ah, none of you people claiming X price drop will kill all others are going to contest my thoughts?

i agree - no need to cut anytime soon

For a second there, I thought this was a late April Fools Joke.

Very good points.

I agree with you - although we don't know the "timing" of a price cut next year, or what else Ninty has on the horizon. I think its more likely we'll see some "free" software bundles, i.e.:

- WiiFit pack (Wii, WiiSports + WiiFit) for $299
- WiiKart pack (Wii, WiiSports, WiiPlay + controller, Mario Kart) for $299
- Wii Gaming pack (Wii, WiiSports, Brawl) for $279
(etc)

...

If they keep the software like WiiFit coming at this rate - demand will continue to exceed supply for another 1-2 years. And that means NO need for any price cut (just convenient bundles to make it "simpler" to buy for gamers). I wonder if we'll ever see WiiFit + Wii sold in gym/exercise stores (same way I saw Nintendogs sold in pet stores).

As has been the case for Ninty over the last 2 years - the main thing they need to worry about is manufacturing. Nothing else.

Next generation, I wouldn't be surprised to see them launch at a higher price point to avoid this whole mess. They could have easily sold the first 10m Wii units at $50-$100 more, for an extra tidy $500m-$1bn in "pure profit" - then dropped the price as needed.

RolStoppable said: I am eagerly awaiting the day all the 360 and PS3 models match or undercut the Wii's price (the 360 Arcade is already €50 cheaper than the Wii in Europe). Nintendo won't drop the price until they really need to, just like with the DS. It will be interesting to see whether or not Microsoft and Sony dare to undercut or match the Wii's price. After all what kind of signal would that be to the customers if the "cutting-edge" systems cost less than the "last-gen" Wii.

Exactly right, but without the sarcasm.

I really don't ever see Sony matching or undercutting the wii's price.

It will never happen.  Not Ever.

You could make the argument that toasters are outselling the PS3, but Sony wouldn't dare match the price of a toaster.. would they? So why would they ever match the wii. They wouldn't.

Just because people may garnish attention on a retarded boy (since he's retarded), doesn't mean that a person of normal metal capacity should act retarded for the extra attention.

 @OP, if the wii introduced a new color, and/or a price cut- it might get me to buy one.

Of course nothing is definite. Even if anyone was being 100% resolute on any prediction regarding the console business, it hardly makes their stance any more likely.

But by making comparisons with Nintendo's pricing strategy with the DS, the odds are more likely your educated/informed guess will be more accurate.

Nintendo as a company is fairly predictable due to its conservative nature. If anything, they've become even more predictable in the interest of preserving the current strength of the company's underlying financials, which are the best they've ever been in the company's history. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; before Nintendo drops price on the Wii, we will see new colored consoles (a given) and possibly limited edition bundles with custom themes (like the custom Zelda DS bundle or Brain Age bundle) before any sort of price drop is realized so long as the Wii continues to match sales with current production.

It won't be until we start to see regular levels of inventory at retail outlets (over a period of months) that a price reduction option will be explored. This is far more important to Nintendo than competing with MS or Sony on a price/value comparison with hardware. In short, pricing of the 360 and PS3 is not the driving factor for potential reduced pricing for the Wii, UNLESS price cuts significantly effect Wii inventory levels. 

But as for the claim that the Wii could retail at $450 or $500 (above the 360 Elite or 40GB PS3) and still out perfom in sales, you couldn't me more off the target. It's a faulty assumption to say that because there is a limited market of people willing to pay over MSRP for a consumer product that it would sell at those inflated prices to the overall market. 

It matters less anyway since Ebay pricing for the Wii fluctuates regularly depending on demand. It's not as though Nintendo or any company would constantly keep altering the price of their consumer electronics to match. Last I checked, the Wii was going for about $300 on Ebay, which is less of a premium than just a couple months ago.

But that $250 price point has been one of the key factors in Nintendo's success this generation. 

 Definitely. It could be $250 easily until 2010.

 Eventually though a Bluray PS3 will be priced low enough that Wii sales will start to be similar. That's when Nintendo will feel the need is there to generate more buzz and ensure people see Wii's value is still much greater than the competition. That is why I say Summer of 2009 at th earliest.

If the PS3 is about $50 new with some bundled game/movie (as they normally sell it) then Wii might become par with PS3. This I think is self evedent in NA/EU now where the PS3 has more than doubled its previous sales from last year and is not being 'crushed' by Wii on a weekly basis. Now, I am not leoJ or some other sony guy crying PS3 domination @$299 etc, but, you have to admit a Bluray player PS3 will some good games only $50 more than the Wii might start to pull in the mass market people. When that happens Nintendo will drop to $200 or so.

What price were dvd players at when they finally outsold vhs players? I am pretty sure they were in the $250/$300 range. I know that's when I picked up one. In fact it was a Sony at $279. I was working at Circuit City and I am absolutely sure that is the same xmas that dvd players outsold vhs for the first time.

Basically I don't think Nintendo cares what price the 360 is at. I think that due to the bluray player the PS3 has the ability to sell to the same audience as the Wii, given its the right price. 

 yeah - could've made more profit. but as for the bundles u mentioned, i think the most likely one is the Wii Fit pack cause Ninty really wants to market Wii Fit and make sure it's a success in America 

 I didn't mean to imply the Wii would be at a higher price that it is now. Just that if the PS360 was at its price there is a good indication it would still be outselling them right now. The only factor is the bluray drive in the PS3. That is a pure mass market device and might force Nintendo to always be $100 lower than PS3 to maintain a definitive monthly sales lead.

The Wii will never need a price cut, nuff said.