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Nintendo Announces $99 Wii Mini For US Release
Zothecula writes "Nintendo recently announced that it was ceasing all production of its original Wii video game console. It seemed as if it had run its course, and Nintendo was shifting 100 percent of its focus to the floundering Wii U. Turns out, the Japanese company had other plans, announcing that its previously Canada-exclusive $99 Wii Mini is making its way to the U.S. 'The $99 price has been neglected in this product generation, but in the past, it has been a very successful price for game consoles. More than half of the volume of machines in the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 generations sold at the $99 or under price."
Or, Nintendo has enough data to suggest there is room for a budget console with no internet capability.
If you have a large segment of your market which never uses the internet for gaming, they don't need internet capability.
If you want the big shiny one with an internet connection, you probably already own it. But if you have a 5 year old who just wants to play a Mario game, you may not even want internet connectivity.
Not everyone plays games on-line. I know I don't, so surely in the demographic for a Wii there's plenty of people who don't either.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Any content you've purchased on one Wii is stuck there forever in most cases. Nintendo won't transfer digital purchases unless you have documentation showing your original Wii was stolen, and that's iffy. Why people keep paying for the same, tired rehash of their game catalog and obvious abuse of the platform is beyond me.
"Powers. I have them."
You can buy a used Wii for a lot cheaper, and it doesn't come gimped.
The cow says "Moo." The dog says "Woof." The Timothy says "Thanks, valued customer. We appreciate your input."
Before you complain about the Mini being a butchered Wii, just realize that Nintendo are not going after serious console buyers here or people flush with cash. Those people might have bought a Wii U or are waiting for the XBox One or PS 4. Nintendo is going after people looking for a bargain but who don't want a used machine (these people do exist). They are serving people who don't demand the latest and greatest from a console and who will pay $99 to play the awesome games you could get on Nintendo's old system. The thing Nintendo knows is that when it sells a console, it will sell games for that console. So a Wii Mini probably represents four or five games going out the door as first sales in the next year as well. And I am pretty sure nobody sells more titles for Nintendo consoles than Nintendo itself. This is a play to make some more money on the backend of the Wii's life. Its a smart move to trim the cost of the Wii and keep selling machines and the games that play on them. And some of these people might turn into Wii U buyers when they have more money.
Selling ROMs doesn't make your retail partners happy - a $100 console at Christmas time? That's golden.
Majesco and Sega teamed up to release a $20-$30 Genesis in the late 1990s, which helped retailers clear out a ton of unsold software. It, too, lacked expansion abilities.
Atari released the 2600 for $40 in the late 1980s. It, too, let stores boast an incredible deal - even if it's not a desirable one - which allowed lower income families access to a massive library of software.
In the era of digital downloads, you've got to throw your retail partners a bone. While Nintendo rakes in massive profits at incredible margins of that digitally downloaded Pokemon X/Y (that it doesn't have to share with Best Buy), stores don't get a cut. This way, Nintendo can make Walmart happy - and sell those bargain basement bin games, too - bringing the retail circle of life forward once again.
Don't think about it as maximizing your profit - think about it as making your customers (the buyers at big box stores) happy. A Nintendo impulse buy console? This has a lot of potential to sell to the downtrodden, the uninformed, people who can't read, and your aunt who wants to buy you something from the Nintendos.