According to QJ.Net, Japanese retailer PC-Success had the Wii listed as costing 18,000 Yen at launch, hinting at a possible $149 price point in the United States. PC-Success has since taken down the price, but curiously, fellow Japanese online store Kakaku.Livedoor still has the same price up.
Nintendo’s staying completely silent on the topic of the Wii’s price point, and rightfully so; revealing their launch price plans certainly didn’t do Sony any favors at E3 earlier this month. It’s likely that Nintendo is still finalizing what they’ll package in with the system, and as such, the cost that Kakaku.Livedoor and PC-Success have published could be an estimate.
Iwata and Co. are keeping this information close to their heart, but with the system’s launch planned for late Fall, they’ll have to reveal it soon. The Tokyo Game Show in September would be a good opportunity, but it could happen sooner. The only thing we know for sure is that a $149 tag, being only a quarter of the price of the PS3, could do wonders for Nintendo at launch.
In other launch-related news, a recent blog post at Jeux-France states that GameStop has sent out documents claiming an October 2nd release date for three Wii launch titles: Rayman Raving Rabbids, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and SpongeBob SquarePants. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the console will launch on the same day; the Xbox 360, for example, wasn’t available publicly until a week after launch software went on store shelves.
Furthermore, while the early launch date would secure Nintendo some thunder to steal from Sony (who wouldn’t be releasing the PS3 for another month and a half), it may be too early, as games like Red Steel are still slated for November, as explained by Chris Kohler. These release dates are always subject to change, and taking that into account, it remains much more likely that Nintendo won’t launch the Wii until November. Again, we’ll have to wait and see.
Stay tuned to PGC as more on these stories break.
QuoteI'm gonna agree with you for the most part on this one. I also think that is probably too cheap and a $199.99 price point would actually be the perfect price. @ $150.00 it looks too cheap and might be overlooked as merely a sparkling innovationy toy or something that is barely more capable than the DS, but definately not an entry into next generation gaming.
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
$150 is cheap as f*ck. Almost so cheap that it might look bad. But I don't care. That's pretty much the price point I was looking for. If Nintendo launches at that price then maybe I'll buy the Wii at launch instead of waiting for a price cut. Though they should probably lower the DS price before the Wii comes out. Otherwise it might look like they're overcharging for the DS or that the Wii is somehow inferior because it's not much more than a portable.
I assume if they go with this price that there's no pack-in game or extra controllers or anything like that.
QuoteMy thought exactly, if the connsole is underpowered enough to only charge $149.99 then bump up some specs to make it powerful enough to charge $199.99 and make the system have a better chance keeping up 3-5 years down the road.
Originally posted by: ssj4_android
I would rather they charge $200 and make the Wii more powerful. Perhaps just adding some RAM, perhaps a better processor.
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Originally posted by: Professional 666
DON'T FORGET TAX
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Originally posted by: Mario323
I'm afraid that if its really gonna be $150, then they are just gonna have the system, Wii Sports, and one Wii-mote.
Quotefixed, I hear core 360's are a little rare, and I don't expect Sony to release very many(if any at all) of the "under-privledged" PS3's
Originally posted by: sycomonkey
Until we have a real pricepoint and date, I'm going on the assumption of $249.99 on Black Friday, though I am hoping it's only $199. $149 is ridiculous, there's no way Nintendo would feel the need to do that against $399 and $599 consoles, especially after E3 proved there's interest in the product allready.