Author Topic: Reggie Admits that the Wii package is profitable (Read 15771 times)

jasonditz · « **Reply #25 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:10:25 PM »

If end price is able to trump all other concerns so easily, why release a new console at all? The Gamecube is being sold profitably at $100 a pop, wouldn't that, being an even lower end price, be even more appealing to customers? Of course then we'd have to ask why the Gamecube isn't flying off the shelves right now, wouldn't we?

Moreover, why doesn't Majesco get back into the business of Sega Genesis manufacturing? Surely those could be made profitably for $30-$40 these days.

KDR_11k · « **Reply #26 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:12:39 PM »

This is aimed at shareholders, not the general customer base. Or mabye those customers who think Nintendo is on the verge of bankrupcy.

wandering · « **Reply #27 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:17:50 PM »

Quote
The Gamecube is being sold profitably at $100 a pop, wouldn't that, being an even lower end price, be even more appealing to customers?

As far as I can tell, the GameCube doesn't have a motion sensitive controller...

Mario didn't say the price trumped all concerns. He said customers care about the experience and the price, not how much the manufacturer paid for the internal components.

Quote
This is aimed at shareholders, not the general customer base. Or mabye those customers who think Nintendo is on the verge of bankrupcy.

That's what I was figuring.

King of Twitch · « **Reply #28 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:24:10 PM »

"why should I pay cost + margin for a Nintendo console when I can get a different one for cost - subsidy?"

Today Microsoft is subsidizing your console, tomorrow they're subsidizing your living room.

An extra $50 from the 4 million early Wii adopters puts $200 million in their bank account to stop this campaign.

jasonditz · « **Reply #29 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:24:19 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: wandering

As far as I can tell, the GameCube doesn't have a motion sensitive controller...

That sounds sort of like what I was trying to say, that end price ISN'T the most important thing to the customer.

Kairon · « **Reply #30 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:39:39 PM »

Oh, okay.

But the extent to which a company subsidizes a console is WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY down that list. If it's on the list of consumer concerns at all.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

SixthAngel · « **Reply #31 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:45:24 PM »

How dare a company actually make money off a product they sell!

When Nintendo makes money off of things like the console they don't have to rip the customers off in other aspects. Nintendo lets you use the SD cards you already have and buy ones they don't make a profit off of, the xbox memory cards cost about $40. Why don't people talk about how Nintendo gave up a chance to make profit and helped us out by going SD cards?

jasonditz · « **Reply #32 on:** September 14, 2006, 09:53:16 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon
Oh, okay.

But the extent to which a company subsidizes a console is WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY down that list. If it's on the list of consumer concerns at all.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Not directly, sure, but it translates into things the customer would care about. Subsidy is not fully distinct from end price.

Arbok · « **Reply #33 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:00:02 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
Nobody cares that Sony are taking a loss with PS3, or that Nintendo will make money from Wii.

Exactly. Joe Average isn't even going to know one way or the other anyway. You tell someone who is a casual gamer that Sony probably lost money when they sold him his PS2, and he will likely be surprised by that fact. In the end, it simply doesn't matter.

jasonditz · « **Reply #34 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:03:54 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: SixthAngel
How dare a company actually make money off a product they sell!

When Nintendo makes money off of things like the console they don't have to rip the customers off in other aspects. Nintendo lets you use the SD cards you already have and buy ones they don't make a profit off of, the xbox memory cards cost about $40. Why don't people talk about how Nintendo gave up a chance to make profit and helped us out by going SD cards?

Might be interesting then to ask why Nintendo stuck it to us so bad on memory cards this generation.

As for why people don't talk about it, I'm going to say it's because the competition has internal hard drives, so memory cards aren't really going to be a big factor this generation.

Kairon · « **Reply #35 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:19:18 PM »

Because they believed they could get away with it. Just Like MS with the 360 Core package... and Sony's break-two-times-in-five-years PS2s. For the most part, everybody got away with it didn't they?

Bottomline is that companies will price for as much profit as they believe they can, and the only power for a consumer is to decide whether or not to buy the finished product. And despite the profit they're making off the systems, the Wii is still a lower price than its competitors.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

IceCold · « **Reply #36 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:22:26 PM »

What about the 360's ridiculous price for accessories? I mean, $130 CDN for a WiFi adapter that is built in to the Wii?! Come on..

18 Days · « **Reply #37 on:** September 14, 2006, 10:33:32 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: 31 Flavas
But that's beside the point, Nintendo doesn't have a major secondary business, like Sony and Microsoft do to subsidise the price of the system. So, while I am honestly a bit miffed at the (direct) $50 price increase... I don't hold it against them.

INFLATION.
It's real.

I'd like to point your attention to the NES, SNES and N64.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #38 on:** September 14, 2006, 11:22:06 PM »

I still find it hilarious how some people are saying PS3 is a huge bargain at 600$, I'm sorry but even if they sell it at a big loss, I still want a game system. If I want crap like Bluray, I'll get one (or buy an add on), that to me is not a good bargain when you pay alot of money for stuff you don't want even if it is technically "worth it" when you factor in what it cost to make it. Maybe Sony should integrate the PS3 into a 60 inch plasma TV too for 3000$ that is probaly a "Great bargain" too

. BTW I was reading a bit more in the hardware of the Wii and I guess Nintendo is using some of the best materials for the casing (I can believe it, it does look like a sturdy machine), so it is possible that 99$ is off.

wandering · « **Reply #39 on:** September 14, 2006, 11:58:28 PM »

Well, it IS more affordable than the Neo-Geo was. That counts for something, right?

