Two weeks ago, Nintendo of America’s outgoing senior vice president George Harrison said his company wasn’t planning to cut the price of the Wii. The news wasn’t surprising, since NOA president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime previously promised the console would be in short supply through next year. However, since both executives’ statements, the next-gen console war has heated up. Last week, Sony unveiled a new $399 PlayStation 3 and Microsoft touted the $279 Xbox Live Arcade as a direct Wii competitor.
Will Nintendo retaliate by cutting the price of the Wii? The short answer: No.
In Japan, Nintendo Co. president Satoru Iwata told the Associated Press that the console’s cost will remain unchanged in all territories. “We’re still focusing on how to meet booming demand,” he explained. “We’re absolutely not considering a price cut.”
We all know “never” doesn’t mean “forever – never”. But, when you’re cooking – why turn off the gas?
Ummm,,,it doesn’t say “never” or “no price cut ever” or “forever – never” anywhere in the article. It says they aren’t contemplating a price cut now.
Even bigger news: I am now a Pro bowler on Wii Sports… which means I have a sparkly bowling ball.
Okay, not really on topic at all… sorry…. I’ll get my coat….
Ben, I officially welcome you to the tribe of sparkly bowling ball holders! Irritates me tho that you don’t get a sparkly racket if you’re pro on tennis though. Maybe that’ll come when the wii gets Mario Tennis!
#1 – although you apparently agree with Eideard’s conclusion, I guess you should send an email to the writer of the article – Thorsen – and explain in egregious detail how “forseeable future” is something that you often look beyond.
Jamie – Going as a mad scientist for halloween!
And if you become a pro Golfer you don’t get sparkly golf clubs 🙁
Maybe they should raise the price and make Wii Sports have more sparkly things in it….
The man told you outright; it would be foolish to cut prices when demand is so high. Heck, look at what they are selling for on the aftermarket! Until they have a few sitting on the shelves, dropping prices would only aggravate the shortage.
“Also today in Japan, the company unveiled a new channel for its console which will allow Wii owners to give Virtual Console games to one another as gifts.”
And that’s quite a pronunciated POV that differs from M$’s “YOU BUY OUR GAME AND WE WILL SEND YOU TO JAIL IF YOU LEND IT TO SOMEONE ELSE.”
They have more demand than they can supply, and that isn’t expected to change for the near future – exactly why would they cut prices?
“Also today in Japan, the company unveiled a new channel for its console which will allow Wii owners to give Virtual Console games to one another as gifts.”
And that’s quite a pronunciated POV that differs from M$’s “YOU BUY OUR GAME AND WE WILL SEND YOU TO JAIL IF YOU LEND IT TO SOMEONE ELSE.”
How about you can pay for it and they can download it sounds more Nintendoish to me. I doubt they are talking file swapping.
#10
Dunno, considering most of the Virtual Console game are old games I doubt they are getting a significant amount of income since the only ones DL them are just old folk with nostalgia for the games.