Wii Warm Up: Worth $50?

by Alisha Karabinus { Jan 31st 2008 at 9:00AM }

We didn't think much of Michael Pachter's suggestion about selling the Wii without Wii Sports at a fifty dollar discount, and from the comments, you didn't either. There just doesn't seem to be much reason to change anything when the consoles don't sit on shelves long enough to get comfortable. But what we really wanted to consider this morning is a slightly different question: is Wii Sports worth $50? Sure, for a lot of us, it gets just as much play as our more hardcore games, especially when there are extra people in the house. The same friends who used to set up extra televisions and drag over their 360s for a few in-room sessions of Halo team play now just move the table and do a little bowling instead. It's fun and engaging, and even our nongaming friends don't usually mind joining in for a few rounds. Even we Wii Fanboys here are sometimes surprised by how successful the Wii has been with the people we know, and Wii Sports is a big part of that. But even with all of that taken into consideration, do you think Wii Sports is worth the price of a new, non-budget title?

Tags: price, wii-sports

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

worm @ Jan 31st 2008 9:20AM

I definitely would have paid $50 for this one. I played it for more hours than LoZ: Twilight Princess.

Personally I'm glad it came with the system. This game has HOOKED (like crack-style) so many people, including people who say they would never play video games (read: old people).

Brandisis @ Jan 31st 2008 9:23AM

I don't think it would be worth $50 on it's own. Don't get me wrong, I love Wii Sports and so does my wife (even though she hates boxing enough to swear at the TV), but it would have to be bundled with another controller or something like Wii Play, and it would definitely not be in the $50 price range. Again like Wii Play, around $20.

Or, Bundle Wii Play, Wii Sports and another Wii Remote would justify a $50 price tag. Even better would have those two games, a Wii-mote and a Nunchuk.

Waffala @ Jan 31st 2008 9:23AM

Maybe if they fleshed out the games a little more, like a 9 inning baseball with a way to pick your entire team from your Miis, and a choice between singles and doubles tennis with an option for freedom of movement instead of automatically running [or not] to the ball. Also the ability to have four players in every game [no idea how that would work with boxing] would be nice especially for baseball. Then it might be worth picking up, but the way it is, it'd have to be budget priced. Pachter is a moron, they're not going to drop the price and don't need to until a shipment of Wii's can stay on store shelfs for more than a couple of hours.

Garst @ Jan 31st 2008 4:12PM

I think with tennis, you tilt the remote the direction you want to run. At least that's what I do and it seems to work for me.

Andazeus @ Jan 31st 2008 9:24AM

I think the price of a game should be based on how long you have fun with it.
And from this point of view, I think Wii Sports would be totally worth 50 bucks, since it has brought me and my friends countless hours of fun, especcially when compared with most modern games, only taking a few hours to play trough and becoming boring afterwards.

Tyrannous @ Jan 31st 2008 9:24AM

if they bundled wii sports, and two controllers, kinda like wii play, it would sell

CreepersCreek @ Jan 31st 2008 9:30AM

I agree. It's not a standalone title. The games are too short and there aren't enough of them. If Nintendo charges $19.99 for Link's Crossbow Training, then Wii Sports shouldn't go above that mark either.

racecar @ Jan 31st 2008 9:36AM

Seems to do well in Japan...

-racecar
http://everybodyvotes.blogspot.com

JACOB @ Jan 31st 2008 10:06AM

YOU CAN BUY WII SPORTS FROM NINTENDO THEMSELVES FOR 15 DOLLARS AND 5 DOLLARS SHIPPING SO DO THAT

andyl @ Jan 31st 2008 9:52AM

Yeah, I don't think it's worth $50. It's great fun, but being longer (like the "9-inning baseball" suggestion above) or being bundled with another Wiimote would definitely fit the bill.

I kinda doubt that Nintendo made a $50 and rolled it in with a $200 Wii from the beginning. I think it's a bit more likely that they rolled a $240 Wii with a $10 game, or something like that. Either way, dropping "Wii Sports" wouldn't account for a $50 decrease in the price of a Wii, _but_ as the system has been out for over a year and made hella profits, you'd think that the cost for Nintendo to _make_ a Wii has dropped enough to make the system $200 even _with_ "Wii Sports" included...

