World: 'How about a Wii price cut, then?' Nintendo: 'Ahahahaha'

by Chris Greenhough { Apr 25th 2008 at 4:00PM }

Looks like we'll be waiting a little while longer for any price cut on the Wii. As in, until 2009. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has revealed to analysts that no price cut is planned for either the Wii or DS this year, and while both consoles are selling out pretty much everywhere, we can't say we're bowled over by that decision.

As yesterday's financial report demonstrated, Nintendo's practically bathing in money, and it expects to make plenty more over the coming twelve months -- $5.14 billion of it, to be precise. If you are still searching for a Wii, looks like you won't even have the consolation of paying a non-launch price!

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: business, industry, iwata, market, money, price-cut, pricecut, sales, satoru-iwata

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

TheWarlock @ Apr 25th 2008 4:16PM

Muahahahahaha!! Are they kidding? As if the current price wasn't cheap enough.

mgroves @ Apr 25th 2008 4:17PM

a price cut makes no sense: it would increase demand which is ALREADY causing Wii's to be out of stock everywhere

SoshiKitai @ Apr 25th 2008 4:21PM

Increase the demand?
That's a scary future.

Jumbo @ Apr 25th 2008 4:17PM

Where does this "lower the price" thing come from?

It's completely retarded.

Completely.

TheWarlock @ Apr 25th 2008 4:53PM

Well, it isn't COMPLETELY retarded. Let's keep in mind that it has been almost 2 years since the release of this amazing video game console. After two years, you'd think Nintendo would soften up a bit and lower the LAUNCH-DAY price but they don't. So, I wouldn't say that it's retarded... just maybe mental?

Alan Friesen @ Apr 25th 2008 6:18PM

TheWarlock, in all fairness, Nintendo has lowered the price of the Wii in Canada. Yes, this has more to do with the changing US/CAD dollar, but they certainly could have stuck to their guns and kept on charging us $20 ($30?) more.

TheWarlock @ Apr 25th 2008 10:09PM

I see. You do have a point there but it is indeed annoying when they whine and whine about how they should lower the price... it IS 250!

Sonic_13 @ Apr 25th 2008 4:31PM

If anything, they could easily get away with raising the price.

But talk of price cuts is just ridiculous at this point. Wait until a Wii stays on a store shelf for longer than 20 minutes....

flo @ Apr 26th 2008 2:51PM

i know! they could get away with a raise! i bought my wii brand nerw on ebay for 400 dollars cuz i couldn't find one and during Christmas time i bought one from a friend for 200 and sold it for 600 on ebay again hehe suckers

cbylife @ Apr 25th 2008 5:01PM

yeah i agree. anyone you expects a price cut at this point when wii's are still being sold on ebay for more then the msrp is stupid. as it is now, if you're lucky enough to find one in the stores, i don't think people even bother counting their money before thrusting their wallet towards the cashier with excitement that they finally have a wii. those who want a lower price are just wieners. seriously, give it some more time.

Roto13 @ Apr 25th 2008 5:01PM

Lowering prices is something a company does when they want/need to increase sales. It's never about trying to be nice to their customers.

Be happy you can get a current gen console for $250.

Croove55 @ Apr 25th 2008 6:23PM

You got the agreement!
This is Croove55's agreement on your comment. You can use it to confirm your opinion's rigor.

[/bad zelda joke]

Seriously, Nintendo is out to make money. They have no reason to reduce the price of the Wii since it's selling so well. If anyone wants a bright side to this, it's that Nintendo could probably pull another 4 gamecube-esque generations without going out of business.... OH CRAP GUYS.

Extinction @ Apr 26th 2008 4:37AM

Wii isn't current gen

Roto13 @ Apr 26th 2008 8:08AM

Go die.

MasterInsan0 @ Apr 25th 2008 5:04PM

I hate to be the cynic, so I'll put my opinion this way: while it's great that Nintendo has rebounded so well this generation, they still haven't put out anything the average casual gamer feels like spending money on. I know it's not Nintendo's fault, necessarily--the third party developers are just as guilty--but when the largest majority of your users are only playing the pack-in game, there's something wrong.

That said...I suppose Nintendo is laughing at how cheap Wii Sports was to produce all the way to the bank.

Anyway, on topic, I would imagine that Nintendo will cut the price once they're about 2 years away from their next system, then again about 6-12 months from the launch of their next system. However, I really don't see it going below $150-ish, just because it's so much of a cash cow (as opposed to the Gamecube, which hit $100 or lower in most places).

