Topic: Repackaging the Wii - thread of Wii wants and can't haves

[BlackNMild2k1]

The Wii is nearing it's 3rd year on the market. Same price point, same color, same pack-in game. Sales are still good, but nowhere near as good a they were 1 year ago. PS3 & Xbox360 have seen many price cuts over many different sku's with the latest PS3 price drop leading to a massive increase in sales.

This thread is about what could Nintendo possibly do, in the realm of practicality, to significantly raise interest and sales of the system. Not just in the eyes of "core" but also to the blue ocean audience. What can Nintendo do with the Wii that will see it trend back up to the record breaking pace of sales that it was enjoying at this time last year, for another year or until the successor is ready to be released? With the ideas you come up with, it would be nice if you also talk a little about why Nintendo would/should do it, since I'm sure someone else probably doesn't agree.

We have already talked about the unlikely WiiHD to death, so lets just leave that out of this discussion. ~Pale

ok, now that we have that out of the way, lets get this started.

I'm thinking the most obvious thing Nintendo can do besides releasing more colors and a price drop, would be more internal flash memory. 256k!? in 2009? I honestly think it would save Nintendo some pocket change to just upgrade the internal flash to atleast 1GB if not 2. I can buy a single 2gb sd card or usb drive for about $5, I can only imagine how cheap it must be without external casing and an order placed of a minimum of 1million units

Another possible attention getter would be a redesigned Wiimote with M+ built in and bundled with the system. A Wiimote+ if you will. Repackage the system as Wii+ with a wiimote+ a nunchuck and a special WiiSport/Resort combo disc. This allows them to not drop the price, add more value, lessen the amount of needed attachments by one and  maybe convert a few fence sitters into Wii owners.

What do you guys think?

[Stogi]

Just make it black.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Black is coming. Black will boost sales.
Price drop is coming (eventually) & a price drop will boost sales.

But what else can Nintendo do?
Something that makes sense and would likely happen, besides the obvious Black Wii & $149.99 price point.

[that Baby guy]

I'll strongly agree with a repackaged Wii-Remote with a built-in motion plus.  If Nintendo plans to sell a Wii-Remote/M+ combo pack with the black Wii-Remotes, why not just package them together.

Now, then, Come the holiday season, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort need to be packaged in with each other.  Take out the old bowling, take out the old Golf, and just use the new ones, all on one disc.  That can't be too hard, can it?  Aren't all the old courses in WSR, anyways?  Creating a package like this allows Nintendo to market the Wii again with something a bit more fresh... Especially since I've seen and heard very little WSR advertising out of NYC.

Beyond that, the Wii needs a party pack.  One Wii-Remote?  Really?  The thing is a family console, let's start it out with two, it needs two, to be honest.

So far, my idea is a $250 Wii w/ a Wii Sports All Star Pack and two Wii-Remote w/ Motion Plus and nunchuks. controllers.  As of now, this would cost $380, I believe.  Not a bad repackaging.

However, there's a problem with this idea, not a big one, but still one that exists:  How do you tell consumers you're getting a new, value-added package?  How do you advertise that your price just went down a relative $180, in comparison to the previous cost of equal utility?  Well, you've got to contrast feature sets.  That means it's time to drop the price of the Wii, in it's old form.

How do you do it?  Market the new price and the bundle at once.  Imagine the original Wii Sports SKU to be a Wii, a Wii-Remote, and a Nunchuk, and ignore Wii Sports.  Since Wii Sports is being ignored, we mark down $50, acting like it's a stand-alone console.  Now, then, compared to the value pack described above, this version is further missing a Wii-remote/nunchuk combo as the other main missing ingredient.  Street Value is $60, but there's no way Nintendo would price the Wii at $140 out of no where.  I say take the console to $180.

And there you have the 2009 Holiday Wii pricing.  $250 for the family fun bundle, A Wii, Wii Sports All Star Pack, and two complete Wii-Remotes.  $70 less gets you the Classic Wii Bundle: Wii, Wii-Remote, Nunchuk, Wii Sports, at a bargain priced $180.

Of course... I've been a proponent of a reduced Wii price/added value for about two years now, because I believe if you want to stay on top, even if you're the clear winner, you can't let your edge in value slide, like Nintendo has.  I'd say come Spring, both these retail sets would need to drop another $20-$30 for the rest of the year to remain competitive, myself, since part of the reason why Nintendo decided to use less high-end graphics was to save the end-consumer money, something... they've neglected to remember as of late.

[Mop it up]

Another possible attention getter would be a redesigned Wiimote with M+ built in and bundled with the system. A Wiimote+ if you will. Repackage the system as Wii+ with a wiimote+ a nunchuck and a special WiiSport/Resort combo disc.

This reminds me of the NES Action Set which came with two controllers, a light gun, and Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt. I could easily see a bundle like this happening soon, though I have my doubts.

