News: Wii Price Drop for US and Japan. New UK Bundle Confirmed Page 1 at Nintendo Cubed3

Update, 24th September, 2009 (08:30am, GMT) - Nintendo UK has contacted Cubed3 to clarify exactly what gamers here can expect from the whole 'Wii Price Drop / New Bundle' saga. Below is the full confirmation for this market:

"We will be reducing the trade price of Wii to retailers from 2nd October 2009. In the UK and Republic of Ireland we are also introducing a new configuration of Wii hardware from 2nd October 2009 which will replace the current offering and will include the Wii console and Wii Sports with the new Wii Sports Resort game and Wii MotionPlus accessory. This will be available to retailers at the newly reduced trade price. The ultimate price to consumers is, of course, determined by the retailers. Our aim has always been to expand the gaming population and there are still many more people out there who have not yet experienced the fun of video games. This compelling offer will hopefully make Wii more accessible to everyone."

Original Story - Long since rumoured, and finally confirmed officially (cheekily during Sony's Keynote Address at the Tokyo Game Show), Nintendo will be dropping the retail cost of the Wii by $50 to $199.99, the first manufacturer's cut since the release of the console nearly three years ago. The Wii will also drop by a similar amount in Japan, to 20,000 yen.

The recent price increase for the console here in the UK suggested that Nintendo would either reduce it back to the original cost, to before the increase by £20 a few months ago in what could be claimed, if not completely truthfully, as a drop, or maybe even a new bundle instead, and surprisingly it looks as if they are going for both options.
Nintendo will be reducing the price back to the original Retail Pricing of £179.99, and will also be creating a new primary SKU for store shelves that consists of the original Console, Nunchuk & Wii Remote, and Wii Sports pack, as well as a Motionplus unit and Wii Sports Resort included too.

Press Release for the US Price Drop below (which also sets a November 15th date for New Super Mario Bros Wii in the States);

WII AT $199.99 BEGINNING SEPT. 27

World of Nintendo Events, Key Software Releases Further Demonstrate System's Incomparable Value

REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 23, 2009 - Beginning Sunday, Sept. 27, the world's most popular home video game system gets even more appealing. On that day, Nintendo's suggested retail price for its record-setting Wii drops by $50 to $199.99. The new $199.99 Wii price point delivers the full iconic Wii gaming experience, including the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller, Nunchuk controller and Wii Sports software, and furthers Nintendo's mission to expand the gaming universe by making video games accessible to more and more consumers.

Wii ownership also opens an avenue for players to the industry's most diverse and unique collection of home console games. Key upcoming releases include Wii Fit Plus, launching on Oct. 4, and the first truly multiplayer Mario title ever, New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Both new and veteran players in America can jump into this new Mario action when it arrives on Nov. 15.

And beginning Oct. 2, consumers in select cities will have a new, convenient way to decide which Nintendo adventure to tackle next. On that day, a novel series of sampling events called "World of Nintendo" kicks off in Long Beach, Calif.

"Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience."

The inherent social nature of Wii is fully demonstrated in a groundbreaking way with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, the first Mario game ever to allow four players to take part in the action at the same time. That same dynamic is propelling the enthusiastic response for Wii Sports Resort, while the release of Wii Fit Plus includes everything you love about Wii Fit, along with new multiplayer elements and the ability to customize workouts to fit individual needs.

See below for full details on the World of Nintendo events that are scheduled to take place in Long Beach, Philadelphia and New York throughout the month of October.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

For more information about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, visit www.MarioBrosWii.com.

Would you consider this Price Drop to be enough for the Wii, and does the Resort bundle justify a product that hasn't yet gone below launch price in the UK?

Thanks to GoNintendo.

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Darkflame on 24.09.2009 at 08:23#1

Good bundle, more significant and usefull then a small price drop, imho.

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Sonic_13 on 24.09.2009 at 08:42#2

Europe is getting a really great bundle.

Nintendo should start considering including a MotionPlus with Wii in all territories. So called "hardcore" gamers will get the device on their own somehow, but the best way to get the device in the hands of casual gamers is to simply include with the system from the start.

Laurelin on 24.09.2009 at 08:55#3

And what is the Euro-currency-territory getting?

I find your lack of faith disturbing!

Canyarion on 24.09.2009 at 09:57#4

I'm not really sure I understood this right. In the UK the original Wii SKU will be replaced by the new one, AND it will have a £20 price drop?
Nice deal. Smilie

Phoenom on 24.09.2009 at 10:07#5

Canyarion said:
I'm not really sure I understood this right. In the UK the original Wii SKU will be replaced by the new one, AND it will have a £20 price drop?
Nice deal.

