Topic: Wii U Price and Release Date Guess Thread

[Oblivion]

But since none of that is the case, I probably wouldn't pay more than $199.

T_T
 
Who cares if it doesn't have built in HDD? Come on, no one complained about the 4GB 360! And the whole issue with the single uMote may be fixed at a later time; we have over a year before the console release.
 
And seriously? You wouldn't pay more than $200 just because it has a horrible name?

[Chozo Ghost]

Come on, no one complained about the 4GB 360!

The 4gb 360 is $200. Also, its not the only 360 option available. If there was just that and nothing else, people would complain.

You wouldn't pay more than $200 just because it has a horrible name?

I need to see the specs and I need to get a better idea of what sort of long term software support this thing is going to have. I was a fairly early adopter of the Wii, but the third party support never materialized like it was supposed to, and 1st party support had a lot of room for improvement. I paid $250 for the Wii because I got it back before all the price drops, but I don't think it was worth that price knowing what I know now.

So if the old Wii wasn't worth $250 (in my opinion), then this new Wii is going to have to prove its worth it before I'll buy it. As the saying goes, once bitten twice shy... That said, $199 would be an instant sale for me, but if its anything higher than that then I need to see some proof that its not going to just be collecting dust.

[Oblivion]

the whole issue with the single uMote may be fixed at a later time; we have over a year before the console release.

And seriously? You wouldn't pay more than $200 just because it has a horrible name?

And seriously? You wouldn't pay more than $200 just because it has a horrible name?

And seriously? You wouldn't pay more than $200 just because it has a horrible name?

[nickmitch]

Nintendo has to launch in the first half of next year otherwise most of the 3rd party ports will be irrelevant. I don't think they can convince the casual market to buy something over $300 either. They're using WiiMotes to lower costs of upgrading, so price has to be a focus, but where the Wii was priced might be too low to make much profit. With that, I'm guessing Q2 and $299.99. Nintendo gives the Wii one last holiday, with a few games for the core market, lets us burn that off for a few months and then hits us with new hardware.

[Sarail]

Bumping this up to let some of our newer forum goers take a shot at what they think might be the release date for Nintendo's next console. So... any guesses, new folks?

Mine still stands, by the way. I'm pretty confident about that one -- especially the release date.

[Adrock]

I'm pretty confident in the price I predicted especially if Wii U is as powerful as the rumors suggest but there's no way it's launching 3 days after E3. September 30 is a Sunday. That would be a nice blast from the past.

[Nemo]

I'm still hoping it comes out in 9 days.

[Ceric]

Main post is updated with strikes through the dates.  Like mine.

[Louieturkey]

Any chance we can change our date?  Since we now know that the NextBox won't be out this year, I think Nintendo will wait until closer to the holidays.  My new guess is 10/28/12, a couple days before Assassin's Creed 3 is released.

[Ceric]

Any chance we can change our date?  Since we now know that the NextBox won't be out this year, I think Nintendo will wait until closer to the holidays.  My new guess is 10/28/12, a couple days before Assassin's Creed 3 is released.

Done but, your old guess is right under so if there is a tie the person who did it in less guesses wins.

[Fatty The Hutt]

November 16, 2012 with pack in game, Wii Remote Plus and nunchuk. $279.99 MSRP

[nickmitch]

Well, I think I'll keep my price guess, but clearly my release date needs some adjustment. November is probably the way to go.

[Ceric]

November 16, 2012 with pack in game, Wii Remote Plus and nunchuk. $279.99 MSRP

Done

Well, I think I'll keep my price guess, but clearly my release date needs some adjustment. November is probably the way to go.

Need a date.

Your original date passed so you be behind the people who changed there before it passed.

[Fatty The Hutt]

Merci Beaucoup, M. Ceric.

[TJ Spyke]

No chance it comes out before November IMO. I will go with the Sunday before Black Friday (don't feel like looking up the date) for $299.99, maybe with a pack-in game featuring those tech demos from E3.

[Chozo Ghost]

No chance it comes out before November IMO.

Why do you say that? The N64 launched in September and the SNES launched in July or August, so a Nintendo console launching earlier than November is not unprecedented. They aren't going to be facing any competition this year, so they don't need to worry about anyone else stealing the holiday spotlight from them. They could release the console tomorrow, and they would still dominate the holidays. Therefore there is no reason for them to hold back, as long as they have the hardware and software ready. And we know the hardware is finalized, so the only potential issue is the software.