JonLeung · « **Reply #40 on:** September 15, 2006, 04:42:06 AM »

That's an interesting chart, 18 Days. Where'd you get that? I hope it gets updated with the Wii ('cause I'm too lazy to figure it out). Well, I'm guessing that it would be pretty close to the Nintendo 64...

KDR_11k · « **Reply #41 on:** September 15, 2006, 05:29:03 AM »

That's in the standard issue equipment Sony apologists get. It's somehow supposed to prove that the PS3 is NOT more expensive than any successful console before it. Now what it really needs is a graph plotting the (inflation adjusted or not) price of a normal office PC over that curve. Because inflation doesn't apply to electronics as much as comodization.

jasonditz · « **Reply #42 on:** September 15, 2006, 05:55:36 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
What about the 360's ridiculous price for accessories? I mean, $130 CDN for a WiFi adapter that is built in to the Wii?! Come on..

Please, if you know someone that's considering buying one of those, take an Official Xbox Magazine, roll it up really tight, and hit him with it.

There's absolutely no reason to spend that kind of money for Wifi, especially when Microsoft has given 360 owners a standard ethernet port. Amazon.com has Linksys WGA11B Wireless bridges for US$19.99. Those will work just fine.

couchmonkey · « **Reply #43 on:** September 15, 2006, 07:33:23 AM »

Thank you, KDR, for saying what I wanted to say only better.

Reggie is saying this more for investors than us. I don't think it's so bad that Nintendo is making a profit, although I do feel the company might hurt it's own "non-gamer" strategy with this. Then again, this time next year, the system will probably only be $200.

Arbok · « **Reply #44 on:** September 15, 2006, 07:40:47 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: JonLeung
That's an interesting chart, 18 Days. Where'd you get that? I hope it gets updated with the Wii ('cause I'm too lazy to figure it out). Well, I'm guessing that it would be pretty close to the Nintendo 64...

-_-'

It's going off of today's inflation so the Wii on that chart would be *drum roll* $250, just like the PS3 is $500/$600.

Ian Sane · « **Reply #45 on:** September 15, 2006, 08:01:03 AM »

I think they can somewhat get away with the console price at $250. I don't like it but it's still acceptable. $60 controllers aren't though and if they're making a profit on those they should lower the price to break even instead. It's absolutely ridiculous for a controller to cost more than a game, regardless of what technology is in it. I'm quite concerned the high price will bork multiplayer because few will bother buying extra controllers.

I also think it's pretty dumb to annouce that Nintendo is making a profit off of the hardware right after releasing the price and having almost everyone think "that's not as cheap as I was hoping." It's just bad timing. Plus it makes all those "we've got to keep costs down" excuses for skimping on the hardware look pretty selfish. All this talk about making things affordable and in reality they were just talking about lowering costs for THEM to make more profit. I think a cheaper console that breaks even would make more money off of game sales and third party licences than a more expensive one that makes a profit off of the hardware but might not sell as well without any real price advantage. But then Nintendo might just be doing this initially for the early adopters and then when it's time to sell to the non-gamers they lower the price. That's kind of a dick-headed thing to do but it would work.

It doesn't help Nintendo's incredibly justified reputation for trying to squeeze every last dollar out of everyone.

couchmonkey · « **Reply #46 on:** September 15, 2006, 08:06:02 AM »

Ian, you're right about the timing of hte announcement.

Sony will give you one great deal, they will actually lose money! Buy a PS3, everybody's doing it. Well, 500,000 people like me are.

Spak-Spang · « **Reply #47 on:** September 15, 2006, 08:11:39 AM »

I personally am glad Nintendo is making money from the start of the system. Nintendo took a small loss on the Gamecube's price from the start, and it really didn't help them at all.

I am sure Nintendo's pricing needs to be profitable because they are actually giving us alot of great gaming opportunities at some great prices. Remember online is free, but Nintendo still needs to invest alot of money in that network. Setting everything up for the virtual console costs money, and I am sure the profits for the virtual console go partially to maintaining free online.

I want Nintendo to be a successful and profitable business so that is never goes away. I don't care how much money the other companies bleed. Nintendo is doing great things with the Wii.

GoldenPhoenix · « **Reply #48 on:** September 15, 2006, 12:28:13 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
Ian, you're right about the timing of hte announcement.

Sony will give you one great deal, they will actually lose money! Buy a PS3, everybody's doing it. Well, 500,000 people like me are.

I still refuse to buy into the argument that PS3 is a great deal for every gamer, most of us don't want a blu-ray player so why should we pay that much for it? Like I said before great deals are fine if you get what you REALLY want with it. As I said before they could build it into a 60 inch Plasma TV for 3000$ or something, that would be a "Good deal" but what about those that only want the system? That isn't a good monetary deal for them!

RickPowers · « **Reply #49 on:** September 15, 2006, 01:05:50 PM »

If you have an HDTV, the PS3 is a great value. If you don't, it's not. It's pretty much that simple, sadly.

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Author Topic: Reggie Admits that the Wii package is profitable (Read 15771 times)