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Merrill Lynch Predicts $200 Wii
Burlap writes "In a story at Forbes, Merrill Lynch predicts that Nintendo will severely undercut the competition with a $200 price point on the Wii." From the article: "An executive from SEGA, one of Nintendo's largest publishers, told Forbes.com on Tuesday that he expects the Wii to sell for less than $200. Post said the Nintendo machine, which features a wireless controller that responds to players' body movements, 'will appeal to a broad demographic of both hard-core and casual gamers.'"
If i had a nickel for every time an analyst made a prediction that turned out to be incorrect, I'd have the $200 necessary to buy the Wii!
Every dollar they price this below $250 increases the likelihood of me buying it by roughly 1%. =)
That's a Wii price. A small hit to the pot-o-gold.
Microsoft and Sony have given Nintendo some wiggle room on price here, so I think $199 will be the minimum price for the console through the end of the launch year. I wouldn't be surprised to see it go for as much as $299 at launch, or even $350 if it comes with a strong bundle.
Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.
Is there a constructive reason for such prediction? Will Merrill Lynch get a prize or something if the prediction is correct?
We already have Google popping up in every 3rd article, now we have Wii.
Please stop entering code 2,2,7,6,6,4
Merrill Lynch now owes you a dollar!
Anyone remember Merril Lynch's $900 ps3?
linky
The NES had a launch price of $200, the SNES had a launch price of $200, the N64 had a launch price of $200, the GameCube had a launch price of $200.
Nintendo has had launch prices of $200 for 20 years now, you have to be pretty fucking impressive to even have the nerve to utter that they could launch a console for an unheard-of-before price of $200
Well, at least that time Merrill Lynch may be spot on.
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
I am planning on buying at least two of these. One for the family and another for the local children's hospital. I think this controller will really help in physical therapy dept. with the rehabilitation of children. If they offer games that appeal to older adults it could also be a Xmas gift for the grandparents/nursing home too! The boomer generation is the largest growing market and as of yet has been untapped. I think the people at Nintendo deserve a raise for this revolutionary product (pun intended)!
Console itself will be $200 isnt too far stretched, just still don't expect to get out the door without spending upwards of $200 MORE on games and accessories.
The raw console will be $200 with your standard one controller, but you'll not have everything you want for far more.
Um, we're seeing this misconception a [i]lot[/i] here. The Wii is not running on Gamecube hardware in a fancy white case. They didn't have IBM and ATI both design new custom chips for no goddamn reason, after all. The hardware is a good step up over the Gamecube, it's just that Nintendo is staying out of the dick-measuiring contest that Microsoft and Sony are getting themselves into.
I've upped my standards, so up yours.
Duh? there'd be no fucking point in doing that. Consider the followings:
"The way we can tell it's C# instead of Haskell is because it's nine lines instead of two." -- wadler
One word: inflation. The price of each and every component used in producing the Wii has increased significantly
No it hasn't. Consumer electronics aren't affected by inflation.
From capacitors and resistors to DVD lasers, they're all cheaper today than ever before.
As long as Moore's Law significantly outpaces inflation, you should see the cost of most consumer electronics continue to decrease, while their capability increases.
If $200 buys you X transistors this year, and 1.5X transistors in 2008, then as long as inflation doesn't exceed 22% a year, you'll be getting more capability for less money each time.
Or at least that's true as long as the cost of the chips needed for an acceptable game machine make up a significant portion of the cost of the machine. When the chips are (much) less expensive than the rest of the components, the relative cost curve will flatten out.
-Mark
I would love to get a Wii (all my consoles were from Nintendo, with the exception the Atari 2600), but I belive the price will be prohibitive when it gets here (Brazil). The consoles are quite expensive, but the games are WAY expensive. I was looking forward to get a newer Nintendo system (my last one was the N64), but after seeing the price of the games for the Game Boy Micro, DS and GC I gave up. Just to give you an idea:
The cheapest Game Boy Micro I found goes for R$399.00 ~ $181.00 (expensive, but affordable considering you only need one console). GBA games: R$ 69.00 (older games) to R$249.00 (WTF!?) ~ $31.00 to $113.00
I don't know anyone who has any of these consoles, but I know quite a few people who have PS2. The PS2 costs about $295,00 (with mod chip installed), but the games are virtually free due to piracy.
Is the situation similar in other countries? That would explain why Sony sells so many PS2.
"...personality goes a long way."
An executive from SEGA, one of Nintendo's largest publishers...
If you had uttered this phrase to me 8 years ago, I would have told you that you need better jokes.
I must admit I'd be getting a Wii and then I can play Pokemon! *sputter cough* I mean Resident Evil...
