Iwata says the Wii U’s pricing is more important than beating the competition to market
During a recent interview with Gamasutra’s Chris Morris, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said the company doesn’t care about the Wii U beating the next generation Sony or Microsoft console to market but it does care about making its HD console as affordable as possible.
Iwata said, Nintendo learned a very harsh lesson from the financial hit it took after the initially poor sales and eventual price drop of the 3DS (which he's been saying a lot lately).
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"Our intention is to return to profitability after just one year of losing money. I just cannot say that it's a good thing for Nintendo at all to record an annual loss for two or more years in a row. … The [loss of the] past year is due to the 3DS hardware sales. We were selling hardware below the cost, so this year we are already recovering and improving the profitability of the 3DS.
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Unfortunately, he didn’t give a specific price. However, Iwata did say this is a great time for the Wii U to launch as it will provide a cheaper alternative to those looking to play HD games on their high-def TVs, while also providing an alternative to those who can not afford a tablet.
Can the cheaper price make the Wii U as much of a hit as its predecessor? I'd definately say so. I mean providing a HD gaming experience with interesting tech (the tablet) and an affordable price will give it a nice edge. But I don't think it'll appeal to those who just want a tablet, as an iPad or Sony tablet or what have you can be taken beyond your home.
What do you think g1s ? Will the Wii U's cheaper price tag give it a leg up in the evolving console market?
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
CobraGerald
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blukblak60
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mose eiben
the Wii U going to have downloadable titles for the tablet that can be stored via memory card or somethingLacoste soldes
Zanon
Actually 1 hundred and 99 dollars should be a systems price range, 1 hundred 49 dollars should be hand systems-
60 dollars a game is too high, I stopped buying games because of that reason and other reasons, here is my reasons.
1: They put out this game on digital and not just cd, which makes it not rare even if you kept it in the package not worth the buy anymore. 2: I rather buy used games at a low price but since they tagged it with the 10 dollar price tag it puts the price back up for online. 3: I just wait now and purchase later unless I really really want the game, I miss the good ole days when I could buy about 2 games for 60 bucks, I rather spend that money on something else which gets me through the week than sitting down and playing something thats not gonna be worth any money in the future.
the great bal
http://www.gametrailers.com/side-mission/22637/reset-consoles-limping-to... judging by this article nintendo is taking the right approach
Sidescroller Def
People aren't going to buy the Wii U just for its new tablet gameplay. They'll buy the Wii U for the new games it's going to bring, and the tablet is going to complement that. If the launch lineup is good or even decent, the price just needs to be something reasonable for it to sell well. It made me sad to hear the 3DS launch price caused a loss in profit. Oh, and as for the "alternative to the tablet" thing, is the Wii U going to have downloadable titles for the tablet that can be stored via memory card or something?
fabio73
I agree with you. The reason the 3DS didn't sell well, was not because of its price, but because it's launch line up was absolutely horrible. And I get that Nintendo limited the line up because they wanted users to really get the chance to play with all the features of the 3DS, but that software wasn't enough to drive sales. And here we are again... the Wii U has a lot of new features that Nintendo is going to want its users to get immersed in however, if the launch line up is not "good", it doesn't matter how competitively priced the console is... people will see little reason to purchase it or will just wait to do so.
But I think the Nintendo is planning to launch the console the week of Thanksgiving, so that may help to drive sales.
I think I remember the tablet having an SD input. I could check online but I'm being lazy. The tablet would be a great way to play Virtual Console titles!
King Meatball I
Nintendo also purposely withheld their big games just so that 3rd party companies could finally have a window of opportunity after complaining for years about not being able to get sales numbers like Nintendo does. Nintendo didn't expect that those same developers would end up barely putting out any great games at launch.
dadajo
It may to late now , but they should of changed that name. It sounds so similar to the wii that a lot of people think it is a add on to the wii like the u draw tablet. These are also the same people to think the 3ds is a ds with 3d (Even a year later.) The name has grown on me though so I don't mind it that much now (even though it still kinda sounds stupid.), but I'm thinking about that casual market who was the reason why the wii sold so well.
skugglerthrash
i get this feeling that nintendo thinks it can go at this like apple does with this products.