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VGKing on 07 February 2013
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Trunkin said:
VGKing said:
Trunkin said:
VGKing said:
AgentZorn said:
So, chances are that the PS4 wont blow the Wii U out of the water unless Sony is taking big losses.

It's 6-8x more powerful than a Wii U and about 10x a PS3. You dont' think that blows the Wii U out of the water?

The only reason the Wii U costs as much as it does is due to its expensive controller.


6-8x? Where'd you get that from? The most optomistic number I've heard so far is 5x.

Also, I still don't buy that the U-pad costs Nintendo as much as everyone thinks it does.

The Wii U Gamepad has to cost a hefty amount of money since it includes a touchscreen. Those things aren't cheap. Not only that but the Wii U is a very custumized console. Things beings so custom aren't expensive.

On the other hand we will have the PS4 which although it will also have custom parts, it seems to be more off-the-shelf. It's much more PC-like.

I realize that touchscreens are expensive, but expensive enough to account for a significant amount of production costs? I don't think so. The Kindle Fire's 7in. multitouch IPS Gorilla glass display was only $87 back in 2011. The Wii U's is a standard plastic resistive LCD, and has a lower resolution besides. I'd be surprised if the entire controller costs more than $60 to produce, all in all. 

I do agree that Nintendo did opt for some highly customized parts, but who knows exactly how much extra they had to pay for those?

I hear that a PS3/360 controller cost about $10 to make but they sell for $50. I could easily see the Wii U Gamepad, based on its size and features costing upwards of 3x that of a normal controller. So $30+ eaisly. Maybe even $50. That alone could be what keeps Nintendo from doing a price cut.

@bold
The more complex something is, the lower the yields, and the more it costs. The more you customize something, the more complex it becomes and in the end the more it costs you.

 I think that without the Wii U gamepad, the Wii U could be sold for a small profit. I hope Nintendo is considering introducing a "core" SKU with the Pro controller in the future. Not every game will make use of the Gamepad and in those that do use it, sometimes it is not necessary and tacked-on. Give people a choice on whether they want it or not.