Nintendo Announces Japanese Wii Price

Wowzer writes "Nintendo has revealed to Famitsu.com, at the company's recent press conference unveiling its financial results, that Wii would arrive in Japanese stores with a maximum price tag of 25,000 yen. After taking in account various factors, the conversion to other currencies comes down to a launch price of: 225 dollars, 225 euros, and 150 pounds." Update: 05/25 13:45 GMT by Z : GamesIndustry.biz points out they hope to ship 6 million units by next March, and an Opera exec has said you can browse the internets with the wiimote.

Comments

Congrats Nintendo

[creepynut]

All this negative press about Sony, and you come out a true champ.

This is one I'll be getting myself for Christmas. I don't see them changing the price much, if at all when it comes overseas.

The next question is, how much of a profit are they making on that? IIRC, Nintendo doesn't have a history of taking losses on their consoles, someone correct me if I'm wrong. At this low price, is it possible they've taken a turn on this one?

Either way, even if Sony has a killer launch lineup, I don't see them making the family Christmas market given the steep price difference. Unless the 360's price has a Christmas price drop, I doubt they'll be much in the match, since they got their head start last year.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[onewing]

At this low price, is it possible they've taken a turn on this one?

I seriously doubt they will be selling these at a loss. The hardware itself is claimed to be "two or three" times more powerfull than the gamecube. Since the GC launch in 2001 you can assume the technology for the Wii (which is very similiar IIRC) is a fairly affordable price at this point. The controllers themselves dont seem to contain anything terribly expensive, just an innovative use of two existing technologies.

The only things that may possibly affect this will be the addition of 512 MB built-in flash memory, the possiblity of an additional wiimote and the sensor bar itself. But I dont belive that any of these is a deal breaker on a possible 200$ USD launch price, especially with how weak the USD is currently.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[coffeechica]

They might make less profit on the console itself than in the past, but I suspect that at worst they'll come out with zero profit, zero loss. Count market share wins into that (and those will be massive if they don't do anything stupid now, or Sony suddenly gets an epiphany and does a 180 degree turn), along with future game and controller sales, and they're well within the black numbers.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[AKAImBatman]

Kingston 512MB Flash Cards can be had off of Amazon for $11.39. The list price is claimed to be $39.99. Even if we assume that the $11.39 figure undercuts the actual cost for some reason, I think it's safe to assume that the bulk cost would easily be within the range of those figures.

Similarly, complex universal remotes retail for about $19.95. You can usually find them much cheaper than MSRP. The sensor bar's cost will likely depend on what it's made of. Since we can probably assume plastic, it probably won't be too costly either. The Wii itself uses off-the-shelf components for its hardware, making the only questions the CPU and GPU. Both of these appear to be modified forms of existing processors. Which means that in bulk they should be very affordable for Nintendo. Therefore, it's likely that Nintendo will be able to sell the Wii at a $199 price point without taking any sort of loss. At $250, they'd probably be making a profit.

In comparison, both Microsoft and Sony have built their consoles out of highly customized and/or cutting edge hardware that require significant expense to manufacture. (At least initially.) The result is that they have to sell at far higher price points. In Microsoft's case, it's expected that they're losing money on each unit. (Though I seriously doubt that they're losing as much as the $200 that has been claimed by the media.) Both Sony and Microsoft should have paid attention to history. The Jaguar, Saturn, Neo-Geo, and Turbografix were all consoles that were on the cutting edge of technology. They all lost out to consoles that were inexpensive, built with off-the-shelf components (plus/minus a custom part or two), and were easily manufactured using less-than-cutting-edge technology.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[Evangelion]

Similarly, complex universal remotes retail for about $19.95. You can usually find them much cheaper than MSRP.

Considering that the Wiimote has zero relationship to a traditional IR remote, other than shape, I don't see what this is supposed to mean.

However, that doesn't change your point -- accelerometers are dirt cheap, they're included in every laptop hard drive made for the past who-knows-how-long. Similarly, the cirutry that interacts with the sensor bar can't be too costly either -- really, all it has to be is a radio receiver/transmitter, and a chip to do the positional calculations. As long as they find a cheap source for the parts, the cost of this technology to produce is neglegible. None of it is complex, in terms of the amount of silicon needed.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[EnderWiggnz]

with flash, you plug a DOM into your onboard IDE, and hit it with a glue gun. /producing upwrds of 250k units a year this way :-)

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[rolfwind]

With that $11 price tag, you are assuming they are using regular flash memory. Perhaps they want the 40x flash, which is faster and more expensive. About $40-50 for a 512MB unit. That might make more sense in a multimedia system for faster load times.