Something that makes sense and would likely happen, besides the obvious Black Wii & $149.99 price point.

If the price drop happened it would be to $199.99 or maybe to $219.99. And it would have only one price drop like the DS did.

[that Baby guy]

Speaking of the DS... There are issues with the DSi and the Wii's prices.  The DSi is new, and perceived as something that's supposed to be cheaper and less high-end than the Wii, at least from my perspective.  I'd imagine most people just see it as a DS relaunch with larger screens.  The Wii's price likely isn't "allowed" to dip below the DSi's price, which is part of the reason I think a $180 price-point for the bundle we've got now is as low as possible until the DSi's price is lowered.

The MSRP of Nintendo's products, at this point is definitely cocky, overconfident, and could easily grow to become a weak-point for other competitors to target.  I'm a little surprised Sony and Microsoft haven't targeted Nintendo a little more than what we've seen, really.

[Mop it up]

Yeah, they're definitely charging more simply because they can. That's why I know they're not going to lower the price until they absolutely have to (and they certainly don't yet have to), and when they do it will be by as little as possible. And they're never going to cut the price of their games either.

The more I think about it, that bundle would never happen, because Nintendo gets more money selling all of that stuff individually.

[ShyGuy]

So, a Wii+?

- HDMI output (not for resolution, but convenience)
- Increasing the internal storage is a good idea.
- Integrating motion plus is logical
- I would like to see a firmware update that standardizes the channel interfaces and ties the Nintendo channel more tightly to the Shop channel. Tighter Opera browser implementation and a standardized friend code system. NONE OF THIS WILL EVER HAPPEN

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"I'm a little surprised Sony and Microsoft haven't targeted Nintendo a little more than what we've seen, really."
They don't have the talent resources to do it.  Above all else, the force behind Wii's success was the compelling software product -- Wii Sports -- compelling, unique, crowd-pleasing software is what helped generate the sense of value.  Then came Wii Fit (another unique, compelling product), adding more fuel to the sales craze, despite creating a $250+$90=$340 sales package.

Saying prices cuts and "value bundles" are so important to get meteoric sales loses sight of the fact that Wii sales aren't just about "it's a cheaper system so it sold better."  Wii sales weren't "strong," Wii sales were "INSANE."  Wii attracted many customers outside of the typical game customer audience, which is key to its mind-blowing success.  What would price drops and value bundles do?  Just attract those potential fringe customers that held back because "ehh, it's too expensive for me at the moment?"  How do their numbers compare to the people who've already caught the Wii bug and taken the $250 plunge?  Wii had captured society's attention thru its software and was rewarded with INSANE sales, and maybe society is running out of those potential customers (saturation?).  A price drop might spur "strong" or "good" sales, but it's not going to reproduce INSANE sales.  To do that, Wii would have to capture society's attention again with a new compelling product that isn't already directly related to what existing customers have (so it's not a Sports or Fit product).

I don't agree a literal price drop would be effective; there's gotta more than that to make the product look interesting to new eyes and non-customers.  I agree that a meatier SKU would provide a healthier retail life in the long run, without dropping the asking price; gotta use the words like "FREE" to create effective impulse value:  "$250 Wii systems now include a 2nd controller, 2 M+, and Wii Sports Resort along with Wii Sports... FREE.  Available everywhere."

In the end, that surprising Wii-only expanded audience software is what had the most effect on demand (it's what Natal and Sony Balls need to get anywhere as well).  If some new Wii-thing doesn't come along, then we're already on the tail end of this generation.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think bundles are a good way to go. We all know that a price cut has to happen soon on the current sku if Nintendo wants to continue to move units anywhere near the pace they were doing it before. so lowering the current sku to $199 and then doing various bundles at $250 I think would be a great way to go.

A MH3 bundle w/ CCPro. already been done. but how about a Wii starter pack?

Why not a Wii+ with 2 wiimote+, 2 nunchuck & a WiiSports/Resort/Play triple pack?
Wii w/ wiimote+ & nunchuck = $205
2nd wiimote+ w/  nunchuck = $55
WiiSport/Resort/Play bundle = $50

That would be a $310 value for only $250, starts you off with 2 players and M+(x2) added to the tally. (assuming a $199 Wii is already on market).

Through a speculative discussion like this, we can only work with what we have, because we can't count on another disruptive blockbuster hit from Nintendo to magically appear out of no where and carry the Wii for another 2.5 years.

How about a limited edition NSMB Wii bundle for Xmas? WiiSports still bundled in for FREE of course.
But whatever Nintendo does, it really needs to freshen up the package and add more bang for the buck.

