I'm with those that say the Wii needs to be cut. The disingenuous response from the CEO is very irritating to me. How are they putting more of their profits into making the experience better? The console is still obsolete hardware, and there's really been nothing new that they have used this money on. Have they created a great new online experience (well, with their horrible hardware, how could they)? Have they invested this money in new peripherals that change everything? So, what he's saying doesn't seem to be true. They are just keeping it as profit, which is OK, but it will bite them.
They should lower the price to $199, or even lower in developing countries. It might not make a huge difference in Japan, or the U.S., and even lowering the price to $99 won't help much in very poor countries, but the price drops make a bigger difference in the countries in between. Also, I do think even in wealthier countries, it would help demand, and it's almost always a mistake to make too much money on consoles. It's worked so far, but two milestones have happened, that are inauspicious for Nintendo - supply has met demand, and Sony just outsold it in Japan. The latter of which, is pretty amazing, although probably not sustainable. Still, that it happened at all, is pretty scary.
With the PS/2 now $99, I think you'll see it gain sales, and I think some of it will come from the Wii. It's not like the hardware is really worse, the Wii is a joke in that department. I don't think PS/2 sales will come mainly from real 3rd Generation machines, since they can't possibly duplicate the visuals of it, and that's why people buy those machines. At $99, it's more of an attack on the casual gamer, so, it could have a small effect on the Wii.
Market share is so important for console makers, it begets more of the same since it gets more software development, and more investment from other companies in the platform. Nintendo has done a good job so far, but in the last month or so, I've seen so many articles about the price, it's obviously getting too much bad attention. This stuff does filter down. I think a small, proactive cut would be good for them. They WILL cut the price of the console anyway, because I'm convinced it will start hurting them. It's better if they do it proactively. Making too much money on consoles sounds great, but I think it's fool's gold. They'll pay for it with lost software sales in the long run, if it impacts their market share. I think it will, I guess most others think it won't. We'll see in a few months.
It