Ail said:
archbrix said:
greenmedic88 said:
Now you may be overestimating the cost to produce standard controllers as well. They are high margin items as controllers have typically been. The Wii Remote for example, cost something like $9.83 (iSuppli) back in 2006.
With the additional components, I'm guessing the iSuppli estimate on each will be just under $40.
Since it sounds as though Nintendo isn't going to be trying to sell every Wii U owner 3 extra LCD controllers (if it only syncs with 2 controllers) they won't(can't) be relying upon Wii U controller sales to inflate overall hardware margins. Barring the occasional "oops, broke my controller" replacements, they'll only be selling Wii U owners one additional controller max.
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That's exactly what I was going to point out, but you beat me to it. 
The Wii remote and nunchuck together were under $15 for Nintendo to manufacture. Sure, Ninty loves their profit, but $79-$89 for the Wii U controller seems pretty logical to me... and the success of the balance board has proven that consumers are willing to spend that much.
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Even if Nintendo won't be relying on high margin, most retailers will be expecting to have those on this kind of item.
They already agree to sell the consoles with a low margin , I somewhat doubt they will agree to low margins on controllers too...
I could be wrong but my guess is that in the end the new controller will cost more than a balance board to produce so that gives it a good idea for a target price. Now like some said, Nintendo can always sweeten the deal by bundling a game..
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My guess is that, like the Wiimote/nunchuck, the balance board's price was pretty high compared to what it cost to make. I agree that the Wii U controller will likely cost more to manufacture than the BB, but I imagine that $89 would be a good target. Definitely not more than $99 at the absolute highest.
Either way, bundled software is almost a guarantee; something that requires two Wii U controllers to play.
