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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Wii U to be priced at $299?

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RolStoppable said:
happydolphin said:

So what strategy would have made N64 blue ocean? More Mario? I thought that was a Red Ocean approach. Also, the N64 revolutionized (according to the Revolution def) the thumbstick with high-precision input.

Also, going with a new direction for Mario (Now in 3D), all sounds more and more like a blue ocean strategy by this post. The outcome is purely outside the scope of the above description.

Not going after Sony and Sega and instead focusing on making new consumers while trying to maintain existing customers. In the moment it becomes about outdoing a competitor based on the same value propositions, it's a red ocean strategy. The N64 thumbstick revolutionized 3D gaming, but I think we've already cleared up that revolution and blue ocean doesn't necessarily go hand in hand.

At a time when almost everyone makes 3D games, making a 3D game isn't a blue ocean approach. Although it isn't so much about a game being 3D, but rather: "Look at us. We have a game with better graphics. Our system is more sophisticated than the other ones."

Got my book out, here are the strategies for red and blue oceans:

Red ocean Blue ocean
Competition in existing markets Creation of new markets
Beating the competition Avoid the competition
Make use of existing demand Create new demands
Direct correlation between value and costs Bypassing direct correlation between value and costs
Company activity according to the strategical decision between differentiation OR low costs Company activity according to differentiation AND low costs

The last point in both sets may be a bit fuzzy due to my translation.

Very interesting stuff. I added it to the Resource page for people to read it.



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I wouldn't be surprised by $300. I understand tablet technology is fairly expensive and they would need to recover their R&D costs, especially if they've done as rumored and added support for more than one tablet since E3.



RolStoppable said:
happydolphin said:
RolStoppable said:

That's all fine and good, but you don't have to explain that to me. This point was part of a bigger argument:

happydolphin said:

1) If you deny the fact that the N64 released at a time where 3rd parties were yearning for another manufacturer to make consoles, and were sick and tired of Nintendo's 3rd party policies.

(...)

Then yes, probably you would argue that the N64/GC failure is rooted in the HW Interface and SW offerings.

And you basically agree with me. This thing just has gotten so big that some things were lost along the way. I wasn't arguing that third party games don't matter at all, just that they are not vital to Nintendo's success, hence why Nintendo themselves have to take the most blame for the N64 and GC failures.

Rol, yes promise we agree alot, but like arch said, it's not that 3rd parties don't matter and that Nintendo can fend for themselves. Way the opposite, 3rd parties are vital for this one thing: " you can't deny the importance of games like Metal Gear, Contra, Final Fantasy, etc. which were integral in keeping all eyes on the NES and away from the competition; everything was on the NES except for Sega's first party games."

Of course Nintendo can fend for itself just with 1st party offerings. Of course! But the danger is always present "How long will Mario sell? How long will Brain Age sell?"

When you have all your company files on a file repository, you NEED a backup just in case things go wrong. Nintendo's DR system is its relationship with 3rd parties. Its heart is its 1st party, its backup is its 3rd party relations. They need, vitally need to get that resolved. Where N64 failed, of course along with what you said granted a Blue Ocean strategy at the time of the N64 would have worked given all the other variables were in place (disks, good 3rd party relations, etc.). But to discount those variables and simply state that a blue ocean strategy would have been the be all end all is really really limited. Educated YES! I admire your getting into your books, I really do.

But ultimately, you really can't deny the importance of Nintendo's business mistakes at the beginning of gen 4, to the dismay of many a fan (myself included).

Listen, Arch's opinion is very similar to mine, he just has a much better memory of the events in gens 4 & 5 (I've watched him post). Though the arg is with me, you need to be able to address arch if you want to convince me too.

What exactly do I need to address? Archbrix said that the Gamecube ultimately failed due to a lack of differentiation and poor first party offerings. That was the main point you disagreed with.

I would never deny that third party exclusives on the NES sealed the system's ultimate victory over all possible competitors, but like Archbrix said, the NES was already successful before the huge wave of third party games arrived.

