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Forums - Nintendo - Wii U: The price is right or is $299 the new $599?

Wagram on 13 September 2012

Price is reasonable.



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crissindahouse on 13 September 2012

doesn't the premium pack get nintendo land or why isn't it mentioned in the list in op?



oni-link on 13 September 2012
Wagram said:
Price is reasonable.


Especially considering the last gen HD systems are still currently selling close to that much at the moment. Heck even the struggling Vita, which currently lacking compelling games is selling at $300!!!



dharh on 13 September 2012

It's a fine price. I mean, I'm not excited about the console itself since I think traditional controllers should be the primary controller instead of the wiimote or the wiipad, but it hits a good price spot I think all consoles should shoot for. The costs of an extra wiipad however, that shits expensive yo.



A warrior keeps death on the mind from the moment of their first breath to the moment of their last.
HappySqurriel on 13 September 2012

One thing about the price I forgot to mention is that, while the Wii U system costs more than the Wii did at launch, I will probably end up spending far less on the Wii U because of Nintendo's unprecedented re-use of accessories.



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neerdowell on 13 September 2012
TheShape31 said:

I think for the hardware that's involved, each tier should easily have cost $50 less. We were told a long time ago by Reggie that they were going to make a solid profit from day one. So taking into consideration the economic climate, and the fact that Nintendo is no doubt making more than $50 per console, I think the prices are unreasonable. They've even convinced the general public that their Wii U Game Pad costs a ton of money. But aside from being a normal controller, there's only a simple, single-touch screen on it, and a very low quality camera.  Things like NFC and internal microphones, etc., are not new technologies and are inexpensive to produce. The more people use the word 'tablet' to define it, the more others are convinced that there's actual built-in tablet hardware of some kind. I wouldn't doubt that the Wii U Game Pad costs them close to $50 to manufacture. And considering how easily those companies can profit off of peripherals, they can charge $100-$150 without flinching.

What if Nintendo is making $100 on their Premium model? It's not outside the realm of possibility. And does anyone really thing that Nintendo is looking out for the best interests of your wallet before those of their investors and shareholders? The people that realize and don't care are the same ones who have propelled Apple to be worth more than any company in the world. But I digress.

To address the title of this thread, the answer is no. $299 is absolutely not the new $599. Believe it or not, $599 was an incredible deal for what you were getting. Sony was losing around $200 per console sold. $299 for the Wii U, on the other hand, is not a deal, it represents an overpriced and overvalued product. I wish more people understood how relevant that comparison is instead of saying, "well, at least it's not $599"... How about instead seeing the truth of the matter and realizing, "you know, the PS3 was actually a much better deal than this".

How refreshing it is to hear someone recognize my own sentiments, particularly with how often they are disregarded. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment on value vs. cost and it is why I purchased the ps3 when it was still $500. On the Wii U, while I do think the cost is a little high I would not hold it against them to recuperate R & D; however, it would be nice for them to drop it shortly thereafter to a more reaonable profit margin. I understand businesses are businesses but there is a difference between smart businesss practices and blatantly disrespecting your consumers which I feel many businesses are guilty of.



How do you breathe again?

Kyuubi Ricky SSJ2 on 13 September 2012
pezus said:
Kyuubi Ricky SSJ2 said:
Amazon UK have upped their prices from £200 (basic) and £250 (premium) to £250 (basic) and £300 (premium)... Bastards!


What the fuck. So will that be the official price in the UK?

There is no official price because the retailers get to choose the price in Europe. So it can go up or down at any time. I wouldn't be surprised if the prices dropped by £30 by the time it launches, just like what happened with 3DS where everyone priced it at £230 when it got annouced but by the time it released it was £200. 



Roma on 13 September 2012

wow I can't believe there are still idiots out there believing its just on par with PS360 with 4 times the ram which is newer as well + a GPGPU that runs the equivalent of direct x 10.1 or higher!

anyway the price is what I expected!



    R.I.P Mr Iwata :'(

blackstarr on 13 September 2012
neerdowell said:
TheShape31 said:

I think for the hardware that's involved, each tier should easily have cost $50 less. We were told a long time ago by Reggie that they were going to make a solid profit from day one. So taking into consideration the economic climate, and the fact that Nintendo is no doubt making more than $50 per console, I think the prices are unreasonable. They've even convinced the general public that their Wii U Game Pad costs a ton of money. But aside from being a normal controller, there's only a simple, single-touch screen on it, and a very low quality camera.  Things like NFC and internal microphones, etc., are not new technologies and are inexpensive to produce. The more people use the word 'tablet' to define it, the more others are convinced that there's actual built-in tablet hardware of some kind. I wouldn't doubt that the Wii U Game Pad costs them close to $50 to manufacture. And considering how easily those companies can profit off of peripherals, they can charge $100-$150 without flinching.

What if Nintendo is making $100 on their Premium model? It's not outside the realm of possibility. And does anyone really thing that Nintendo is looking out for the best interests of your wallet before those of their investors and shareholders? The people that realize and don't care are the same ones who have propelled Apple to be worth more than any company in the world. But I digress.

To address the title of this thread, the answer is no. $299 is absolutely not the new $599. Believe it or not, $599 was an incredible deal for what you were getting. Sony was losing around $200 per console sold. $299 for the Wii U, on the other hand, is not a deal, it represents an overpriced and overvalued product. I wish more people understood how relevant that comparison is instead of saying, "well, at least it's not $599"... How about instead seeing the truth of the matter and realizing, "you know, the PS3 was actually a much better deal than this".

How refreshing it is to hear someone recognize my own sentiments, particularly with how often they are disregarded. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment on value vs. cost and it is why I purchased the ps3 when it was still $500. On the Wii U, while I do think the cost is a little high I would not hold it against them to recuperate R & D; however, it would be nice for them to drop it shortly thereafter to a more reaonable profit margin. I understand businesses are businesses but there is a difference between smart businesss practices and blatantly disrespecting your consumers which I feel many businesses are guilty of.

It's difficult to compare Nintendo and Sony/Microsoft directly because Nintendo is solely a gaming company and doesn't have profits from other divisions to fall back on. So if what TheShape31 is saying about the costs is true, we can still somewhat excuse Nintendo for being so darn needy for profits.

On the other hand, I've heard people bring up this point for years and as true as it is, I can't imagine how much money Nintendo must make from their exorbitant first-party software sales (which m/s can only dream of mirroring) and of course... their merchandising (which m/s can't even begin to do, since they haven't invested into franchises like Nintendo has). 

I think it would be "nice" for Nintendo to drop the price of Wii U on a sheer "I am a consumer who wants cheap things" impulse. But we all know why Nintendo had to cut the price of 3DS, and I hope that Nintendo doesn't have to reach that point with Wii U. Because if Wii U doesn't do well from the onset, Nintendo may be one step closer to becoming just another software company...



crissindahouse on 13 September 2012

wrong thread...