News: E311 | Wii U Gets Rough Pricing Page 2

E311 | Wii U Gets Rough Pricing

08.06.2011

E311 | Wii U Gets Rough Pricing on Nintendo gaming news, videos and discussion

Whilst the majority of people are excited from yesterdays unveiling of Nintendo's new home console, Wii U, at their E3 press conference, many are sceptical of how much the system will cost. In a recent interview between Nintendo President Satoru Iwata and local newspaper, Nikkei, he stated that the Wii U will likely be priced at more than 20,000 yen ($250 or £180) and are unlikely to sell the console for the same price as the current Wii. Despite the fact, Mr, Iwata encourages that "the new platform will provide deeper game experiences than what even the most passionate gamers have realised before....It will let everyone see games in a different way"

Nintendo need to be careful with their pricing strategy for their next console as research shows the main cause (for the Japanese at least) for the lack of uptake for their recently released 3DS is the fact that is too expensive. Couple that with the very few launch titles that came out with the system and its easy to see where the reluctance lies with the general public. Lets see if the Wii U can come out at launch with all guns blazing.

On top of this, Nintendo shares fell significantly when the console was announced, by 5.7% to 16,930 yen at the close of trading in Osaka yesterday. More than 2.2 million shares changed hands, compared to a six month average of around 720,000.

What do you think about the pricing of the platform? Expected? How much would you be prepared to pay?

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WP-Final 09.06.2011#26

GreythaGreat said:
I think that the new controller/concept is absolutely brilliant; however, I think that the name is what is going to kill it. The Wii brand does not share the same reputation as Apple's "i" brand.
Parents are not going to understand that this is a different machine, especially if Nintendo is showing off videos of this thing playing with the Wii remotes.

That's exactly the what I think has somewhat "ruined" the 3DS' chances of repeating the original's success. The branding is far too similar. Using the same logo but inserting a 3 in the middle wasn't enough as people now just think it's another model but with 3D instead of a new machine. (though the pricing hasn't helped either)

The new Wii just looks like a chunky Wii. Very little is original past the controller and even that won't be enough to make people take notice. Nintendo should have given the new system a brand new look and name.

Sonic_13 10.06.2011#27

Ifrit XXII said:
GreythaGreat said:
I think that the new controller/concept is absolutely brilliant; however, I think that the name is what is going to kill it. The Wii brand does not share the same reputation as Apple's "i" brand.
Parents are not going to understand that this is a different machine, especially if Nintendo is showing off videos of this thing playing with the Wii remotes.

That's exactly the what I think has somewhat "ruined" the 3DS' chances of repeating the original's success. The branding is far too similar. Using the same logo but inserting a 3 in the middle wasn't enough as people now just think it's another model but with 3D instead of a new machine. (though the pricing hasn't helped either)

I think it could potentially cause slower sales at launch, but ultimately I don't think either system will be hurt by keeping similar names.

As more and more games come out, kids are going to ask their parents for those games and then their parents are going to come to realize that those games can only be played on the new console. Word of mouth will eventually inform these people too.

In regards to the Wii U, keeping Wii controllers is also an advantage in that parents may not see upgrading to be as big of a financial burden as they would having to buy a completely new system. "Oh, I can still use the controllers and accessories I already have? Nice!"

( Edited 10.06.2011 03:35 by Sonic_13 )