The Jaguar, Saturn, Neo-Geo, and Turbografix were all consoles that were on the cutting edge of technology. They all lost out to consoles that were inexpensive, built with off-the-shelf components (plus/minus a custom part or two), and were easily manufactured using less-than-cutting-edge technology.

I believe the Jaguar was based on Motorala 6800 CPU (16 bit, Mac). My friend had one. I was under the distinct impression, compared to the Sony PS, that it was a cheap PoS with no 3rd party support. Neo-Geo was just too expensive compared to the competition. Saturn was designed to be the ultimate 2D monster, and they started scrambling back to R&D when Playstation changed the game into 3D games.

I don't remember the Turbografx too well though.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[bishiraver]

Interesting enough, the NES was, adjusted for inflation, was a little more expensive than the average of the two 360 price points ($350 or so).

Nintendo has been consistantly keeping their price lower and lower each subsequent generation.

Although their sales have been going down each generation - the NES was the best selling nintendo console made (the origional playstation outsold -that- by double, while the N64 sold about half as well as the origional) - if the poll on slashdot is to be extrapolated, the Wii will outsell the PS3 by 3, and the xbox360 by 5.

Of course, the slashdot crowd is not everyman's crowd, so you can probably expect the Wii to sell even better than that, given their slant towards the casual gamer and the non-gamer.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[AKAImBatman]

With that $11 price tag, you are assuming they are using regular flash memory. Perhaps they want the 40x flash, which is faster and more expensive.

I doubt it. The flash is only used to store games downloaded from the Virtual Console service. When you consider how small most of these games are (barely a megabyte or two for the largest), you realize that using fast flash would be a waste of money.

I believe the Jaguar was based on Motorala 6800 CPU (16 bit, Mac).

Not exactly. The Jaguar had a Motorola 68000, a 32 bit DSP, a 32 bit GPU, a 64 bit object processor, and a 64 bit blitter. Basically, it had a LOT of custom processors stuffed into its case. Not to mention the 2MB of RAM, which was exceedingly expensive back in 1993. (4MB was still pretty standard on PCs.)

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[AKAImBatman]

Interesting enough, the NES was, adjusted for inflation, was a little more expensive than the average of the two 360 price points ($350 or so).

But it was right in line with the consoles that preceeded it. The Atari 2600 was introduced at $199.95, as was the Colecovision. The Intellivison was introduced at $299, and the Bally's Personal Arcade was $350 back in '79. So adjusting for inflation, consoles have continued to get cheaper over time. Which is in-line with general electronics which have also gotten cheaper with time.

The problem with adjusting for inflation when setting new price points is that consumers are used to prices going down. Over time they will expect more for less. So if you give them a price that used to be acceptable (after adjusting for inflation), they'll feel you're overcharging them. Ergo, it's wisest to allow your pricing to follow the general trend of products.

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[timster]

I think that Nintendo's success here is in seeing beyond the supposed "adult" market to the "new" adult market. I feel like in the last generation, "adult" meant age 17-24 males; people who tend to like violence, explosions, intense graphics, etc; people who are "afraid that playing a game with colors in it will make them look like a dork."* In analogy to movies, think the Matrix, Mission: Impossible, or XXX. The new adult market is 25+; people who are interested in good gameplay but have less time, have families, etc and while they might still enjoy a game like GTA, they might find it easier to make time for a session of Mario Kart.

If these impressions are correct, it's not that the PS3 will fail as such; it may be the best system for people who enjoy what it offers. But Nintendo's strategy is still brilliant. Sony may not be wrong as such, but I am afraid that their overall corporate strategy will fail if they lose more than a little market share.

* - Penny Arcade, "I Think Our Time Is Up"

Re:Congrats Nintendo

[Tiro]

especially with how weak the USD is currently

If the dollar were strong, Nintendo could afford to sell them for fewer dollars. With the dollar weak, they can't afford to raise the price, otherwise Wii couldn't afford it.

Sold!

[MMC Monster]

I haven't bought a console in over a decade. But I will by a Wii. I've been thinking about a Playstation 2, since it's a mature system by now, but Nintendo has a lot more family oriented games, or so I hear.

Re:Sold!

['nother poster]

Because, everyone wants a media center. Microsoft and Sony say so.

Re:Sold!

[GeckoX]

Actually, a lot of consumers do too.

I'm about at the end of my rope with Sony, this time around they appear to be about to take SERIOUS advantage of my loyalty, which I will not stand for.