BDR @ Apr 26th 2008 1:31AM

Please stop making unfounded comments about the Wii. It is not true that "the largest majority" of Wii owners only play Wii Sports, that's just a myth that fanboys made up so they can feel better about their $500 worth of HD equipment.

Also, please don't reply with the stock standard "I know three friends that only own wii sports" because that argument is flawed beyond belief.

Instead, why can't everyone just appreciate that the Wii has hit an untapped market and expanded the horizons of gaming. I can name 10 games for you right now that are worthy of your money, and plenty more on the way. So quit complaining about the Wii, it's a marvelous machine

/rant

MasterInsan0 @ Apr 26th 2008 3:39PM

Not that they're necessarily right (since they only have a little research to back up their claims), but the New York Times seems to feel the same way:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/technology/21wii.html?_r=2&ref=business&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I never said that there aren't games worth playing. In fact, I own Brawl, Mario Galaxy, No More Heroes, and Twilight Princess for the Wii, in addition to the more "casual" games like Wii Sports and Wii Play.

You seem to be far too star-struck by the Wii, so much so that you're flaming pretty much anything even remotely anti-Wii. I never complained about the Wii. My only point was that many casual gamers (and from what I can find, a large majority of them) do not play many of the excellent titles for the system. Games like No More Heroes are great...but don't sell well.

As that NYT article stated, it's probably the fault of bad marketing. Much of this previously "untapped market" is totally uninterested in these games because the advertising either isn't reaching them, it's not effective on them, or even worse, the games themselves just aren't a good choice for the new market. This is the case with No More Heroes, for example--casual gamers just don't get it.

Perhaps the worst case is that these people don't feel the need to buy new games. Traditional gamers buy new games because they play their old ones so often that they get tired of them, and because new games offer new experiences. However, a casual gamer doesn't have these pre-defined behaviors. Sure, they could pick them up over time, but they must be developed, and I would say that once this happens, that casual gamer has moved from "casual" to "traditional"--or at least some strange middle ground.

Anyway, despite the somewhat sharp division between casual and "traditional" gamers, the Wii seems to be doing fine, which means that software must exist for both camps. I still argue that there is a problem when the casual gamers aren't buying many games, considering the explosion Nintendo has made into the casual market. It means that once the system starts slowing down in sales, Nintendo's profits will drop like crazy and the system will stagnate.

However, Nintendo will have already made record profits from the Wii, and perhaps third party publishers will finally be able to step up and make software compelling enough for the casual audience to buy it.

Joe Cart @ Apr 25th 2008 6:33PM

Price cut? What price cut? Its only 250 friggin dollars. You wont get anything as great as the wii for that cheap.

And geez, the damn thing even comes packed with a game.

What Nintendo SHOULD be focusing on is cheaper price tags on more games. They did a good job of putting that $30 price tag on House of the Dead 2 n 3 Return, now I want to see more of that.

Extinction @ Apr 26th 2008 4:38AM

PSP is better/cheaper

vidGuy @ Apr 25th 2008 7:25PM

We won't see a pricecut until two things happen:
1) The XBOX360 or PS3 is cut under $250
AND
2) Wii demand softens and the supply is high enough to put consoles on shelves

Economically, the thing to do now would be to raise the price, but of course that's a poor PR move.

Brento @ Apr 26th 2008 8:59AM

Adjusted for inflation the Wii is cheaper than the Atari 2600 which retailed during it's glory years at $150 and sold 30million consoles. And the going rate for new release Atari games was $30. The Wii is plenty affordable-especially with Prez Bush's $600 buy off check coming this month.

Kogen @ Apr 26th 2008 1:05PM

I am dissapointed in this. I really want a Wii, but I do not want to play this much for a half last-gen console.

Maybe Nintendo could do a different bundle without Wii Sports for those of us who prefer normal games(Galaxy or Brawl would be better pack-ins). The other two consoles give you a lot more for your money, so Nintendo needs to add some different stuff in the package if they want me to buy it at this price still.

The DS seems fairly priced, though.

Kogen @ Apr 26th 2008 1:09PM

Yeah, they buy Wii Play too. Which is just a controller...

Orion @ Apr 26th 2008 2:14PM

you only lower your price when there is no demand, or dying demand. Common Wiifanboy, you always strike while the iron is hot. You don't waist price drops when your system is popular, it won't help sales. That and when you DO need sales, and you've already lowered the price of your system to the point where you're making hardly any profit, you're screwed unless you want to take a hit on everyone system sale!