Nate @ Jan 31st 2008 10:49AM

20 bucks would be the sweet spot, so lower the price of the system to 229.99 sans Wii sports when the console stops selling like hotcakes...

vidGuy @ Jan 31st 2008 10:35AM

This is an interesting concept and I have a hard time answering it, especially as an economics student. My friends, family, and I have played Wii Sports more than I've played some other games that I spent $50 on... but I still wouldn't spend $50 on Wii Sports by itself. At most I'd put down a $20, and I'd have a hard time at that. Wii Sports should remain a pack-in through the life of the console; I've always been surprised that Nintendo didn't package it with the Wii in Japan.

Alisha Karabinus @ Feb 1st 2008 12:15AM

That pretty much sums up my thoughts right there. I've played it a lot, but I'd still have a hard time saying it's worth as much as a full-priced retail game. Fun doesn't dictate price to me.

vidGuy @ Feb 1st 2008 1:22AM

Which is the hard part, Alisha, because the fun ("utility" in economics terms) is what SHOULD dictate the price you'd pay. If you got more fun out of Wii Sports than, say, WarioWare, you should be willing to pay more for it. Wii Sports has been in my console longer than Twilight Princess, but I'd still not value it above a Zelda game.

That's a very confusing proposition; perception of value is, in this case, more important to consumer's willingness to pay a price than is the actual return. Hmm, I'm wondering if I could research this for my econ term paper this semester...

munix @ Jan 31st 2008 10:42AM

now that i've played it a lot, sure.
but would i buy it if it didn't come with the console

Hame @ Jan 31st 2008 10:48AM

I have really mixed feelings towards Wii Sports: on the one hand it's the mother of all killer-apps, and I can see why casual gamers love it so much, but on the other hand I hate how the Wii has been branded with it. The Wii is merely "the Wii Sports console" in too many people's eyes, as if there's nothing else on it. Whenever I talk about the Wii to anyone all they talk about is Wii Sports as if it's the only game on the console! I'm getting a bit sick of it.

It has also set an unfortunate precedent for the type of game that the Wii has seen thus far (ie. shallow, gimmicky, casual party games). The Wii has so much more to offer (Galaxy, Corruption, Twilight Princess, etc.) but all people think and talk about is what is essentially a glorified demo disc. If you ask me I think it's been as much a curse as it's been a blessing.

It's good at a party sure, but not much else and I probably wouldn't pay full price for it.

John Stout @ Jan 31st 2008 11:06AM

If they made is so it was online enabled it would deffinatly be worth the 50 bucks. Without online and with the limited chocies you have in the game. (Players in baseball, 3 innings in baseball, no single player tennis) I would think the 19.99 range.

Jonathan Tran @ Jan 31st 2008 11:32AM

$50? No. $30? Yes.

Jon @ Jan 31st 2008 11:43AM

No, I don't think Wii Sports is worth $50. Yes its fun, but essentially it just reminds me of the hundreds of minigame collections out there for the wii. It was the first and uses miis, but it also only has a few games. Overall I don't think Wii Sports would cost anything over $30.

Joshua @ Jan 31st 2008 11:50AM

No, no, no, no, no way. I don't even like the game. Maybe with "non-gamers", it can be fun, but with any real "gamers", no. I would have much rather paid $200 for just a Wii, but then Nintendo wouldn't have made as much money.

Perverted @ Jan 31st 2008 12:30PM

I wouldn't pay £15 for it so no way would I pay £25....

Nicko68 @ Jan 31st 2008 12:57PM

I think the bowling alone is worth the $50 if you rate the value of a game in terms of fun and replayability. The golf is great too, I just wish they or someone would release a good golf game with the same mechanics, just more courses.

The baseball and tennis are ok, but the CPU does too much for you in terms of running/moving. Boxing is pretty fun.

Carlos @ Jan 31st 2008 1:28PM

i just think Pachter is not very good at what he does really. It's a shame, cause he seems like a nice guy but... he can be so wrong sometimes (many times)

brbarnhart @ Jan 31st 2008 1:55PM

I am a gamer, and I love Wii Sports. I don't ever play it by myself, but it is a blast to have friends or family over for a night of Wii Sports. I would definitely pay $50 for it and don't think I would have bought the Wii if it weren't included. I would have saved my Pesos for a 360, but I was sold on the Wii after playing a couple rounds of tennis.

