Wii has a pack-in game and no need to purchase a memory card, so the price is comparable to past Nintendo systems. I'll admit that it's still expensive relative to past consoles, considering the technology they used. That's the result of a shift in strategy for Nintendo to what they have always done with their handhelds, which is to make money on the hardware right from the start. Nintendo is in an amazing position right now with the Wii. Not only do they have the best selling console in every major market, but they have achieved that position without subsidizing the hardware. I don't know if the Wii will end up being the best selling console of all time (probably not) but I'd bet money that it will end up being the most profitable.

Good point AntiqueGamer, everyone talks just about the 120m of PS2s (which I highly doubt) but the real question is how much money they return.

Oh come on.  The difference between the PSOne, N64 and Saturn to the PS2, DC, GC and XBox was huge.  Plus the PS2 had a built in DVD which was costing around £150 alone at the time.

It costed $150 into retail. Sony would buy at a much lower price. My point is, the biggest expense for Sony,M and Nintendo so far has been the R&D phase. They have to make up for it

 What and the original Playstation didn't have any R&D

It did. It was just less expensive due to the lack of architecture redirection

There must be marketing studies showing there is demand for a "deluxe videogame system" pricing, as they keep cropping up every so many years... NEO GEO, CD-I, CDTV, 3DO, PS3, 360... I think the 360/PS3 are priced so high because both companies are basically scared of each other and wanted to offer "the best system". I read last autumn there was a survey done and the vast majority of the videogame public expected the PS3 at $299. (the vast majority of the videogame public not being fervent news readers). I think that was the first real sign of PS3 sales problems. I think the Wii is priced so (relatively) high because the other two systems are priced out of the market. Basically MS and SONY gave the green light for mad profits at Nintendo! {smiley}

Yeah, that's true. Because Xbox 360, and Playstation 3, were so expensive, Nintendo could up their price a little bit, and make even more money. I think the Wii could even get away at $299.