Pretty much, although the £20 reduction means that it'll go back to its original launch price; most retailers swallowed the extra cost so only a few actually have the Wii above 180 at the moment.

Click here for awesomeness.

Ifrit XXII on 24.09.2009 at 11:03#6

How about Nintendo Points? Are they going back to their original price? Smilie

I'm surprised to see Nintendo offer another game with the main package. It may be a way of avoiding a proper price cut but Wii Sports Resort is a great game and the added motion-plus should hopefully get WM+ into more hands.

SuperLink on 24.09.2009 at 12:18#7

wAyNe - sTaRT said:
How about Nintendo Points? Are they going back to their original price?

I don't think so, that would be great though...

This is great news, but it's not going to persuade those who thought the Wii was too expensive to buy one, especially if they're part of the "lol casual shit!" group who don't want Wii Sports Resort.

Fantastic bundle though, It's essentially added £50 worth of extra hardware and software, almost justifying the previously ridiculous pricing.

Still not as jawdropping as the PS3's epic drop though.

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Darkflame on 24.09.2009 at 12:21#8

Nothing would convience that crowd the Wii is a good system though. Dropping the price to $100 would only "prove" it isnt a good modern console.
Low prices can be damaging just as much as high ones, weirdly.
As for the Ps3's price drop, its amazing it didn't happen a year ago. Still, if sales pick up as they are doing, then maybe PS3 game-releases can expect decent sales this time next year.

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SuperLink on 24.09.2009 at 12:29#9

Darkflame said:
Nothing would convience that crowd the Wii is a good system though. Dropping the price to $100 would only \"prove\" it isnt a good modern console.

No? The Wii isn\'t fooling anyone by being more expensive than the 360, people see the Wii\'s next gen graphics and think \"Wow, that\'s awful value for money\", and they\'d be right because when you can get a 360 for £50 cheaper using far superior hardware, then you know something\'s not right.

If you want the crowd to buy the Wii, you have to give it a reasonable price. I hate to admit it but other than the motion stuff the Wii\'s hardware is mostly last gen, how much do you think people would pay for a last gen console in the current era?

Being apparelled at the £180 price point is completely understandable. You may say \"you\'re buying 2 other games with it!\", well how about selling the Wii for £120 without the games included?

PS3 has already had multiple price drops. This is the Wii\'s first and it\'s minuscule.

( Edited 24.09.2009 12:29 by SuperLink )

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Darkflame on 24.09.2009 at 14:25#10

People ARE buying the Wii though, absolutely huge volumes of them. Unlike the PS3, which needed those price drops.
People, for the most part, dont -care- that the PS3 is better at graphics.

The \"value\" of a system doesn\'t lie in components, it lies in what you get out of it.
The Wiimote could cost Nintendo $500 to make, or 50cents...dosnt matter. All that maters is the enjoyment you get for the price you spend.
And (thankfully) its only a silly minority of \"hardcore\" gamers careing about high-tech graphics.*

*not to say that a lot dont care about games looking nice artwise, just the average buyer dosnt value HD graphics or normal-map,bloom-blured graphics that highly.

True hardcore gamers, of course, will happly play a few generations old as long as the games are good.

how much do you think people would pay for a last gen console in the current era?

PS2 sold much better then the Xbox didnt it? There was a =huge= difference in power between them. PS2 was barely better then a dreamcast. (which itself failed despite being massively more advanced then anything else out at the time)
Graphical superiority really maters not to how much systems are valued.
Either today, or historically.

You may say \"you\'re buying 2 other games with it!\", well how about selling the Wii for £120 without the games included?

Because then lots of gamers would stand even less chance of seeing games that actualy use the Wiimote decently? (let alone motion plus).

( Edited 24.09.2009 14:27 by Darkflame )

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SuperLink on 24.09.2009 at 14:32#11

But these are different demographics. You\'ve seen them, the people who don\'t want to buy a Wii because it\'s too expensive for what it is. Unfortunately a huge amount of Wii owners are the types of people who buy Petz games. They don\'t care how \"good\" something is, they judge it by face value alone.

Sure it may be worth it if the console had an amazing list of must have games, but at this point in time it still doesn\'t. For people who put a lot more into gaming than others, value for money (how much did this cost them to make? What am I getting for my money?) is a very important thing. People who put care into what gaming products they buy don\'t want to buy a last gen console at next gen prices, especially 3 years on. PS2 compared with XBOX had tiny differences compared with Wii and both other consoles of the generation

When it comes right down to money value, and you\'re a new but curious gamer, you\'d have to be mad to choose the Wii\'s last gen graphics and mediocre game selection over the 360 powerhouse with endless online options and a great game selection at a fraction of the price.

Because then lots of gamers would stand even less chance of seeing games that actualy use the Wiimote decently? (let alone motion plus).