In the past though, I've stuck with Sony because my game library is MUCH bigger than it would have been since I can (and do) still play PS1 games, AS WELL as use it as my dvd player and cd player. I didn't always use it for this, but in the time I've owned my PS2, I've had a 6 disc dvd player die, a high quality pure dvd player die, and my old trusty cd player die.

It wasn't a hard choice to NOT go out and spend a few hundred dollars a few times over the past number of years. As a consumer, I've been tickled pink with my ROI on my PS2.

I'm about to get raped though, and I won't stand for it. No bloody way. The Sony-BMG corporate culture appears to be leaking into the rest of Sony and poisoning the entire company from the inside out. I already cut off Sony-BMG COMPLETELY a number of years ago now for their frankly disgusting business practices, I will do the same with Sony if they continue in this direction.

Brand loyalty is stupid if it stops working in both directions. As soon as your loyalty starts to be taken for granted, move on, because anything else will only result in reinforcing a companies bad behavior.

This is why Nintendo is just as strong and innovative as they always have been. They understand the loyalty of their customers, and wouldn't DARE piss in their face just to make a few extra bucks.

Re:Sold!

[Zardus]

Here it goes :-)

Two years ago one of my friends had a party to celebrate his birthday and some of our friends' high school graduations. There were 8 people there, 4 guys and 4 girls. One of the guys brought his Gamecube and I brought mine. After playing the requisite Smash Bros games (we've had a Smash Brothers rivalry ever since the week the original was released), we networked the gamecubes to play Mario Kart DD. Well, unknown to us (as we were too involved losing races to the girls to notice), a huge Arizonan monsoon thunderstorm brewed up outside while we were playing.

It happened about an hour into playing; a match had just ended and we were about to start another. Us guys were all involved in choosing the track and such, and the girls were resting their hands. So it just so happened that every guy in the room was holding his controller, while all the girls had put just theirs down. Suddenly there was a huge clap of thunder as a lightning bolt hit (from what we've been able to figure out) the garage door outside (killing the motor there), got into the power system, traveled throughout the house killing various computers, televisions, and stereos, and finally found my friend's Gamecube (mine was on like four surge protectors since the second TV was across the room from any unused power plugs and surge protectors were all that we had for extension cords). It traveled through his Gamecube and split up. Part of the charge went into the 4 controllers hooked up to his GC, and the other part went through the network adapter, over the ethernet cable, into my GC, and out of the controllers. Now the way the GC controllers are built (and the way we hold them apparently), two of the metal screws on the back make direct contact with our middle fingers. As such, the four people who were holding their controllers (the guys) recieved pretty powerful electric shocks. The guys all jumped up, yelped, and dropped our controllers, right at the *exact* moment the sound of thunderclap reached us. All the girls in the room thought we were just scared of the thunder.

Of course, the Gamecubes, controllers, and network adapters (not to mention a few computers, TVs, stereos, and the garage motor) were all completely fried. Apparently though my friend had insurance for this sort of thing, and all our Gamecubes and accessories got replaced (I was hoping he'd get me a different color. Mine was silver and I had grown tired of that color. But alas, he got me another silver one). I'd since wondered if he really had lightning insurance or if he just shelled out to replace our stuff, but one of the girls at the party (now my wife) assures me that he did.

So yeah, that was a fun night. My wife still thinks I'm afraid of thunder, and will accept no explanation to the contrary. Sigh.

BS

[Yahweh Doesn't Exist]

if it's 225 dollars, then here in the UK it will be 225 pounds. FACT.

still a good price in absolute terms though.

Re:BS

[CableModemSniper]

Yes, but it's not $225 its 25,000 Yen. I doubt the US/Continent/UK price is going to be $225, it'll be $199.99 or $249.99. $224.99 is a really odd price.

Re:BS

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't be so sure of that. As many people have mentioned recnetly the Gamecube was priced at $200 when it launched in the US. The UK launch price was significantly lower then £200 pounds (link).

Re:BS

[kfg]

When the American Federal income tax was enacted it was a 3% tax only the top 1% of earners; and we were told it would stay that way.

When the NYS Throughway was built it was made a toll road, but we were told "only until it is paid for."

It's paid for. The toll remains. Why?

We are told it is necessary to pay the salaries of the toll takers. No, I am not making that up.

The cynical might conclude that politicians are fucking liars and will always go for the money. I however, am not a cynical man. I am an emotionless realist. Therefore I know that . . .politicians are fucking liars and will always go for the money.

KFG

NOTE!

[Guppy06]

"After taking in account various factors, the conversion to other currencies comes down to a launch price of: 225 dollars, 225 euros, and 150 pounds."