And if you still haven't gotten a Wii, and it's not because of financial reasons, you aren't looking. I'm sorry, but last summer I saw wii's in the wild and even bought a second one for a friend lol. Find out when your stores get shipments in and hang out there for an hour or so and you'll get one.

Lastly, 250 is cheap people. And if you call the Wii half generation hardware, you can consider the PS3 and 360 the same as well as they haven't even bothered doing anything but upping the graphics. The beauty of graphics wears off much faster than the ability to play a game in a totally different way. And also judging from the PS2 and Wii sales, I don't think graphics matter much to the public as a whole either.

But HEY, if you want to spend 500 bucks on a system with an upgraded chip and the same controller you've always played with and wish it didn't make your hands want to scream each time you had to switch between putting two fingers on top on R2 and L2, to 4 fingers on top on R1+2, and L1+2 with your other fingers on the two joysticks.. be my guest! That's half assed and lazy in my mind, and it's far more half generation than the wii is.

psychedelicpaintbrush @ Apr 27th 2008 6:00PM

Although I love the Wii, I think "half-generation hardware" may not be understating too much. Nintendo obviously steered away from more expensive hardware, choosing to use a remote control as the sole selling point of the console. That and the Nintendo name. If it weren't for the great games that prove the Wii doesn't "need" better graphics, I would view them as nothing more than a corporate machine making one last desperate attempt at a cheap dollar. It almost feels like Nintendo was afraid to spend more money on the Wii, as if they feared the end was coming (neither the N64 or the Gamecube were as successful as their ancestors). Thankfully, this generations success will ensure the birth of the next generation, all they need to do is upgrade the graphics and consider upgrading the Wiimote. Let's just say the concept of a Wii2 doesn't sound bad.

Since upgraded hardware apparently isn't enough for some people (it always has been before) and there must now be some great innovation that a next-gen carries, here I go.

I don't know a lot about the PS3, only that it finally has enough games in it's library that I plan to buy one this year, but I can easily speak for the 360. We know the hardware is strongerbetterfasteretc... so let's move on to the innovative feature of the 360, Xbox Live. To my knowledge, Xbox Live is the best multi-player experience out there (yeah, we have to pay for it but I've learned to live with the extremely low fee), just one generation ago, online multi-player was just an added feature to a very select few games and could only be found in abundance on the PC. Now, as soon as I power on the console I see which of my friends are online, I see what games they're playing, I can talk to them with the headset, invite them to play whatever game we feel like, and besides that I don't even need friends anymore. I can play any game with an amazing population of users all connected through the various matchmaking systems incorporated in (I think) all Xbox Live games. I have yet to use the Wii online since it hasn't actually been in my possession for a few months and thanks to that I haven't even played Brawl yet... but I've heard about the stupid friend codes and the limit to how many you can have and I think that could drive me crazy (granted there is a limit of 100 friends on Xbox Live but that can be sidestepped by creating a friends list on a seperate silver account and using the friends of friends feature to expand your max listing by 100 each time, also you don't NEED friends to play 360 online).

I love the Wii, love the 360, want the PS3. I'm not biased. I'm just a gamer with an opinion, and I think it's ignorant and lazy to call out the PS3/360 for not implementing some crazy innovative controller that drives a large number of hardcore gamers away.

Orion @ Apr 27th 2008 7:58PM

It's lazy to call out systems for being... lazy?

uh.. no. and no, graphics havent always been the only thing that got us by as gamers, or the Nintendo DS wouldnt be selling so freakin well and nintendo wouldn't come out with a unique controller for every system... which the competition does not. and yes, i know the 360 is an upgraded controller, but it still is basically the same thing just streamlined.

And before you say don't fix it if it's not broken.. well, i can say with 100% certainty the PS3 controller (or all ps controllers) definately need some work!

So yea, I DO think it's lazy of them. No I don't expect something crazy, but a nice, new, MODERN controller might be nice than just putting wifi in a 13 year old pad.

Last generation i was bored with all three consoles. I was bored because each generation was more of the same, and it was honestly not that entertaining for me anymore. I couldnt sit down and play for long periods of time because i wasnt entertained.

The wii has been able to finally break that away and im an excited gamer again. Im so happy they finally did something that seems next get (ie: a NEW experience). I'm not saying you have to come up with something crazy every generation, but 3 in a row when it's just an upgraded chip.. sorry.. that's when i just stop buying it.

Maybe with the PS3's low hardware sales and crippled software library (compared to it's competition), Sony will finally wake up and realize gamers don't want the same old same old with a price tag that is 2x + than it was the last two generations of playstation.