I didn\'t buy my Wii to see how good the motion controls were, I bought my Wii to play good games; the same reason anyone buys any console.

( Edited 24.09.2009 14:39 by SuperLink )

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Canyarion on 24.09.2009 at 15:58#12

Super_Link, you said 360 has superior hardware. I want to add: while it lasts. Wii doesn't break down all the time.

And I agree with DarkFlame... this is how the economy works. Wii sells way better than PS3, no reason to whine about price drops.

SuperLink on 24.09.2009 at 16:40#13

Canyarion said:
Super_Link, you said 360 has superior hardware. I want to add: while it lasts. Wii doesn't break down all the time.

Neither does PS3, which is incredible value for money compared to the Wii considering how expensive the PS3's technology is. Sony are completely willing to keep losing money for the sake of staying in the gaming good books, I don't think Nintendo would do the same thing in that situation.

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meeto_0 on 24.09.2009 at 17:14#14

No doubt technology wise the PS3 is now extremely good value for money compared to the wii. In the UK we are just being done over by a company that refuses 3yrs down the line to loose any money any where.

Raising the price temporarily to then put it back down is just a cheap tactic.

If you want to talk value for money, in terms of games; well my catalogue is still less then 10 games over 3yrs. Of the games I have, 3 I would happily of returned for a refund. I think Sony\'s back catalogue is far more impressive. Not to mention PS3 operate an official platinum range. After next year I cant imagine where nintendo will have an advantage over its competitors apart from a larger instal base that mostly buy games from its own publishers.

Nintendo hasnt really achieved much for me as a consumer. Sure its more then stabled itself financially in the home console market. But if this gen ended today apart from wii sport what other ground breaking efforts have come from the console

actually it has achieved one massive feat. And that is to get the industry to think about how we interact with games. And Im actually greatful for that. But I think next year I will have to go else where to play the games I wanted to use motion in a meaningful way.

( Edited 24.09.2009 17:24 by meeto_0 )

Ikana on 24.09.2009 at 17:22#15

meeto_0 said:

If you want to talk value for money, in terms of games; well my catalogue is still less then 10 games over 3yrs. Of the games I have, 3 I would happily of returned for a refund. I think Sony's back catalogue is far more impressive.

I know where you're coming from, but I disagree. I have 27 Wii games and a massive list of games that I want. Plus there's the entire back catalogue of GameCube games. I can only think of about four or five PS3 exclusives that I want, and Sony won't even let us play PS2 games on the PS3.

PS3 is great and well worth getting now the price has dropped, but I think it has a meagre back catalogue compared to the Wii.

meeto_0 on 24.09.2009 at 17:37#16

Well it is all a matter of opinion. I didnt think wii even had 27 games that have a metacritic aaverage over 75. Not that I only buy games that score highly, but of the type of game experiences Im looking for the wii unfortunately excels in other genres.

Third person adventure games? RPGs? FPS? Platformers? Not many high class games in these areas.

You get more exclusives on the wii, but they aren\'t the kind that hold my interest. Would rather play RE5 then chronicles. Dead space on PS3 then onrails on wii.

( Edited 24.09.2009 18:03 by meeto_0 )

Sonic_13 on 24.09.2009 at 19:29#17

meeto_0 said:
Well it is all a matter of opinion. I didnt think wii even had 27 games that have a metacritic aaverage over 75.

Wii currently has 105 games with a metacritic average over 75.

Flynnie on 24.09.2009 at 22:33#18

Superlink i think you are failing to understand Nintendo's key mission here, thats to get new gamers to play, if they didn't bundle Wii Sports with the Wii initially would you have paid £19.99+ for it if you had to buy it seperately.

Of course not! At the time, nearly everyone was angry that we were having to have Wii Sports in the box. However it has changed how many people's perceptions on gaming.

I for one didn't agree with bundling Wii Sports with the Wii, but since having picked up one on release date my perceptions wildly changed.

Believe it or not, there are still a handfull of people who have never played a Wii or Wii Sports, These are the people that Nintendo are trying to intice with the new package. For some it might the "cherry on top" and persuade themselves its now a good deal.

Eiither way Nintendo have marketed the Wii extremely well, better than Sony have marketed the PS3 thats for sure.

People continue to express their love for Nintendo on this site and cuss them when they fail for their ignorance and then cuss them for making sensible buisness decisions. If you ask me, the PS3 is Sony's Dreamcast. Fortunately for Sony they do have a lil more life than SEGA, but if the PS4* fails like the PS3 has then Sony should be worried.

However i can see Sony's sales being top for 2010 with some decent games coming out and with the drop of 1080p TV's imminent people will want a HD source and blu-ray player. It could be Sony's year, but only by process of elimination