If things go wrong nowadays, third parties wouldn't be a viable backup plan. With everything being multiplatform, it's NIntendo who must deliver reasons why people should buy their system. If they fail to do that, then all third party games in the world are not going to help, because they are available everywhere else.

The danger with the Wii U is that Nintendo could believe that they can take it easy when they get full third party support. No. They need to work as hard as ever and they need to pack in a Wiimote and Nunchuk with every system to avoid a situation where people say that this Nintendo system isn't for them anymore. People left Nintendo before when they opted for complicated looking controllers (N64 and GC), they will do it again. And of course, Nintendo must continue to make games for these people.

By the way, N64 is fifth generation, GC is sixth. Not the first time you got that wrong today.

Lastly, thanks for the kind words in your following post. It's nice to see you stop siding with Joelcool7's line of thinking (I know he isn't here, but he has a lot of things backwards). Canadian solidarity and patriotism should only go so far.

@bold. You are one clever puppy. That is the only part of his post I disagreed with. But your post addressed it already fairly well (2 players per cart!). Then again, Nintendo goes back to its roots and that's the way to go. So, remembering your prior post, you are looking for a specific type of differentiation (like you said new concepts -> New IPs, not just new in old clothes, I get that). Then again, easy position to take. A game goes bad "Oh, bad differentiation!", but a game like Galaxy does well for its suit, and "That was true to its roots". Though I agree Sunshine was WACKED, it was an excellent game. It did alienate me personally tough, so did DD.

@3rd parties on NES. So true, but do you realize what a boon they were to the PS1 platform? To 3rd parties?? Their importance varies form era to era.

@Backup viability. And why not? of course it depends where you are within a gen, but say Sony had stopped releasing 1st party PS1 games in 1998, would it have really mattered? No. Once you have the install base established, it's over.

@Resting on your laurels. Of course I don't advocate that. That's like basing everything on your backup solution. Not good. And for the bundled WiiChuck I agree with you.

@Gen count. You know what I meant. OK 5th gen for N64, 6th for Cube, oki. After all the more important things you got wrong in general here, pfff this is nothing. Anyways we aren't here to measure who's right and who's wrong, but just in case.

@Kind words. Geez you're my friend man. Joel is a great poster, sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I really don't (the last Mario thread should have proven that to you). It's not cause I'm Canadian that I am like Joel? That's crazy thinking! Some other people on this forum I associate so much to, but are from very different parts of the world (you included). I'm so upset you had that wrong man.



crissindahouse said:
i have a question to amercians or other people who know that. you always have the prices without tax on the price tags in the shops and not like here in europe with tax included, right? (had a discussion with one from here about that)

so if you buy a console there and the official release price will be 299 does this mean you have to pay 299 and the price tag in the shop is like 299-tax or is the price tag 299 and you have to pay that + tax of this region?

this would maybe mean that we europeans don't have to pay as much more as i always thought.

i know you can buy it over the internet and many don't pay tax then but "officially" this would be maybe a smaller difference then?

Its $299 plus whatever sales tax is in your state or city and all our prices always end in .99. So for where I live it would be $299.99 + 9.1% ($27.30) = $327.29 would be my total.



happydolphin said:
RolStoppable said:
happydolphin said:
RolStoppable said:

@Kind words. Geez you're my friend man. Joel is a great poster, sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I really don't (the last Mario thread should have proven that to you). It's not cause I'm Canadian that I am like Joel? That's crazy thinking! Some other people on this forum I associate so much too, but are from very different parts of the world (you included). I'm so upset you had that wrong man.

 

Am I one of these people? ^.^"

(Sorry Rol, I don't know how to effectively delete posts from a quote. Not even sure if you are allowed to.)



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pezus said:
NintendoPie said:

Am I one of these people? ^.^"

(Sorry Rol, I don't know how to effectively delete posts from a quote. Not even sure if you are allowed to.)

