"They want to make a more powerful product, they could do what they want, its a free market."

The free market doesn't mean a company can just do what it wants in a vacuum. The free market means consumers can reject and reward anything they want.

And it doesn't matter what you alone are looking forward to. Not unless you can split yourself into over 50 million copies and buy that many systems.

"I dont want a Wii situation, where the damn thing was flooded with Just Dance and Wii Sports ripoffs, and 3rd parties couldnt put there good games on it because Ninty decided to cheap out on hardware."

That is bullshit. 3rd parties COULD put good games on the Wii (because we got plenty on even less powerful systems, one of which was not behind its competitors). They just didn't want to, and likely won't want to with this system either, when they are still obsessed with the flashiest graphics, and the next Xbox and Playstation systems will still do that better.

Actually, my reasoning is all there.  You may want to read it again, but slower, and let it all seep in. 

that doesn't mean that that can also be applied to this situation...

more sophisticated third party controllers for consoles can be had for substantially cheaper prices than their first party counterparts...

but thats the point these peripherals are always more expensive coming from the console manufacturer but regardless as i've said before we'll have to wait and see to know for certain

After what happened to the 3DS I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would go the pricey way with Wii U. They can't be that crazy can they?

*Cancels WiiU from 2012 list*

Could be a strategy on Nintendo's part making people think it's closer to $600 and then pricing it at $300 - $350 so that all of a sudden it doesn't sound so bad... I don't know. It's still fairly expensive to me though.

One of the key areas I think people are forgetting about is software. If what we are hearing is true then Nintendo has focused all their efforts on the WiiU and ignored the Wii which hopefully means a massive software lineup at launch. The 3DS didn't start selling well until Nintendo released their Mario games and I foresee that an excellent software lineup at launch would make a high price tag more reasonable.

That being said I don't see the WiiU's price going above $400 and even then my guest would be at $350. The WiiU is going to be more expensive than the Wii of that there is no doubt however they have had enough experience with the 3DS and saw what happened to the PS3 to know not to price there system too high.

I expect the PS4/Wii U/Xbox^3 to all launch at a $399.99 price tag.

With the Wii U launching in Q4 2012 (estimate), it will naturally have the weakest hardware compared to the PS4 and Xbox^3 launching in Q1/Q2 2014 (estimate).

Additionally, Nintendo will probably sell its hardware at a $50 profit per unit (cost reduced by using slightly less powerful hardware). Sony and Microsoft will probably be willing to take as large as a $50 loss per unit. The $100 margin will allow Sony and Microsoft to use better parts (especially if they are launching 14-18 months later).

Though, I think we are getting to a point where hardware advancements aren't going to make as much of a difference in the final game products as advancements in SDK software will. Maybe we will see some big breakthroughs in SDK R&D from the big 3.

Personally, I feel a bit bearish towards the upcoming 8th gen home consoles' game libraries.

I hope they prove my worries wrong, very very wrong. o.O

Digging your own grave again, Reggie?

Pricing, pricing. The Wii's momentum in terms of games is clearly dying after the last major launch - Skyward Sword. It's sales are far from dying currently as it's the holiday season, but look what happened to those figures before the holidays, it's spluttering dead. I don't really suppose that the Wii will continue lasting hand-in-hand as though Wii U becomes the real 3rd pillar for the company (like when Ninty wanted the Wii, GBA and the DS to go hand in hand). The future lineup's almost non-existent for the Wii, plus its Virtual Console's plain dead. Where's the momentum to keep the console in existence in the future, even?

Even if Nintendo insists that the Wii will be of a different league than the Wii U, most consumers will continue to view Wii U as the successor to the Wii. And I doubt that many will want to buy "outdated" machines like the Wii when the U's already on the market.

If Nintendo tries to pull a stupid trick off by introducing a steep pricing when Wii U comes out, I can guarantee that Nintendo's screwed big time. Even if consumers don't react as much, its investors probably would, after getting reminded of the 3DS.

What's more, the tablety controller seemed to seal the deal for Nintendo to actually do so.

It all comes down to pricing for the Wii U.

The Wii seems to be increasingly unviable to continue flourishing as it did back then (come on, 90+ million is actually rather market-saturating, just like the PS2 back then), and the Wii U will die if its pricing is deemed outrageous.

Did they not learn from Sony?.....I guess PS4 is Sony regaining dominance