Topic: 1upyours 8/18/06 Nintendo could sell Wii for $99

[Strell]

I'd just like to take this moment to say I, myself, will retail for $99 on launch.

And you will get to play with my motion-sensing wiimote in all sorts of sensual ways.

My technology is not minimal in any way, but it most certainly is an extension.

Touching is good.  Do it some more.

[getter77]

I see everybody's point in the genral scheme of things about price drops being steategic vs competition and so on....but here's the kicker:

Can GAMING actually expand/grow/etc via a series of annual price drops?  Afterall, that was Nintendo's entire point this time...not to play the contracting and bloating game of those gamers of the last several years that 360 and PS3 covet...but to just flat out increase the fold period.  To get some new blood in there.

Ya can't give a dying patient some fresh blood at a matter of convenience down the line...ya give it ASAP so they can start to reap the benefits of it.  So too with the gaming industry...I'd rather have 2 million (thin air number) gaming on a Wii from the initial mark that is priced cheaper than ever before(weakening the barrier keeping folk form gaming) instead of a million form the initial mark and maybe 500K after 1-2 years using the same old price structure that Nintendo has for years.

[Ceric]

*shrug*
$199 is what people are conditioned to pay for this type of electronic at launch and think it's reasonable.  They are also now conditioned to expect a price cut.  In the handheld market though it's gotten worse.  People are now conditioned to expect a price drop and a revision.  How many people have said that they were going to wait until the "real" DS was release?  I like my DS and I like my Original GBA, (Best handheld design ever.  I don't know why they didn't just rerelease it with a lit up screen.)  That makes me in the minority.  I won't be getting a DSLite until mine goes the way of the Dodo or I need a second unit like I did with the GBA, FF:CC and Four Swords.

Sort of rambled near the end there... Must be getting old...

[getter77]

EXACTLY!  199$ is the conditioning...the past paradigm.  What has Nintendo been unable to stop shutting up about all these months---gaming paradigm busting.

I'm sure there are tons of people who may never get around to getting a PS3, 360, or even a Wii if the launch price isn't "right for them, right now"  Things tend to come up later, unexpected priority shifts, or just plain forgetting stuff.  Wii shouldn't take a chance on cruel independent fate screwing them out of folk they were "sure" would jump on a cheap Wii price a year or 2 from now.  They need to be assertive and say "We're here NOW DAMMIT!  Ya can have fun and not have to worry about money so much.  No need to tell yourself longingly "Maybe in 1-x years when it drops under 250/200".  WE can enjoy ourselves NOW, not in some uncertain future world."

[wandering]

Others have already responded well, I'd just like to add one thing...

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you guys are saying that if Nintendo can sell the Wii (and break even or even turn profit) between $99-149 that you would rather they inflate the price fifty to a hundred dollars just to squeeze money out of...you?
[snip]
You should keep in mind that third parties are looking at putting their games across three platforms next gen; PS3, 360, and PC. Few will spend money downgrading. They never spent the time or money to give GameCube proper ports when the console was adequetly powered.

Did I step into a time warp? Is this 2005? Has Nintendo not promised that their system will be less than half the cost of the ps3? Does the Wii not have an unprecedented level of third party support, including devs that didn't support the cube but are now on board for the Wii? Does the Wii not have an incredible launch lineup that puts both the ps3 and 360 launch lineups to shame? Did I just dream all of this?

[nemo_83]

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Originally posted by: Deguello
Nemo... Seriously.

If you believe more technology went into making the DS than the Wii, so much so that the Wii should be significantly cheaper than it, you are absolutely loopy.

You are operating under a big list of great assumptions on your part.

1. You know how much the Wii costs to manufacture, and that it somehow costs in the realm of $100.
2. Nintendo is somehow obligated to sell at a tremendous loss just because their competitors do.
3. Size of product somehow dictates cost of product.
4. You probably also assume the Wii features the specs from a list of specs that has been repeatedly rebuked for simple problems as the presence of GDDR in place of the much widely advertised MoSys.

None of those are true.  Yet you claim them all as fact and act like Nintendo is making a big mistake by offering the Wii under what you assume it costs them without any sort of source whatsoever to back up your claim.  And you also continue to use troll-type language (lunchbox HURK HURK HURKITY HURK) that makes me question if you seriously enjoy posting at PGC.

1.  I'm going by what the developer told the journalist.
2.  Sorry, it's a fact, Sony and MS use a strategy of selling hardware at losses greater in cost than the Wii costs to manufacture in hopes of turning profit on software.  It doesn't ever seem to make them more money than Nintendo but they are trying to buy Nintendo's consumers and put the N out of business.  
3.  The size does dictate price.  The DS and PSP cost what they cost because the companies have spent money shrinking down that hardware to a portable size.  The Wii is a console so size doesn't scare consumers away (unless they are biased Japanese), thus spending money to make something small is not needed like it is in portables.  With a console the insides come before the casing.  