On the serious side though, I'm in that group of "buy another console? Over my dead body!" I pinch pennies all the time now and I don't get to buy/play what I want anymore. Part of me actually wants all these consoles to undersell their expectations and then maybe just maybe these consoles will stop being pushed out so frequently.
Oh well, I can always play on my computer.
Oops, how did this get here?
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
FTFA:
TRANSLATION: "Lower-cot publishing environment" == "lower licensing fees" + "fewer resources to develop each title"
If they're able to cut the price of a game down to $20-$25 bucks (
... they'll do 5 things:
- take a huge bite out of the underground market for chip mods/pirate games
- beat the crap out of the competition
- get rid of game rentals - why rent when for $20 you can own?
- more than make up the $$$ on volume
- developers/publishers also get a much larger market, as the games become impulse buys. At $20, every game becomes a million-unit seller.
After all, with a console at $150, and games at $20-$30 a pop, it's the no-brainer buying decision.At $50 - $70 a game, people think twice, 3, 10 times before they buy ... at $20, they'll buy one a week.
What capabilities does the Wii command that are unachievable on the GameCube today? I think nintendo is just releasing the obligatory new platform as a method to increase saturation of it's 'wiimote' controller. They should have just bundled the controller with whatever handful of games they plan to have it work with and called it a day.
I think that was originally Nintendo's plan. A few years ago Nintendo was talking about coming out with a new accessory for the GameCube that would extend it's life for several years. They didn't really say much more about it after the initial mention.
It looks like Nintendo realized that the GameCube just didn't sell well enough to make that strategy work. They realized that having a purple system as the focus of their advertising wasn't a good idea and helped contribute to the negative image of the GameCube. They decided they'd stand a better chance of success if they released a new system focused on the new controller rather than trying to sell it as a GameCube addon.
Why are you fretting so much about the Wii?
Its CPU is basically a G5 from what I've read. And from personal experience, a 970 FX can easilly destroys the P3/Celeorn-hybrid found in the XBox and the Custom G3 found in the GC. Your "hardly comment" only goes to show how ignorant you are about these things. The Wii's GPU is at least 4 or 5 generations ahead of its predecessor, so that's going to make a big difference in performance. It's also pretty much guaranteed that the Wii will have a PPU. If this is the case, it will make a substantial difference in performance for 3D games, and free up the CPU to do other tasks. A dedicated PPU would be much faster than the software route the X360 and PS3 have taken.
I found most of what you sated to be more inflammatory than instightful. But it's good that you pointed out the backwards compatibily. I know you were trying to use that to state your case, but it's one of the Wii's strengths and it's just another reason for me to buy one.
The Wiimote isn't an afterthought like Sony's hack-job as an example, so all Wii games that can benefit from it, will support it. This is why the Wii is going to be great and you honestly can't deny you would love this sort of thing on your favorite console. You're only "trying" to spread "misinformation" by stating things like a "handfull of games." Like that's going to change anything, since Nintendo has a huge line up of Wii games, which are wiimote-friendly, which will be ready for launch. A bundled "main" controller won't have problems getting support from developers; Get real!
Anway, most of your points can easilly be applied to the other consoles, since they're basically upgrades. They haven't changed gaming, they've only moved consoles up to the level of mid-ranged PCs when it comes to visual eye-candy. Nintendo's Wii is the only console that has brought something new to the plate and it has all the potentional to evovle gaming beyond the current state of same, which MS and Sony are moving forward with. An upgrade is better graphics and more power, not a whole new way to game, which only the Wii can offer.
<]=)
After all, with a console at $150, and games at $20-$30 a pop, it's the no-brainer buying decision.
Or better yet! Why don't they give out the console for free! And pay you to take the games off retailers shelves!
[/sarcasm]
I'm looking forward to the launch of the Wii too, but let's not get carried away here. Nintendo has to adjust for inflation eventually, so consoles aren't going to launch under $200 anymore. And you fail to take into consideration the fact that the dollar is weak against the yen.
All this speculation is just setting up Nintendo for a fall. $250 is a reasonable price point. $200 is overly optimistic. $150 is foolish. What's going to happen when Nintendo announces a $250 launch price is that everyone who convinced themselves that it was going to launch for $150 is going to disappoint themselves - even though it will still be $50 - $100 less than the XBox 360!
Let's try to keep grounded in reality here.
Don't forget... I read somewhere that the GameCube controllers will work on the Wii. Talk about savings. That way I don't need to rush out and buy a bunch of controllers. Oh, and the Cube games will work on it too. Bonus. Sounds like Nintendo is ramping up for a winner. I have to say I hope to see stores start stocking more than 2 shelves of Nintendo games compared to a whole aisle of the other systems. As a Cube owner it's depressing to have poor selection, or see a commercial for a sweet game only to see the tag line: Only for PC, PS2 & Xbox. Game selection and price will be the KEY factors, not specs.