Topic: Wii Games Getting Pricier?

[Guitar Smasher]

Background:  I live in Canada.  In the days of SNES/N64 games retailed for $70-80.  Recently they went down to $60, and a few years back when the dollar reached par with the American Dollar, they reached $50 (which I understand is the same price as in the US).

But now I'm noticing many Wii games are back up to $60.  Not only that, but certain older games that I know I purchased at $50 (NSMBWii, for example), are now selling at the higher price.  Has anyone else noticed this?  Now I must admit I don't have a huge library of games, so I might just be off the mark entirely.

Why is this happening?  The dollar is still near par, so I can only conclude that NoA decided that the standard Wii title MSRP could match the 360/PS3 pricepoint, without a negative impact on sales.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[Shaymin]

Looking at the history of the dollar of the Canadian dollar against the greenback, maybe they made a lot of the purchases before the dollar neared par. It was about 90 cents on the dollar only up until a couple of weeks ago.

[Guitar Smasher]

Actually, since October it has averaged over 95 cents to the dollar.

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?from=CAD&to=USD&amt=1&t=1y

I hope this isn't Reggie's plan to boost profitability.  Have any Americans noticed anything similar?

[Mop it up]

I haven't seen prices change in the US. All Nintendo titles still have an MSRP of $50 like they've been since release (except for the odd few that launched at a different point, like Wii Fit).

[TJ Spyke]

Why is this happening?  The dollar is still near par, so I can only conclude that NoA decided that the standard Wii title MSRP could match the 360/PS3 pricepoint, without a negative impact on sales.

Two things.

First, maybe it is just the specific stores you looked at. For example, here in the US it is well known that FYE charges more for their games than most stores.

Second, Nintendo of Canada determine MSRP in Canada. Nintendo of America has nothing to do with it. As Mop said, the standard Wii game is and always has been a MSRP of $49.99. The only ones more expensive are music games (the Rock Band games without instruments are $59.99 even on Wii) or games bundled with peripherals.

[Kytim89]

It is long over due for the PS360 games to retail for $49.99 and wii games at $39.99.

[Chozo Ghost]

It is long over due for the PS360 games to retail for $49.99 and wii games at $39.99.

Why won't you capitalize Wii like you did for PS360?

[Guitar Smasher]

Why is this happening?  The dollar is still near par, so I can only conclude that NoA decided that the standard Wii title MSRP could match the 360/PS3 pricepoint, without a negative impact on sales.

Two things.

First, maybe it is just the specific stores you looked at. For example, here in the US it is well known that FYE charges more for their games than most stores.

Obviously I investigated a little before making this thread.  Futureshop/BestBuy and Walmart have games like NSMBWii, Punch Out!! and TP listed at $60.

Second, Nintendo of Canada determine MSRP in Canada. Nintendo of America has nothing to do with it. As Mop said, the standard Wii game is and always has been a MSRP of $49.99. The only ones more expensive are music games (the Rock Band games without instruments are $59.99 even on Wii) or games bundled with peripherals.

I assumed NoC fell under the umbrella of NoA.  In the most recent press release I could find on the NoC site (June 2010), this is mentioned:
Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. 
In fact the link to "corporate information" directs you nintendo.com's corporate site.  So I'm willing to bet business like MSRP is overseen by NoA.

And yes, the standard title msrp has been $49.99 up until the last couple months.  The first game I noticed at $59.99 was Galaxy 2.

Maybe other Canadians could confirm that they've seen this too?  I know Ian's out in a suburb of Vancouver (if I'm not mistaken), but who knows the last time he bought a Wii game?

[Guitar Smasher]

It is long over due for the PS360 games to retail for $49.99 and wii games at $39.99.

Why?  I can understand older games coming down in price, but we haven't experienced deflation yet.  And it's not like there's a newer console offering a better standard at the current price.

[KDR_11k]

Some stores here sell new games 10€ or so cheaper for the first few weeks, then raise the price to normal. Are you sure you're not seeing that with the games that went up in price?

[Guitar Smasher]

Some stores here sell new games 10€ or so cheaper for the first few weeks, then raise the price to normal. Are you sure you're not seeing that with the games that went up in price?

In the case of Galaxy 2, it started out at the higher price-point.  And I'm pretty sure the other titles I mentioned were only $50 up until recently (although I haven't actively checked as I bought them long ago).