With PS3, there is a lot of sh1t in there, and that is why the casing is so large.  It has to have a lot of cooling, it has a harddrive, it has ports out the ass, it has lots of RAM, it has HD support, etc.  Do not sit there and try and say the Wii is comparable in power to either the PS3 or 360 because it is not.  I know this because developers have told me personally.  
4.  Read that last sentence in number 3.  We all hope the final hardware will have more of everything but that is all one can do is hope because a lot of people are saying the thing is already well into production.

[ShyGuy]

Sheesh, anyone here ever take an economics class? Products are not priced on a cost-plus scale, and not what the other guys are selling completely different products for, they are priced by what the market will bear. It won't matter what we say, it will matter what the vast sea of customers say with their pocket books.

See what I did there? I insulted everyone so they would be mad at me and take the heat off Nemo for awhile. Aggro!  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

None of this is important.

THIS WEEK IS OFFICIALLY ZELDA HATE WEEK.

AUGUST 21, 2006
WE WILL NEVER FOGHAT

[ShyGuy]

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AUGUST 21, 2006
WE WILL NEVER FOGHAT

Sez you.

Slow ride! Take it easy!

[wandering]

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size doesn't scare consumers away (unless they are biased Japanese)

Oh, okay. Unless they are a large chunk of Nintendo's market.

Those damn Japanese and their small living quarters. If they don't want to live like pigs, why should Nintendo feed them any slop? Right?

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they are priced by what the market will bear.

Who cares what the market will bear? MY purchase is on the line here, and I'm part of the market, right?

...Of course, I'm going to get a Wii no matter what because I'm a diehard Nintendo fanboy...but still! I am entitled to a $99 price point because I'm dissapointed with Wii's graphics. And I am enraged at a hypothetical scenario in which Nintendo sells their hardware for signifigantly more than what it costs them to manufacture, even though I have no idea how much Wiis will cost to manufacture, what Wiis will retail for, or how much Nintendo has spent on research and development.

[nemo_83]

"Those damn Japanese and their small living quarters. If they don't want to live like pigs, why should Nintendo feed them any slop? Right?"

My point was that the Japanese were all bitching about the size of the Xbox and 360 but they are going to still pick up the PS3 (even though it is the largest piece of mass produced gaming hardware since the Steel Battalion controller).  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

"even though I have no idea how much Wiis will cost to manufacture, what Wiis will retail for, or how much Nintendo has spent on research and development"

tHE INTERnet says you're not allowed to poast.

[JonLeung]

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Originally posted by: nemo_83
"Those damn Japanese and their small living quarters. If they don't want to live like pigs, why should Nintendo feed them any slop? Right?"

My point was that the Japanese were all bitching about the size of the Xbox and 360 but they are going to still pick up the PS3 (even though it is the largest piece of mass produced gaming hardware since the Steel Battalion controller).

Didn't someone (likely Kutaragi or Hirai, I'm guessing) say that people will work to afford it?  I'm sure then it's not so much of a stretch to say that they will make room for it.

Sony also said the PS3 will replace the PC (*snicker*) so if anyone believes that load of bull, then they'll have the space they need after throwing out their computer.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

*THROWS OUT RICE COOKER*

[wandering]

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My point was that the Japanese were all bitching about the size of the Xbox and 360 but they are going to still pick up the PS3 (even though it is the largest piece of mass produced gaming hardware since the Steel Battalion controller).

Will they, though? I'm sure they’re more interested in the ps3 than the 360 - it's more aesthetically pleasing, has games they would actually want to play, and is the successor to the most popular console in Japan. But size will be an issue - it's not like that was just some myth people cooked up to explain away the Japanese dislike of the 360. Apparently, space is such an issue over there that people are careful not to give others space-wasters, so much so that ridiculously expensive fruit baskets are common holiday-time gifts.

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I don't see a $250 game at launch for Wii.

Divide the cost of the console by the number of games you want. If you want 20 Wii games, and the Wii costs $200, and Wii games cost $50, each game will cost you $60 (hey, the same price as 360 and ps3 games!)

[Spak-Spang]

Shyguy:  There are several means to price a product.  Not just cost-plus scale, and not just market will bear either.  

To assume that it is so simple takes out the individual companies desire out of the sales, its competition, and even personal pricing structures.

For instance, Nintendo (Until the Gamecube) has never sold a console at a loss.  They don't do crap like that.  So pricing the system, they did partially require a cost-plus system within researching what the market will bear, and in reality they probably had a desired price point from the beginning of designing the console they wanted to hit.  

I believe Nintendo is going to take a very small loss this console as well.  (Reason is because Nintendo stated in a stock meeting they didn't expect to make a profit from the Wiis this quarter.)  That doesn't mean Nintendo won't price the system above cost in some territories.  I am expecting Japan and Europe to actually be above cost.  Around that $170 number or more...and America to get the ultra competitive $150 price point.  Why?  Just because that is how I would market the system.  In Europe the Wii is already incredibly priced in comparison to the other systems...and in Japan the system will sell no matter what for many, many years.