I'm pretty sure he was only talking about me

I haven't seen him talk to you that much... but... seems legit. ;)



superchunk said:
crissindahouse said:
i have a question to amercians or other people who know that. you always have the prices without tax on the price tags in the shops and not like here in europe with tax included, right? (had a discussion with one from here about that)

so if you buy a console there and the official release price will be 299 does this mean you have to pay 299 and the price tag in the shop is like 299-tax or is the price tag 299 and you have to pay that + tax of this region?

this would maybe mean that we europeans don't have to pay as much more as i always thought.

i know you can buy it over the internet and many don't pay tax then but "officially" this would be maybe a smaller difference then?

Its $299 plus whatever sales tax is in your state or city and all our prices always end in .99. So for where I live it would be $299.99 + 9.1% ($27.30) = $327.29 would be my total.

ok thx! then the differeence is smaller than i always thought and i believe in most forums people are talking about when they talk about the bad console price difference between usa and europe. this would mean here in germany, the console wouldn't be 299.99€, it would be 252.09€ without tax (yeah tax is higher in most of europe lol). that would be $336 without tax in germany and not $400 like i always thought

now i understand the difference then, it's not really so big anymore!



Obviously no sizeable HDD is included, and since the Upad has motion tech, we have to assume no wiimote plus or nunchuk as well. That's the only way I can see a low $299 justified, because Nintendo cannot go weak on the power front. Their aim has to be, minimally speakingk PS2-esque, where all the multi-platforms go through Wii U...porting to the other consoles. 720 KineXt, PS4 will create powerhouses but the big N has to make sure that disadvantage only apply only to their exclusives. if that happens, then we'll see on equal graphical ground who would win on the Maddens, GTA, etc competing strictly with their unique method of play...Wii Universe, Microsoft KineXt, or PS4.



se7en7thre3 said:
Obviously no sizeable HDD is included, and since the Upad has motion tech, we have to assume no wiimote plus or nunchuk as well. That's the only way I can see a low $299 justified, because Nintendo cannot go weak on the power front. Their aim has to be, minimally speakingk PS2-esque, where all the multi-platforms go through Wii U...porting to the other consoles. 720 KineXt, PS4 will create powerhouses but the big N has to make sure that disadvantage only apply only to their exclusives. if that happens, then we'll see on equal graphical ground who would win on the Maddens, GTA, etc competing strictly with their unique method of play...Wii Universe, Microsoft KineXt, or PS4.

Xbox and Gamecube games later in the generation we're both superior (at least graphically) in 3rd party releases to the PS2 version.  (See Splinter Cell or Resident Evil 4)

I don't expect anything different for this gen.   However, at least the Wii U will be worth porting a low end version of all 3rd Party releases to, which is more important anyhow. 



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se7en7thre3 said:
Obviously no sizeable HDD is included, and since the Upad has motion tech, we have to assume no wiimote plus or nunchuk as well. That's the only way I can see a low $299 justified, because Nintendo cannot go weak on the power front. Their aim has to be, minimally speakingk PS2-esque, where all the multi-platforms go through Wii U...porting to the other consoles. 720 KineXt, PS4 will create powerhouses but the big N has to make sure that disadvantage only apply only to their exclusives. if that happens, then we'll see on equal graphical ground who would win on the Maddens, GTA, etc competing strictly with their unique method of play...Wii Universe, Microsoft KineXt, or PS4.

Its already noted to have internal flash memory of some size plus the capablity to add an external HDD and/or SD card. So, yes it won't have  a "sizeable HDD" and I'd bet around 4 to 8GB of internal flash.

However, I strongly think it will include a wiimote+ and nunchuk in the package along with a bundled game. Reasoning is it will increase its value for the mass consumer and provide some with their first WM+ device. Additionally, they are VERY cheap for Nintendo to make and provide along with the new pad.

The rest of the specs that are strongly rumored I have in my thread in my sig. It will be a really good jump from PS360 levels and relatively close to PS4/X720 when they release in 2013.