It's no secret that this is looking to be the lowest selling generation for Nintendo, there are many theories for this and I think price is a major factor.

Back in 1998, Gameboy Color was released for $69.99, adjusted for inflation that's about $100 today. Back in 2003, Gameboy Advance SP released for $99.99 and in 2004 received a price cut to $79.99 or about $100 in 2015 money.

Back in 1998, N64 cost $129.99 and in 1999 it went down to $99.99 while GameCube cost $99.99 in 2003. Adjusted for inflation, both of these devices would cost under $149.99. So basically in the late 90s/early 00s, u could get a Nintendo handheld for about $100 and a Nintendo console for under $150 or under $250 for both. Now let's compare that to Nintendo's current devices.

The premium 3DS sku is $199.99 and has been for almost 3 years now. Wii U is $299.99 and has been since launch in 2012 but now with more value packed in. To get both its about $500. So adjusted for inflation, Nintendo's handheld & console cost about twice as much as they did in the late 90s/early 00s. Do u think this has a major impact on their sales?

It did.
Both 3DS and Wii U were made with expensive designs. I wonder if Nintendo will stick with those ideas.

It's certainly a factor.

Although, the 3DS, while not selling a lot compared to other portables, still has decent numbers, and several other factors didn't help the Wii U as well, including poor marketing.

Ya 3DS still has sold pretty well, 52 million and counting is certainly not a bad number but when u compare it to what GBC/GBA were doing on a year to year basis, it's pretty underwhelming. And ya I agree their are certainly other factors at play as well, I just feel that price is a big part of it.

I see the WiiU's 300$ price point as a hope that they still have a lot of price drops coming before they go for their next console.

I'm not sure they will, at this point they probably just want to make as much money off it as possible since they had 3 years of losses this generation. Probably a $50 cut this September to go along with Mario Maker. Perhaps another $50 cut in Spring 2017 about 6 months before the successor releases. And I think that will be it, they will probably discontinue it shortly after the successor releases and just let retailers do their own sales to get rid of stock.

For Wiiu I believe so. I'm one of the few people where I live who owns a wiiu and when people ask me if it is worth getting, I always advise them not to get one at the current price. It is overpriced. It should be $199. 3ds is priced well in my opinion because of how cheap you can get a 2ds. I see them for $99 which is hard to beat.

Nope.

Theres a reason why this arguement doesn't apply to the other systems like PS2, 360, PS3, Wii, even PSP, systems which have outsold both Gameboy and N64.

Comapare the Gamecube and N64's line up and image to that of the Wii U and you have your answer as to why the Wii U has fallen short.

Compare the novelty and monopoly of the Handheld market back in 1998 to what we have today and you have the answer for the 3DS. Even support wise the 3DS has a fraction of the games GB+DS had, but the main culprit of course is mobile gaming


Price is factor, but not a major one. How much is a 2DS anyway?

regarding the Wii U I think history has shown that people aren't really interested in secondary consoles unless they're very unique, otherwise I would have imagined the gamecube would have sold way more then 20m at its price.

I think yes, but only a little.

The only console I have ever bought day one was the Gamecube, because it was released at a perfect price (200€ here in Europe) Otherwise I always wait for a price cut until it gets to that price approximately.

I had considered getting a Wii U, but both the lack of interesting third party games (I'm not a huge Nintendo fan) and no price cut means no sale for me.

Talking for myself, Yes. I want to buy a Wii U at some point, but I do not have $300 to spend in a console that I know is going to be my secondary (for my gaming tastes).

The Wii U has many games I want to play (Zelda WW, Splatoon, Mk8, Lego City, SM3DW, Bayonetta, Zombie U, Zelda U, Metroid series etc), but it is also missing WAAAAYYY TOO MANY games I'm not willing to give up on (Mortal Kombat, FarCry, Assasins Creed, Witcher, Shadow of Mordor, Dragon Age, Batman, Tom Raider, Uncharted, Bloodborne, Killer Instinc, Street Figther, Metal Gear, The Division, COD, Star Wars, Battlefield, etc, etc, etc.)

I suspect most gamers see it as a secondary console nowadays, but are not willing to shell that much money for it.