What the imminent Wii price drop could mean to average gamers
It had to happen. After Sony introduced the PlayStation 3 Slim and Microsoft confirmed the Xbox 360 price drop, the onus was on Nintendo to follow suit with the Wii. Oh yeah, the scanned flyers announcing the Wii price drop certainly helped, but nothing beats hearing it from the House that Mario Built.
According to Nintendojo, it was confirmed during a retailer conference call that effective Sunday, September 27th, the Wii’s price tag would be trimmed down to $199. Earlier today, Engadget reported that Best Buy will also be selling the Wii at $199.
An Engadget screenshot also showed that Nintendo will be making the official announcement on Friday, September 25. Considering that the Wii is aimed at the casual crowd, this news would likely keep the Wii on top of the “console wars.”
But who cares about the console wars? What does this price cut mean for average gamers like you and me?
The Wii is arguably one of the most stable of current-generation consoles so chances are, you might not need to get a second one when the price drops. Of course, there’s also the bigger picture where you might see EVEN MORE shovelware as developers flock to the Wii because of its stronger sales after the price cut.
It could also mean more first-party games. In Nintendo’s collective minds, broader audience + more first party games = more profit. Of course, you can replace “first party” with “shovelware” and get better results since shovelware is cheaper to make.
Then again, shovelware isn’t evergreen like Wii Fit or Mario Kart Wii. This reason makes quality first-party games irreplaceable in a business perspective. So if stronger Wii sales mean more quality games, I’m all for it.
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September 24th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I hate the wii.. I hate it for all it stands for.. the only game on that console worth looking at is Muramasa and all the old games you can download. But you can get most through roms. The wii to me is a plug and play piece of crap.. you check it out for a minute then forget about it for months.. which about sums it up for most of the people that bought it.
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Mike Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Well, I do agree with some of your sentiments–especially about the Wii’s tendency to gather dust. However, I don’t think it’s that bad.
Honestly, the Wii has this capability for fun that’s surprisingly superior to an HD console. Hear me out: I actually have more fun when playing the Wii’s best games compared to playing the PS3’s greatest games.
However, these moments are rare because the Wii has too few quality games.
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September 24th, 2009 at 10:45 am
Someone apparently doesn’t like the wii. This is so laced with passive aggression i can barely take it seriously at all. In the meantime. Thanks for restating what everyone already knows then whining about. Super journalism right there!
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Mike Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Eh? Passive aggression? Did you happen to just fancy using that word because you learned it in daycare? I actually like the Wii. I have one, it’s great. While the Wii could use more quality games, it doesn’t conk out like other HD consoles do.
Journalism? If you want journalism, read the New York Times. This is a BLOG. If you don’t know what BLOG means, look it up.
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September 24th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I could say bad things about the other two consoles as well. Like how sony dropped backwards compatability(pissed me off) or how the xbox is fail from a hardware point of view(alot of RRoD).
haha daycare love that! I predict that Nintendo will have shot themselves in the foot with the Wii. It’s great to all the “average” consumers and very very very casual gamers right now… but what about the next generation? They cant just do this again.. because all of the casuals(where alot of wii revenue comes from) that bought the wii probably wont shell out more money for something like this again(a gaming machine) because they already have something that plays games. I dunno thats peer speculation on my part but i hope you get my point at least. I do not like that wii sports was the most bought game of all time….. not hard to do since it was sold with everyone of your systems since launch.. not really something i’d congratulate them for. I’d say the same goes for the one that hold the record before it but that was actually a good game. I guess im a hater.. I like the ds but despise the wii..
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Mike Reply:
September 24th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
Yes, I like the DS too. It has a lot of really good games. It has many stinkers, but the good games just keep coming.
I see your point about casuals not buying another one like the Wii. That’s a pretty good point. The Wii is a tough act to follow. Does Nintendo expect to sell the next Nintendo console to the same audience as successfully? Unless the Wii’s successor has another innovative controller, I think not.
To Wii Sports’ credit, it wasn’t bundled with the Wii in Japan and the game still sold crazy there. Of course, Japan still isn’t comparable to the larger markets like Europe or U.S.
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September 24th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Not sure that this is true:), but thanks for a post.
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