This is not official. This is mere speculation on the part of the article.

I, too, can pull numbers out of my ass. For example, because the launch price of 25,000 JPY is exactly the same number they used for the GameCube, they'll release the Wii in the US for 199 USD (like they did with the GameCube).

Until we get official numbers, though, this is all speculation.

Re:NOTE!

[TheBlackSwordsman]

I, too, can pull numbers out of my ass. For example, because the launch price of 25,000 JPY is exactly the same number they used for the GameCube, they'll release the Wii in the US for 199 USD (like they did with the GameCube).

Exactly. Anyway, I'm much more inclined to believe the Wii will launch for $200, considering that's the price every previous Nintendo console launched at.

Price

[tgpo]

I can't say the announcement of the price has swayed me in any way. Price was never what held me back on newer systems. I havn't bought a system since the Nintendo 64 because most games are nothing more than recreations of games that have been available for years. The thing that does swing me to the Wii is the innovation and "Road Less Traveled" feel of the entire system. It no longer feels like a Gamecube V.2, nor does it feel like they are slapping some new hardware inside the old shell to make games prettier. I feel that is all the PS3 and 360 have going for it, they have more power than their earlier versions. SO WHAT! If you simply do updates and resell as brand new their is nothing innovative and exciting. It seems that Nintendo caught on to this and decided to try things a little differently. I saw that simply reshaping the wheel wasn't enough for most people and decided reinvert at least a small part of the wheel. Now I'm not saying that Nintendo is doing something that is 100% brand new, no, but I do say that Nintendo is doing something in a totally new way and they stand to reap the benefits of it. Sometimes, even a small diversion from the path will lead you to a whole new place.

Sold!

[nbannerman]

£150?

I'm buying one. End of discussion.

For the price of a 360, I can get something original and interesting, plus 3 games, and waste away hours being entertained. Seriously, why do I need a 360 or a PS3, when this thing looks like it might actually manage to be a games console, instead of a glorified media centre? ;)

Re:correct price?

[falcon5768]

please keep in mind that conversions are very volatile. What could be 225 one minute, a hour later could be 223 or even 233.

Money conversions are not static.

Been wondering about the "loss leader" idea

[ianscot]

IIRC, Nintendo doesn't have a history of taking losses on their consoles, someone correct me if I'm wrong. At this low price, is it possible they've taken a turn on this one?

Given the marginalization of the GameCube, I've been wondering whether Nintendo wouldn't be smart to lose a smidge on each console this time around in order to regain market share. Their two competitors have blown prices sky high and narrowed their market considerably (I think) by making it necessary to pony up for an HD screen in order to really see the fun from their new systems. Sony and MS are vulnerable, vulnerable as can be. Nintendo needs to get the third party developers on board, and the relative cheapness of developing for Wii is a step that way. But imagine if the Wii release price was a bit of a loss leader, a $175 sort of thing, and they got a huge jump starting next November or so in their market share. Developers would take note.

I doubt it happens. As you say, Nintendo makes profit on its consoles (and everything else), and doesn't play the market share game a la Microsoft. Sony always tries to bundle everything with some sort of wrongheaded standards war "leverage" move. MS desperately tries to gain market share despite losing rivers of money, and imagines they understand the "extreme" tone "hard core" gamers like, 'cause you know, they're so cool. The teams keep running the same plays... I still think Nintendo is the clear winner this round, in prospect.

Re:Been wondering about the "loss leader" idea

[aliquis]

Nintendo probably prefers to make money instead of selling many consoles.

Re:Been wondering about the "loss leader" idea

[GeckoX]

That's pointless, even if Nintendo RAISES their launch price to lets say $250USD, 50 more than they every have before, they're still blowing the competition OUT OF THE WATER on price, what kind of message would selling themselves short send? This doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

Nintendo has very sound, and more importantly, PROVEN business practices in the gaming industry. Why would they screw with what works? The only real reason Nintendo has lost some ground is that there is now so much more ground out there, and there are 3 MAJOR other competitors out there these days: xbox, playstation, and PC.

Nintendo will continue to relegate all major changes and innovation to their actual products, not to their business practices. Just as it has always been with Nintendo, and as long as they are viable, will likely continue to be.

Re:Been wondering about the "loss leader" idea

[ronanm]

Dude, the basic xbox is $300, $250 is in no way blowing the competition OUT OF THE WATER

The average consumer is going to stick with what they know and either buy the 360 for $300 or if they're budget concious they can always pick up a cheap PS2.

It makes loads of sense for Nintendo to lose a few bucks on a system, if it's going to increase their customer base.