I alone would buy a 2nd Wii just for it being Black, but what would be some extra incentive would be some increased internal storage and a wiimote+ with matching nunchuck & condom in the box. There are just too many attachments and there is no reason that Nintendo can't just make things simpler by combining the Wiimote with M+ and allow people to stop having to pause the action to remove the stuff to make them fit with peripherals like the steering wheel or the gun casings. Everybody benifits from a wiimote+. Cheaper to manufacture, less packaging, fewer attachments, more support & happier customers.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Nintendo could try a no-holds-barred grab-you-by-the-balls-or-ovaries non-casual marketting blitz for the next 3-4 months, highlighting the various 3rd party gems that went ignored by the mass audience, and not release anything new.  Simply, go after that "other" market, or help "expand the tastes" of the current market.

Soccer Grandmama shootin' up mutants, heck yeah.  It'll be fun.

[NWR_insanolord]

I think the Wii HD (sorry Pale) is the only way Nintendo would allow multiple SKUs on the market at one time. There needs to be more than just more stuff in the box or else I think Nintendo sees it as too confusing. The DSi and the Lite co-exist because there are significant differences; there really aren't any between the current SKU and the one you're proposing.

[BlackNMild2k1]

There wasn't anything in between the two GC sku's either but they both existed. one w/ optical out and one w/o. That was done for cost cutting and so is the two things that I suggested.

1. Larger Internal Flash
what memory manufacturer still makes 512k flash chips? It would be more cost effective for Nintendo to not hold back a production line on inferior flash chips when every manufacturer(except whoever produces Nintendo's flash) probably has 2gb lines for their lowest end production. Why not just do an invisible upgrade to 2gb internal flash since it would probably cost them less in the long run to not have a specialized & outdated 512k line used just for them.

2. Wiimote+
That makes too much sense to not do. Why not package it all into the same casing, save on manufacturing and packagin cost for Nintendo, and save the end consumer some money too.
They would probably make more money on reselling every current Wii owner new wiimote+'s than they would getting them all to just buy a M+ attachment for the wiimotes.

[King of Twitch]

Has anyone suggested adding a camera to the remote? LASER POINTER? OR A HAND BUZZER? SOLAR PANELS?

[Caliban]

They could always make the Wii even smaller, like they have been doing with the DS. The Wii remote should definitely be more ergonomic, and it should come with a rechargeable battery.

[ShyGuy]

I think the only reason the Wiimote wasn't more ergonomic was to remind people of a tv remote.

[KDR_11k]

More killer apps. That's all.

[BlackNMild2k1]

They could always make the Wii even smaller, like they have been doing with the DS. The Wii remote should definitely be more ergonomic, and it should come with a rechargeable battery.

Well you want to preserve some sort of shelf presence in your livingroom. When you walk into someone's living Nintendo wants to make sure that the Wii is instantly recognizable. If you make it smaller it might go unnoticed. Besides the Wii doesn't need to be any smaller unless they plan on making it portable. It's already small enough.

As far as rechargeable wiimotes, Nintendo did it the way they did for a good reason. If it was like a DS with an encased rechargeable battery that you you had to plug in while you play, that might cause you to rip the system off the shelf from using your motion controls. Even if they made it so you couldn't plug-n-play, then you would have to put the controller down while it charges, and hope you have an extra unused controller to continue playing. Removeable batteries were the best way to go with a controller like the wiimote.

[Caliban]

They could always make them easily detachable to replace with another rechargeable battery so that you can continue the waggle fest.

[BlackNMild2k1]

They could always make them easily detachable to replace with another rechargeable battery so that you can continue the waggle fest.

That is very true. But it would just be cheaper to have your own rechargeable batteries that you could use with other rechargeable devices. We've seen how much proprietary things cost when we look at X360 HDD's.

[Caliban]

True, about owning the regular cylindrical rechargeable batteries.

It's not that the X360 HDDs cost more than they should (they do cost more than they should), it's that nobody else is doing cheaper knockoffs of them because most likely Microsoft knows they wouldn't sell any of their own anymore.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I can get a 1TB HDD for $100 and the 120gb X360 HDD cost $100 but doesn't "cost more than it should"?
really? I don't know what kind of proprietary HDD MS is using, but that doesn't look like a deal to me.

[that Baby guy]

They're using 2 1/2" hard drives in a special enclosure, BNM.  You know, real high-end stuff.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I knew I should have put proprietary inside a pair of " ".
They are way over priced and one of the few reasons why MS is showing a profit on Xbox360.

[Caliban]

I can get a 1TB HDD for $100 and the 120gb X360 HDD cost $100 but doesn't "cost more than it should"?
really? I don't know what kind of proprietary HDD MS is using, but that doesn't look like a deal to me.

Huh? I think you misunderstood my post. I said that they do have an overpriced HDD, but then again if they allow others to use their "proprietary" HDDs then they wouldn't sell any of their own, which means they are obviously monopolizing.