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Forums - Nintendo - Asda knocks £50 off Nintendo Wii U consoles, but will anyone care?

 

Console price-cuts usually take place a couple of years into a system's lifestyle, but the poor Nintendo Wii U has already been significantly devalued by one major retailer just three months after its UK launch.

With Nintendo adamant it will not introduce price cuts at this early stage, supermarket chain Asda has taken the initiative and slashed £50 off the RRP for its Wii U consoles.

In what seems like a desperate bid to shift some of the inventory following lower-than-expected Christmas sales, the company is now selling the Basic 8GB console (without games) for £199 on the Asda Direct site, down from the RRP of £249.

The 32GB Premium black version of the machine, complete with Nintendo Land, is now available for £249, which is also £50 off Nintendo's suggested price-tag.

Others to follow suit?

However, the £199 console-only deal isn't the cheapest we've seen yet. The ShopTo website is offering the Basic package for £190, but ASDA appears to be the first major retailer to dip below £200.

The questions now are whether other retailers will follow suit, and whether the price cut will have any impact on sluggish sales, which have seen the original Wii outsell its younger, more advanced sibling.

A Nintendo-sanctioned price-cut for the 3DS console certainly helped to overcome slow early adoption of the handheld device, but by the same token didn't catapult it to superstardom either.

With the Sony PS4 coming later this year and the next-generation Xbox likely to be revealed in the coming weeks will a £50 saving make any difference to the apathy that has surrounded the console since its release in November?

http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/consoles/asda-knocks-50-off-nintendo-wii-u-consoles-but-will-anyone-care-1135267

 

Gotta do something to sell the consoles I guess.



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I'd imagine it'll shift a fair few consoles, but ASDA isn't really that big a company games-wise so we won't se a huge difference.

This sort of thing always happens though.



 

Here lies the dearly departed Nintendomination Thread.

I will say this until it's permanently stuck in your head forever.

The Wii U needs games in order for it to sell. The hardware alone will not sell the console.



AgentZorn said:
I will say this until it's permanently stuck in your head forever.

The Wii U needs games in order for it to sell. The hardware alone will not sell the console.

Stuck in my head? I didn't write the article buddy, im just a messenger.



it is tempting to buy one, that is a big saving but Asda isn't that common where i live



Xbox Series, PS5 and Switch (+ Many Retro Consoles)

'When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called the people's stick'- Mikhail Bakunin

Prediction: Switch 2 will outsell the PS5 by 2030

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KylieDog said:
Conegamer said:
I'd imagine it'll shift a fair few consoles, but ASDA isn't really that big a company games-wise so we won't se a huge difference.


Supermarkets are sucking up loads of sales from independant retailers.

I usually hear of a lot of software sales from supermarkets, but only around big releases like Fifa/ COD. I didn't think they performed that well in the hardware market? But then again I guess supermarkets can offer a lot of stock for cheaper because the average famialy are already in there spending £80- £100 on their weekly shop.



sad little vita... driving fans to point their fingers


its going to be "poor ps4" in a year. especially when WiiU cuts price to $250 permanently just as $450 is sony's new asking price.. never bet against NINTENDO (^-^)



The price is not the main issue. There are currently extremely few incentives to own a Wii U, games are one part but software is not the main challenge either.



Mummelmann said:
The price is not the main issue. There are currently extremely few incentives to own a Wii U, games are one part but software is not the main challenge either.

Even if it had the software Id be hard pressed to buy one, it would have to be cheaper than a ps3 or 360 for me to even consider it, last gen consoles look more interesting to me than the WiiU does and having no friends that are slightly interested in the thing doesn't help either.



snyps said:

sad little vita... driving fans to point their fingers


its going to be "poor ps4" in a year. especially when WiiU cuts price to $250 permanently just as $450 is sony's new asking price.. never bet against NINTENDO (^-^)

So you think the PS4 will have trouble outselling the WiiU?