Nintendo Chief: No Price Cuts Planned

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eklipz330

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"If we were making a product that was similar to others and cheaper prices mean selling more then a price cut might be an efficient means of driving up sales, however, since we're raking in cash, and the wii is merely a toy, it is not in our best interest to pass the savings to our consumer, even if our production cost recently dropped 45%," said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo.

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eklipz330

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"Instead of driving up sales [with a price cut] I think we should put more energy and time into re-making products with similar specs, add $50 to the price tag, and make sure the older console can't play the newer games, i.e. Nintendo DS and the DSi, and completely erase backward compatibility for the gameboy advance," he said.

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sorry for dp, it was for a good cause. this is how i've been feeling about nintendo recently... anyone agree?
 

techtre2003

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eklipz - so if you made a product and it sold like hotcakes you would automatically lower the price if you found a way to produce it cheaper even though you could still charge the higher price and keep selling at a high rate? I realize you don't like the products that Nintendo has been putting out lately; you're entitled to that opinion. However, judging by sales, I'd say a LOT of people are happy with the products.

A product is worth the price that people are willing to pay right? So I'd say the Wii is worth $250 since everyone and their dog is willing to pay that. When sales drop off and less people are willing to pay $250 the product will be worth less and then the price should drop; not when it is still selling well.

 

tayb

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Why in the world would they lower the price? That goes completely against the laws of supply and demand. They are still outselling the 360 and PS3 (combined) month-to-month what could they possibly gain from making less money per console?
 
They don't need to lower the price when they are selling just about every unit they make. Even if sales of the Wii slow down, it could just be people don't have money in general and dropping the price wouldn't sell too many more units. If inventory of Wiis starts building up AND the 360 or (less likely) the PS3 outsell it worldwide then you'll see a Wii price cut, and unlike Sony, Nintendo will easily be able to afford cutting the price of their system. When the economy picks up again I can see the Wii loosing some sales to the cheaper $199 360 Arcade. People buying at that pricepoint probably aren't interested in the Hard Drive anyway. I still think that Microsoft should have included a hard drive in every unit but, oh well. I think what Nintendo really needs are more games for hardcore gamers to lure them away from their PCs, PS3s, and 360s.
 

mustwarnothers

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How is the Wii overpriced? It does exactly what it's supposed to do. Granted I can't play next gen games (I do that on my PC when necessary), but it is entertaining.

Peripheral wise, Nintendo likes to stick it to their customers in my opinion, but as far as the system goes, $250 is relatively inexpensive.
 

rigaudio

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[citation][nom]eklipz330[/nom]the wii is merely a toy[/citation]
So are all the game consoles on the market. Expensive things that entertain us, and do little else.
 

ta152h

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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.

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tomm09

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I wouldn't play it even it is free, well maybe for 2 hours which I already did at friend's place. Some of most childish design, graphic and gameplay I have ever seen.
 

tomm09

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Actually 3D motion control gametrak controller is coming later this year for the xbox 360. Then Nintendo's only advantage goes bye bye, they might drop price then.
 

the_one111

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[citation][nom]tomm09[/nom]I wouldn't play it even it is free, well maybe for 2 hours which I already did at friend's place. Some of most childish design, graphic and gameplay I have ever seen.[/citation]
It's japanese.

What did you expect...? THEY MADE ANIME.
 

techtre2003

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"If we were making a product that was similar to others and cheaper prices mean selling more then a price cut might be an efficient means of driving up sales..."

What this says to me is that Nintendo doesn't really compare itself to other consoles; they have a much broader target market so they really don't base their success on how their console is selling in relation to the Xbox or PS3. So I really don't think they give a crap that the PS3 sold more units in 1 month in Japan.
 
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Well, Nintendo just officially revealed how money-grubbing and despicable they are, f-ck 'em. (Man i wish i had a Wii!)
 

nawat

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[citation][nom]the_one111[/nom]It's japanese.What did you expect...? THEY MADE ANIME.[/citation]
Sony's also japanese...
 

tayb

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[citation][nom]nawat[/nom]Sony's also japanese...[/citation]

So we have two opposite ends of the spectrum. Wii goes for gameplay PS3 goes for graphics.

Who won? If you ask the consumers it is very very clear...
 

samprasfan

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Wii is popular for one reason, it's cheap. It's the Kia of game consoles, and unfortunately for Sony/MS, the average consumer is too stupid to know the difference. This is why the 360 Arcade sells so well, even though you can't play most games online w/out a HD. People see the neat-o motion control (that's an imprecise piece of junk) and the cheap price tag and voila, best-selling console.
 

techtre2003

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[citation][nom]samprasfan[/nom]Wii is popular for one reason, it's cheap. It's the Kia of game consoles, and unfortunately for Sony/MS, the average consumer is too stupid to know the difference. This is why the 360 Arcade sells so well, even though you can't play most games online w/out a HD. People see the neat-o motion control (that's an imprecise piece of junk) and the cheap price tag and voila, best-selling console.[/citation]

Just because you don't like the Wii yourself does not mean it's a piece of junk. I agree the Wii doesn't have the best graphics and the gameplay isn't deep and the motion controls can be gimmicky, but it doesn't matter because it's FUN. I love my 360 and PS3, but on the other hand I also love to get a couple of cases of beer and some friends together to play some Wii!!
 

AdamB5000

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[citation][nom]foxyg[/nom]people needs to stop buying over priced Wii to force Nintendo to lower price to its actual value.[/citation]

That might be the dumbest comment I've ever read on THW.
 
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