This just in...

[ReallyBigNumber]

In a surprise move, Nintendo announces that Elmer Fudd has been tapped as the official spokesperson for the North America release, scheduled for Q4 2006.

No further details were released at this time.

Half the cost of one, a third of the other...

[ZSpade]

This is a severe undercut... In fact there has never been such a mighty difference in prices in past console wars.(unless you count the neo-geo, meh-heh!) It will be interesting to stand by the sidelines and watch Nintendo again rise.

Wiimote

[goldaryn]

Update: 05/25 13:45 GMT by Z : GamesIndustry.biz points out they hope to ship 6 million units by next March, and an Opera exec has said you can browse the internets [sic] with the wiimote.

"One-handed" browsing! Well spotted, ed. Will be useful :-)

Folks always forget the VAT

[sirwired]

In the uproar over how much more consoles (or electronics in general) cost in the UK and Europe, folks always forget about the VAT. (Value Added Tax)

IIRC, in the UK, Europe, and Canada, the VAT is included in the advertised (and paid) price. In the US, the rough equivalent (Sales Tax) is never included in the advertised price (except for Gasoline for some reason). Of course, not all localities in the US charge sales tax, the amount varies depending on where you live, and the amount is lower than VAT.

A more fair comparison would be to take the VAT out of the price, and THEN compare how much the equipment costs in various countries. That determines how much the manufactuer and retailer actually receives for the console.

SirWired

Re:Folks always forget the VAT

[Merlynnus]

Off topic, but in Canada, that's (mostly) not true. Advertized prices are almost always without the Provincial Sale Tax (PST) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The rate varies from province to province (and in the East, they've combined it into a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)) but it runs about 14%. Of course, there's no PST in Alberta and the GST is dropping a point sometime later this summer. Regardless, just like the US, everything except gas tends to be the "before-tax" price.

Re:Folks always forget the VAT

[xsarpedonx]

Gas tax is included in the US because A: It's totally different than sales tax that is applied to everything else. B: American's would probably cry if they saw a number that big for tax.

Re:Folks always forget the VAT

[gizmo490]

VAT isn't included in the Canadian advertised price either we pay a 7% GST on top of the advertised price which is our equivalent of VAT. On top of that we pay any where from 0-10% PST (an additional sales tax) depending on where you live in the country. If you compare the Euopean price to the canadian price after all that tax it really doesnt seem like you guys are getting hosed as much. 225 US = about 250 CND + 15% total tax (for my province) = 287.50 CND = 200 Euros approximately.

Re:Folks always forget the VAT

[TheRaven64]

Off topic, I know, but does anyone know why prices do not include tax in the USA? The advertised price has to have both state and national tax added to it. When I was last there, both were around 5% (this was Utah) and both were some silly number with two decimal places so it was impossible to do the sales tax calculations in your head. You could roughly check by approximating it to 10%, but unless you wanted to take a calculator with you you couldn't tell if the till was adding on a few pennies, or if you had enough change to pay for something on you.

Do Americans get used to this? In the UK, a shop that advertised pre-tax prices[1] would be prosecuted for running a bait-and-switch scam. The price they advertise is the price you pay.

[1] The exception to this is business supplies, since businesses claim VAT back.

Re:Folks always forget the VAT

[The One and Only]

Aside from the tax variance between states mentioned by sibling posters, there's also philosophical reasons--including the tax in the posted price tends to "hide" it from the taxpyaer, while having the tax as a separate line item on the receipt as we do in America makes it more apparent.

Hopefully

[JanneM]

Could we perhaps see a Wii/DS-Lite combo pack for 40k yen? Either way, Nintendo has just sold me my new toy come winter.

Well, that settles it...

[grasshoppa]

...I'm getting a wii, despite the name.

Both Sony and Microsoft can go fuck themselves.

Re:Well, that settles it...

[Proteus]

Both Sony and Microsoft can go fuck themselves.

Yes! Get a Wii and stick it to 'em. Erm... maybe that's not the best way to put that...

Headline Inaccurate

[Miraba]

Nintendo announced the MAXIMUM price, not the actual price. 25,000 yen or less, US$250 or less, and "UK pricing will be in line with Japanese and US prices announced."

Source: http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/news_250 506_wii.html

Get ready for $200

[RyoShin]

The Gamecube was also launched at 25,000 Yen in Japan. The Gamecube had a $200 price point in America.

Unless Nintendo takes into consideration fluctuations of the dollar vs. yen (not sure what the difference is between then and now), I think it's pretty safe to say that we're going to see a $200 Wii. In previous interviews (during E3, I believe) Iwata stated they've had a pretty consistent price point for releases and see no reason to change that- every console system they've released has been done so at $200.