Mr Khan @ Jan 31st 2008 2:11PM

On the surface, there's no way you could find justification for $50

If you go by replayability, it is definitely worth it

If you go by physical space (that game can't be more than enough to fill a CD) it is by no means worth the same as, say, Metroid Prime 3

If you go by actual content, it wouldn't be worth more than a WiiWare title

Like NMH, its a game where the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts

LeChuck @ Jan 31st 2008 3:12PM

I don't know why people assume the Wii would be $200 without Wii Sports. Sure it seems that way if you look at Japan's pricing but other regions that didn't have it packed in paid more than $250. The price differences come down to overhead from shipping and tax charges. I think they gave us Wii Sports because pack-in games have always been popular here and make a system even more attractive as a holiday gift.

Scott Davis @ Jan 31st 2008 3:39PM

I think that a double pack of Wii Sports and Wii Play (sans remote) would be worth $50. The games seem small enough that they might even be able to fit both on one disc....

saylorsgang @ Jan 31st 2008 3:54PM

They should keep the 249$ price tag, and throw in Wii Play with the extra remote, that would be a deal.

DiehlLane @ Jan 31st 2008 5:08PM

I think it's worth the $50.

However, I think it would've been passed up by a LOT of Wii owners who wouldn't have given it a chance. It's hard to take a chance on a game at $50.

Taking a chance on a $20 game is usually worth the small cost and you occasionally find a game that turns out to be a smash hit.

Josh @ Jan 31st 2008 7:58PM

Definitely not worth the $50, and I would have jumped all over a game free Wii for$199.
When a friend of mine got his wii back in november, we played wii sports.... i just found it to be tremendously boring. When we got to bowling all I thought was "Ya know, if we were at a bowling alley, we'd be getting drunk and having a great time" The game soured me on the wii.
But then he rented Rabbids 2, and I just had to have a wii. Picked it up in December, and I have 13 games, 4 wiimotes/nunchucks, 3 classic controllers, 2 gamecube controllers, gc mem card, 2 gig sd, and a nyko intercooler with two perfect shots on the way.
Wii Sports got dropped into a dvd case, and has yet to leave the shelf.

They should try other game bundles, like maybe rabbids, no more heroes, or BRAWL!!!

raindog @ Feb 1st 2008 2:49AM

It's kind of sad about Pachter, really. Almost every one of his Wii predictions and recommendations centers around Nintendo being forced to take a page from the other guys' playbook. First they're gonna dominate 2008, but they'll still have to put out a "Wii HD" soon or the bubble will burst. Then the Wii is going to get consigned to the kids' room because parents are going to want to shoot hookers in the head, or whatever the other two consoles are pushing, on their HDTV. Now they're gonna have to drop the price of the Wii and unbundle Wii Sports in order to stay competitive?

Has he not heard that Nintendo was making a profit on launch day, or that today, the beginning of February, one of the slowest gaming months of the year, you still can't get a Wii from anyone reputable for less than 400 bucks? Does he not realize that the very blue-ocean audience that put Nintendo back on top is the same kind of audience who either remembers the days of pack-ins or just thinks of the Wii as "Wii Sports" the way some users think of Microsoft Windows as "Solitaire"?

If Microsoft gets a $199 360 bundle out there, sure, Nintendo will drop the price of the Wii, but it wouldn't surprise me if they only matched Microsoft rather than undercutting them. The Wii is cheaper to make but still has a higher perceived value. And sure, I think they'll come out with an HD Wii eventually; if current games are written properly they'll even be able to take advantage of the higher resolution. Every TV in the US will either be capable of receiving HD content in another couple years, or will be a doorstop, so it's not hard to imagine. These "predictions" are what you would really just call "conventional wisdom", and that's how I figured out the second screen on the DS would be a touch screen weeks before it was announced. It doesn't take a rocket scientist.

But this constant harping on Nintendo as if they're not the market leader right now, this constant expectation that Sony is somehow going to un-blow it with the PS3 and go from a distant third to first, it just smacks of irrationality. If I invested in game companies, I'd be looking elsewhere for my tips.