Rubido, as I said Nintendo is following the Blue Ocean Strategy, it's not simply a separate market of core and casual consumers which Nintendo need to win. This strategy REQUIRES non-competition over the core market, it doesn't work if you try to compete for it(by which I mean, react with price cuts, spend more money on core games than your competitors, etc.). I suggest you read about it, the link in my sig is useful for that.

There is absolutely no reason for Nintendo to cut the price on any of it's consoles. Hell, they probably now wish they could actually increase the price.

As for Japan, please. That market is shrinking before our eyes (maybe except for handhelds). As someone said Japan needs games to sell the console, not a price cut.

The 360 is "almost free" there and that only blips on the radar once in a full moon (like this week).

A price cut would make no sense, especially in America. In the short run, it would just damage Nintendo's revenue, because they still can't meet supply

Hopefully by the end of the year they will have finally brought up supply to meet demand consistently. We saw a glimpse of the numbers Wii can push while adequately supplied last Christmas, but we could see that for the whole year 'round

If Nintendo does a price cut even in Japan, let alone in all the markets, it would just show incompetence on Nintendo's part.

In the business world, such drastic movements can kill a business and if all of the companies in an industry carry out such drastic measures, it can kill an industry.

So Nintendo has only been selling ~20k consoles for the Wii. Boo hoo hoo woe is them. They are constantly selling at least 45k DS systems and have been on the top of the Japanese sales chart for a while (after the MH effect on the PSP died down and the DSi craze started). And, the most important of all things, is that consoles are now the secondary system in Japan. There is a cultural shift in Japan right now and the people want to play their games, but also go outside and do something.

Right now, games are the only reason to buy consoles and/or pay attention to them. And currently, the 360 and PS3 are getting their games and are getting their respective and deserving console boosts. When the Wii gets their games, like MH3, the Wii will get the attention their console boosts.

This is the same thing when accounting "core" gamers and the Wii; when - not if but when - the Wii gets the games that garner the attention span of the "core" gamer, the Wii will get sold even more so. The Wii, as others have already mentioned, is cheap as it is. Those who say otherwise are either making excuses or seriously have spent a lot of money on other things and just wish it was cheaper so they can afford to buy another system. The only thing missing for those "core" gamers who don't have a Wii (or who sold them) are games that appeal to their interests.

That is it. It is as simple as that.

No. The Wii has sold 50 million consoles. With numbers like that, there has to be a fair amount hardcore gamers among them. Hardcore games are starting to do considerably better and that will increase as time goes on.

As long as the Wii is the top selling console week after week, they won't drop the price. By the end of this year, they will probably have sold 75 million. I'm sure there will be a lot of hardcore gamers along with lots of games to support their gaming needs.

Yeah, due solely to a single big release there. This has has happened many times this gen, in Japan and elsewhere, and it always ends the same way: a week or two of high sales, and then it crashes and burns back to where it belongs. Even the mighty Halo3 and GTA4 failed to break the pattern, and the only point when it was even stretched a little was when Sony did the one-two punch of the PSPSlim and Crisis Core (which got it a whole whopping three weeks).

Nintendo has nothing to worry about.

They will drop the price when demand is low.

i don't think that would be true. nintendo isn't competing with the hd consoles, so whether they are selling as mcuh as them or not is not a factor. nintendo will drop the price when supply outpases demand for a long enouch time, and they think that a price cut will increase sales enouch to cover the profits they'd be giving up.

They will cut first in Japan, then about 6 months after that announce cuts for other regions (which at the moment dont need it)

the demand is still there as I know of people who had given up on getting one because they couldnt find one on shelves...

I think they might cut the price in Japan this year. Maybe.

Q4 2010 for everyone else. IMO.