While Nintendo may not have the latest & greatest in graphics processing, the technology they isn't exactly common. It's nice to see that they follow the trend of all other hardware, in that prices fall as technology advances (before you say "But they've all been the same price!", work in inflation, where the NES at launch cost $350 in 2005 dollars)

Re:Under $250 is unlikely

[eonlabs]

I actually think it's very likely.
Unlike sony and msoft, nintendo is not marketing a high-spec machine for the gear heads. They're focused on delivering games, and go to great lengths to make sure that their box is used ONLY for games. Ever notice that the cds spin backwards in a gamecube?
Can you play music on a gamecube?
They're selling a platform for gaming, and have successfully been doing exactly that for over 20 years. Most gamers don't even consider $400 dollars for a system. Remember the Sega Saturn? A system that was broadcast for specs with a $400 price tag. Do we still have sega consoles?
I think 90% of consumers will end up getting the Wii simply because it hits their price range first. I don't personally get new systems till they drop below $150, I don't think Msoft or Sony will hit that mark any time soon. Until then, nintendo has a virtual monopoly on my console game purchases.

In other news,

[mobby_6kl]

Nintendo warns of weaker profits

I'm not saying Nintendo is dying, it's normal to have lower profits while preparing mass production, just thought it'd be relevant.

Re:In other news,

[Zigg]

Actually, operating profits forecasted to be up -- the reason their profit forecast is down is because of foreign-exchange losses.

Nintendo holds a lot of investments in US dollars.

Re:Slightly off topic

[91degrees]

Because unlike you, we know how to leverage our leading-edge efforts into a new paradigm.

Re:Under $250 is unlikely

[creepynut]

Hmm.. there's not something I'd considered.

What IF Nintendo shipped the Wii with a game? Just like the SNES with Super Mario World when it launched, and the NES with Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt (At least, I got Duck Hunt years ago with it). I don't recall if the N64 was released with a game at launch, but I do recall there being bundles.

On top of that, they'd be wise to ship the system with at least 2 of these "controllers" if they really want to cater to family buyers.

Think about it, a parent can go out and buy a PS3 for $600, AND a game (~$60 each) or 2, AND another controller (~30) if going multiplayer. It gets pricey.

OR, they can go buy a Wii with an included multiplayer game, and everything required for a couple kids to play it on Christmas morning. At a little more than 1/3 the price. Better yet, this perfectly supports the idea of "Wii."

it will still be pretty cheap

[jpling]

You know Nintendo... After the first few months there will be a price drop, then a few months after another drop and so on... I say it will be $249 USD at launch to clear out the early buyers and holiday season but afterwards it will probably go down by $20 and then by the time they reach 6 or 7million units they might even bring it down by another $20. That's my theory.

In real exchange rates

[gormanly]

¥25,000 = $223.30 = €174.79 = £119.36

¥25,000 ~= $225 /= €225 /= £150 !!!

I mean, wtf? Ok, so we all know they'll charge more in Europe than in the States or Japan, but at least do the currency conversion right.

And btw, Slashdot doesn't work right with ≅ or ≠ ...

Re:In real exchange rates

[TheLongshot]

Maybe they are taking VAT into account...

Re:In real exchange rates

[ronanm]

¥25,000 = $223.30 = 174.79 = £119.36

¥25,000 ~= $225 /= 225 /= £150 !!!

Well, you've gotta add vat onto the conversion price. Say 120% of 175... gives you 210 and 117.5% of £120 makes £140. The numbers now are starting to look a bit similar.

  It also depends on how many units they think they're going to sell in each of the territories. If they think they'll shift more in the US then they can afford to sell them cheaper.

Come on ./, get your story straight...

[nmaster64]

A) They didn't announce the price point, they announced a MAX price point, which is very different. That title is misleading.
B) You should note the fact that consoles almost never sell for the same price in different countries, no matter the exchange rates.
C) It would have been worth mentioning Iwata's recent hint: "you may want to check our past records of price points, launching price points for any past hardware." Nintendo's never NOT released a system in the US for anything other than $199.99. Take that + this guy saying it's going to be LESS than ~$225, and I don't see how you can't come to the conclusion that it's going to be $199.99.

My report on this story is here:
Wii: Almost surely $200, but still not confirmed

Re:Under $250 is unlikely

[AKAImBatman]

I don't recall if the N64 was released with a game at launch, but I do recall there being bundles.

