$70/£50 Pricecut before the holidays.

I think the Ambassador talk kinda needs to stop.

I bought an N64 at launch and a GameCube at launch, and both dropped in price well under a year, and we never complained. Pretty much all of Nintendo's modern consoles from SNES-GCN all had price cuts within like 9 months from launch.

The 3DS was only extreme because it was like 4 months after launch in North America.

A price drop for the Wii U by next September/October is certainly enough time from launch that IMO people who bought at launch don't have much right to complain. Don't buy consoles at launch if you want the cheapest price. That's just part of the deal of having the be an early adopter.

GameCube launched in November 2001 and was cut in price by $50 by the following April. N64 launched at the end of September (1996) of had its first price drop the following March (1997). SNES launched in late August 1991 and had its first price drop by spring 1992. If Wii U, which is selling worse than all three of those machines out of the gate, has a price drop by around Sept/Oct of this year, it's well in line with other Nintendo consoles.

The Wii (2006) was just an anamoly among Nintendo consoles, there was no need to drop its price for a long time because it was constantly sold out for like 2 years. We'll probably never see a console sell that fast out of the gates ever again.

Ok all Nintendo needs to do is

1. Make a price drop. Right now there are 2 versions of the WiiU. The Basic version which is white and has 8GB, then you have the Deluxe Version which is black and holds 32GB. The basic costs $300 and the Deluxe costs $350. Honestly 8GB and 32GB is not enough when you see a PS3 at 500GB. Maybe 200GB for $300 and 500GB for $400. i dont reallty know what they could do at this point.

2. More Games. Nobody is going to buy a system without games, its a horrible thing to invest in. More games like Mario is good but you need NEW IP's to attract more and you need just as many 3rd party games as the PS4 and Xbox ONE.

3. More Bundles. You need a variety for the consumer. say people dont like a black console, dont you think they would like more than 8GB in their console. Then you need more colors. i mean personally Color on a console doesnt mean shit, but some like the variety or style their console has. Bundles are also important, for the console to cost $400 - $500 they are gonna have to include alot of games 2 -3. Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pokemon ALL in ONE Bundle come buy a WiiU for only $400. thats a nice deal dont you think.

So if Nintendo can just Add Memory to their console along with a price cut, and have more games and bundles they should be able to do just as good as the XBOX ONE.

Yeah, I realize I contradicted myself there a bit, but I just think that if Nintendo really wants to get to the mainstream, a price below $ 300 is imperative. I'm not sure how much manufacturing costs can drop until then or at what rate, but I think the effort needs to be made even if the numbers don't completely match. Between this year releases and the ones announced for 2014, I see next year as the defining moment for the platform, when all these key releases are out there. Keep in mind though that I wasn't really aiming for spring per se, but around a time between Mario Kart and Smash. If Smash ends up being a holiday release, I would wait until summer for it. It's hard to pinpoint a specific time frame without knowing the exact release schedule, but what I would aim for is to be between these 2 releases and as close as possible to each other, while giving it time to get momentum going before the holidays.

I'm obviously not opposed to the idea of bundles and memory increases to add value as a way to entice consumers, but as I mentioned before, I see it as a secondary measure. I would prefer to have more than that (small price cut included here) to get to consumers next year. This kind of actions would be better suited for the holidays or close to them (either this year or the next) to complement the usual holiday deals from retailers.

As far as 3DS goes, I can't say I agree with the idea of seeing it as "competition" like that... Even if it were, Nintendo wins either way ! ^_^  I do understand your point though of not having both price cuts too close to each other, but I don't really expect one in 2014 for 3DS, unless its big releases really dissapoint to substantially increase hardware as I'm hoping and expecting they do, or unless we see a new model, which would inevitably take a good deal of attention no matter when it happens. The way I see it, the price is already low enough for it to be a non-factor for most people, so I don't expect much from a new cut. The software will determine its potential from now on.

Now, regarding the gamepad discussion that others brought up... I don't really want to get much into it, but I'll just say this. Even if the device itself were doomed to failure as some claimed, the platform is already married to it. To remove the key hardware element that makes the platform unique at this point, ignoring the games that require it already out there and the ones that are being developed right now, is suicide. I don't see anything to gain from it, as without it, the WiiU is just an "underpowered" regular console hardware-wise, with a Wiimote add-on that many owners might not have. It would be terribly confusing to consumers to know which game uses which controller, and you would have to abstain from creating any game that meaningfully uses any of them. And ditching it is certainly not a requirement to support the Wiimote or the classic controller, so that's no excuse for it.

Personally, I believe that the issue with the gamepad's appeal lies mostly on its software. A tool is as good as what you do with it, and I don't see any critical flaw that makes its concept irrelevant. I can understand that some people just don't care for it, but the same was true for the Wiimote as well. And I don't see any evidence that suggests that most people will actively avoid the platform because of it. Disinterest perhaps, but actual hate ? I don't think so. If the software is good enough, it will attract people, even if they end up using it just as a regular gamepad. After all, many popular Wii games didn't depend on the Wiimote either, and some games even used it sideways as a regular controller.

PS: This post ended up being longer than I intended it to be...

all good since you brought up good points that's hard to contradict.  Thanks for supporting me regarding the gamepad.

What do you mean "you have to pick a USB hard-drive for the system"? I don't have to buy a HDD for my Wii U.

I'd say it's already pretty good value. They just need to keep the games coming.

Glad to be of service. ^_^

I don't think there's really much they can still do. Barely 3 million consoles sold, most publishers giving it limited to no support, first party games coming out to compete with newer consoles. Nintendo is just not popular anymore, as it once was. Teens, kids, young people most go for Xbox or Playstation, it's really that simple. Nintendo had its run with the Wii and the casual audience, now that they lost touch with it, not many see anything valuable in the Wii U.

Wii U console is expensive, complicated, lacks content, is outdated, it's not popular. How the rest of the consoles will do, is still up in the air. They could fail as well. But what's clear to me is that the Wii U is a failure and there's probably nothing that can be done to revert this. Nintendo will struggle a lot. Specially in Japan, they will have big troubles there as there's absolutely NO support at all for the console and it has reached levels that not even the most pessimistic people would have predicted. I guess taht's why Iwata became CEO of NoA, there's risk there will be no more business for him in the home console segment in Japan in the next copule of years, PS4 will engulf everything that 3DS or Vita aren't getting.

Paragraph 1: I agree. A price cut in Q2 (April - June) would likely be the best. I wouldn't wait any longer than that though unless sales begin to pick up once high-quality games come out later this year. Waiting too long would make the price cut irrelevant at that point. Bundles do add value but you are correct, retailers often do this themselves, especially during the Holiday's. making an official bundle wouldn't do much.

P2: I don't think the price is low enough yet. I don't believe smartphones prevent gaming HH's from selling like they used to, but consumers do expect more for their money these days. Plus, as I said before, Nintendo's past HH's have all launched at a lower price than the 3DS currently is. The 3DS is more advanced for its time when compared to their other systems but the price is still a big factor to potential customers. Either way, a price cut would boost sales even more if the sales do continue to pick up with big releases. 3DS has a lot of potential left IMO. Unless Nintendo is planning to keep the 3DS for much longer than they have in the past, I would cut price soon.

P3: I don't have a Wii U so I can't really judge the Gamepad but it looks to be a nice little thing once you have it. I agree that it'd be dumb to take it out now. They haven't utilized it well but I think Wii Party U will help.