. That was the feeling I had when my parent bought me a SNES system without Super Mario World for my 13th birthday but could not afford a game.