It wasn't. Mario64 was sort of a killer title for the N64 and was thus sold separately. That being said, part of the need to sell it separately was that Catridges were very costly back then. Now that the Wii uses inexpensive optical disks, it is again cost effective to bundle a game with the system.

The only question then is, what is Nintendo's strategy? The market has gotten used to the idea that pack-ins are a thing of the past. Will Nintendo go with the flow on this one, or will they attempt to do further damage to Sony and Microsoft's positions by throwing in a killer title with the console?

Personally, I hope they take the pack-in route. Not only will it make their competitors look bad, but it might force them to cough up a pack-in themselves. Which given the costs associated with developing a game on their consoles, would further dig in their losses on each unit.

Re:Slightly off topic

[AKAImBatman]

Why do people say "price point" instead of "price"?

Because we're discussing things in business terms. When you look at marketing a product like a game console, pricing becomes a major marketting factor. As a result, a random price like $231.45 would be a poor choice. (Even if you could sell it for less that way.) Instead, marketeers will develop a set of price "points".

i.e. Should the Wii sell at $149.99, $199.99, $249.99, or $299.99?

Each price "point" is carefully analysed for marketting potency as well as expected returns. The idea is to select one of those points that will meet your goals as well as maximize profits. (Or minimize losses in some forms of the razor-blade model.)

As a result, everyone is trying to second guess Nintendo's choice in price points. Will they hold to tradition and sell for $199.99, or will they maximize profits on each unit and sell for $249.99. Or at the extremes, will they shock the world with a $149.99 price point? Or will they not be able to meet cost predictions and hit the $299.99 price point?

Clear as mud? :-)

Re:Zonk again

[voice_of_all_reason]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internets_(colloquial ism)

It's a joke, son.

Re:Slightly off topic

[AKAImBatman]

P.S. There's a Wikipedia Article on the matter. Note in the graph how sales droop between price points.

Why argue

[suv4x4]

200 or 225, does it matter :) The news is the confirmation it'll not be $400 nor $600 :)

Re:200 USD/Euro launch price pretty much confirmed

[Zed2K]

If it ends up coming out at $199 and they can have it out before the holidays they will sell a ton. But they need to have enough for everyone to buy. At the $199 price point it will be a no brainer purchase for many folks.

Re:You are a pain in the ass

[Guppy06]

"Yes, I believe the original article said that."

The summary didn't.

All things considered

[EtherC]

Max Japanese price: 25,000 yen
Remove included tax: 25,000 / 1.05 = 23,810 yen
Factor in realistic JPY -> USD expectation of exchange rate for 2006 4th qtr. (not today's): 23810 * 0.0086 = $204.77
All past Nintendo consoles: $199.99
Difference: $204.77 - $199.99 = $4.78
Compute significance: (4.78 * 540) - (239 * sum(4 8 15 16 23 42)) = 0
Most likely US price: $199.99

(Special thanks to the Hanso Foundation for their significance formula)

Re:All things considered

[not-admin]

I think you LOST me there....

Why the short stock?

[gatesvp]

From the Nintendo magazine link

Talking of units, Nintendo also confirmed that 6 million Wii consoles will be released worldwide at launch, with a further 17 million games being made available.

When the X-box released before x-mas, they sold every single one. Heck, my little bro had his pre-paid at EB in November. We received it in February. If they're going to sell out, why don't they just make more before they start selling? MS doesn't make more money from people re-selling the unit on e-bay, but MS lost a lot of goodwill by failing to deliver a unit in reasonable time.

MS just became a running joke b/c so many people had ordered systems and not received them. I'm sure that this hurt them. I heard rumours of supply-chain issues and given ATI's own supply-chain problems, this may have been true. But, truth or no, it didn't get more systems in more houses, it actually gave potential buyers less exposure, b/c nobody had a system.

I would've bought an XBox 360 in December, I was hyped about them, the marketing blitz was on and I was keen on owning one. But hey, I couldn't buy one! My buddy with the 50" hi-def TV, he couldn't buy one! Nobody could buy one, so we all just moved on. I spent $600 playing Magic instead and now I still don't own a 360 (nor does my buddy :).

But now I hear that Nintendo will have only 6 million units at launch and it's like these marketing guys know something that we don't. I mean, at $250 each, they're going to sell out. And last I heard, sold out products meant lost potential profits! If people want my product and they can't buy it, then I'm giving them the opportunity to just spend their money elsewhere.

This Nintendo Wii is going to spread like wildfire. Casual gamers are going to come out of the cracks, people will marvel at the interactive gaming, just like people who stare at the DDR machines in the movie theatre arcades. But if I have to tell all of my jealous friends (& family) that they cannot have the instant gratification of owning their own system (b/c Nintendo didn't make enough systems) then they're going to move on the Next Big Thing.