[nickmitch]

Well, I think I'll keep my price guess, but clearly my release date needs some adjustment. November is probably the way to go.

Need a date.

Your original date passed so you be behind the people who changed there before it passed.

Still thinking. There remains a slight chance of it coming out earlier.

[Adrock]

No chance it comes out before November IMO.

Why do you say that? The N64 launched in September and the SNES launched in July or August, so a Nintendo console launching earlier than November is not unprecedented. They aren't going to be facing any competition this year, so they don't need to worry about anyone else stealing the holiday spotlight from them. They could release the console tomorrow, and they would still dominate the holidays. Therefore there is no reason for them to hold back, as long as they have the hardware and software ready. And we know the hardware is finalized, so the only potential issue is the software.

This is just conjecture on my part but I think it has something to do with how Nintendo divvies up quarterly profits. For example, N64, like you said, launched in September. I believe it launched on 30th to be exact which is the last day of Q3. That means every single sale on that day counts as Q3 profit. Nintendo delayed N64 a couple times so my guess is that Nintendo pushed the launch back as far as possible without crossing another quarter which ultimately would have screwed up their numbers more than they already were at that point.

Back then, there was a reason to launch in September. Here in 2012, 3DS is actually doing fairly well. It has a steady release schedule and Nintendo probably thinks it can ride that train into Q4 of this year. The earliest we'll probably see Wii U in 10/01/2012 which I know isn't a Sunday but it's the 1st day of the last quarter. We're probably looking at November 11 or 18 as launch day. I wouldn't be opposed to it launching sooner since it would make buying one a lot easier without all of the cutthroat holiday shoppers but the writing is on the wall. All signs point to November.

[Chozo Ghost]

Nintendo has a good reason to get the Wii U out on the market as soon as possible. They need as much of a headstart as they can get before the PS420 shows up. Why would they want to delay until the holidays?  The clock is ticking, and the sooner they get it out the more of a headstart they will have.

[ShyGuy]

On the flipside, they probably want the Nintendo network and eShop to be up and running after the 3DS fiasco. Not to mention having a strong launch lineup. I say the pressure is off as far as the next Xbox and PS4 are concerned.

$329.99 in late October or early November.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I want to adjust my price guess to 249.99, and for a secondary release date of October 28th, 2012

[Adrock]

Why would they want to delay until the holidays?

Companies are expected to have and subsequently project strong Q4 performance. If I had to guess, that would be why. Unlike 1996 with N64, Nintendo didn't delay wii U. They just never announced anything concrete allowing them the luxury of launching without a strict deadline. Launching in the busiest time of year when consumers are more willing to spend money does make sense, especially to investors.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I wanna say sometime in August, but I think I'll really go with 9/16/12 with a price point of somewhere between $299 - $349 so just to get a number on the list.... $329.99

[marty]

Why would they want to delay until the holidays?

Companies are expected to have and subsequently project strong Q4 performance. If I had to guess, that would be why. Unlike 1996 with N64, Nintendo didn't delay wii U. They just never announced anything concrete allowing them the luxury of launching without a strict deadline. Launching in the busiest time of year when consumers are more willing to spend money does make sense, especially to investors.

I'd assume that a holiday launch would ensure that a console doesn't have a reputation (other than brand new thing) going into the shopping season.  A console launched in September would be just as if not more available than a console launching in November, it's just that by December, the console could already be a hit ...or not.

[Spak-Spang]

Since Microsoft isn't really a threat...I am going to say:

October and it will include some sort of bundled game, the Wii U tablet and I like the idea of both the Motion+ mote and new accessory the Nunchuk+ will be bundled. 

The WiiU will use the exact same controllers as the Wii, but Nintendo will want to capture some profit on controller purchases so I see a Nunchuk+ added more precision movement with the Nunchuk being added.  I also predict some Wii games may get patches for use with the Nunchuk+. 

Besides that I expect the Wii U to be packaged with a new sensor bar that makes the Motion+ remote even better.

All this will be released at a price of $299.99.  And will be a real bargain.  The free game will be much like Wii Sports, in that it is a simple game focused on showing off the WiiU tablet.  However, it will support 4 player games with the Wiimotes.