Having a limited number of consoles makes the console a highly-valued item, it does not put more consoles in households, it does not increase the system's exposure, it does not sell more games, it just makes people angry that they can't own one of their own.

Re:Quality Over Quantity?

[InsaneGeek]

In the 4 years from 2001-2005 Nintendo sold around 20million units *total* of gamecube. You are insane to think that in less than a years time that they will sell out half of that number to a single country.

Re:makes the gamecube a sweet deal

[barawn]

i dunno about the old xbox though, since that might just go away completely.

New, at least. Part of the problem here is that the Xbox is decent COTS equipment: it is just a PC, after all, and hacking it at this point is really, really trivial. So unfortunately, Xboxes still command a hefty resale point on eBay: you'll never get a working one for much under $100, for instance. Heck, a broken one sells for $50 on eBay.

It's fairly insane how well the Xbox is maintaining its value compared to a GameCube and a PS2.

Re:Slightly off topic

[rolfwind]

I think William Zinsser would have something to say on this topic:

http://www.cla.wayne.edu/polisci/kdk/general/sourc es/zinsser.htm

Re:Quality Over Quantity?

[Slappytron]

So only 6 million Revolutions by next march? That doesn't sound too good to me.

Assuming Wii launches in October, that's about a million a month, which is above the Xbox 360's pace (which in turn, is selling faster than PS2 at launch).

6 million would be over 25% of the total number of Gamecubes sold (about 21mil). It would be about 10% of the total number of NES's sold (around 60mil). It seems like a very reasonable target, especially for launch when production has not yet ramped up.

Ripped a new one

[clown_puncher]

Personally I think the consumers are getting ripped a new one if they buy these overly expensive consoles.

I am primarily a pc gamer but I do not mind laying down some hard earned cash for a console. What I have seen thus far is not really that impressive for the price. Except for wii. I'm drawn to the new ideas and the fact that it just looks plain ol' fun. Most companies will play out a format until its dead. Nintendo always seems to try something new and innovative (perhaps out of necessity).

Originally when the cube came out, I was put off by the fact that nintendo had gotten a reputation for being a little too family oriented...too many cute n' cuddly games so to speak. Also, their hardware was inferior, their mini disc media didn't hold as much data..etc..etc..etc. I've heard it all.

Surprisingly tho,while the ps2 and xbox were collecting dust I was thoroughly enjoying the GC including the DK bongo games(which made your game room a hit with the kids) and felt I would have gotten my moneys worth if I had paid full price. Games not available on the cube I played on my PC. Now the cube is a dust collector as well but at least it accomplished its task. I had more fun with the games on that little jerky console than I ever did with the others and I didn't have to feel guilty afterward.

It already seems that there are a lot of /.ers that wouldn't pay for it anyway but I just wanted you to remember, all consoles eventually collect dust. If you were smart you'd put your $600 into your ING this way, if your a die-hard SONY loyalist, you'll be able to afford their next console. (that is... if this console doesn't do them in).
I would be heart broken if the speculated price of wii was way off. I wouldn't buy it but I could just play it at a friend's house. After all I already have 3 dust collectors

I haven't read any posts that bash nintendo and this is not a call to arms to defend it. Just relating a story of my new found loyalty to a company I had forsaken for so long.

The Price Makes Me Happy

[Grayden]

Nintendo Wheeeeeeee!!!

Re:Slightly off topic

[Kjella]

Well, someone already mentioned the specifics of finding an optimal price point and non-linearity but skipped the basics. You as a consumer probably see price as a line:

0 --- 100$ --- 200$ ---300$ --- 400$ --- $500 --- $600 --->

Economists are looking at a graph - the price-quantity graph with points (p,q), and the price is just the y-value. They try to estimate this graph and while for every price there is one price point, many concepts don't make any sense otherwise. For example, there's great uncertainty about the $600 price point of the PS3, meaning what quantity it'll sell. There's no uncertainty about the $600 price - it means you need six 100$ bills.

Re:Under $250 is unlikely

[MarkVVV]

For Iwata's sake, the Gamecube optical drive is just a FRIGGIN DVD READER! The disc DOES NOT SPIN BACKWARDS, i have a gc without the case in front of me right now, i'm SEEING THE DISC SPINNING, so please, STOP THIS RUMOR.

Re:Internets?

[ClamIAm]

What are these internets you speak off?

I'm not really sure, but I heard there's rumors on them.