Price parity for Wii in Europe, UK

Wii scores.
Lets hope that sony copies this too.

Well, we already know that Sony aren't going to follow this trend, what with the higher-end model of their Victorian Waffle Iron coming out over here at £435 - or roughly US$800.
We got a good deal with the Gamecube too though - that launched at £130 over here compared to the US launch price of $200, which is pretty much comparable after the VAT. Shame they can't be quite so decent with the price of the DSlite, but there we are.

Whoops. I mean £425 with regards to the PS3 price, obviously. Accursed typographical shenanigans!

Kerching!
1 Wii sold to me

I'll bet anyone the price difference between £150 and the Actual Retail Cost that Wii (here in the U.K.) get screwed.

We always get screwed on the price!

If only we could unite and ALL agree not to buy anything thats screws us on the price when compared to the Japanese and American markets, then manufacturers would soon learn to treat us fairly.

...If only.

Im living in the wrong country :(

lets hope that wii dont have to wait a stupidly long amount of time after the rest of the world gets it.

£150 is a hella nice price

Where is Europe, UK? Is it near London, UK

hmm i've never been there

/sarc

Man...£150 - that's a bit too nice. If Nintendo plays this game right, they are on to a winner.

360 (for graphics) + Wii (for sheer delight) = a very happy Rocky :D

It's funny how people always say "UK and Europe" as if UK didn't belong to Europe.

Wii for me please.

Got my 360 so I'm nearly set for the next few years.

Now, that's cool...

Living in Europe, i was kinda pissed with DS Lite at 129 dollars but here, at 149 euros... with the change, that's 2 DS Lite for the price of 3 in the US, not a good deal...

And i thought 250 dollars would automatically mean 250 euros down here... which is a lot of money for us, poor europeans with bigger taxes and smaller salaries...

200 euros is a nice price, and it's fair opposed to 250 dollars: thanks Nintendo!

Now please, could you do the same with the Lite? I've got to buy four of these cuties: for me, my wife and my two kids... :)

O.k. That settles it. At some point shortly after launch Sony are going to be forced to either drop the price or drop trou, as they say!

It'll be hard enough for them to sustain the price of the PS3 in the face of a new Nintendo console that retails at a lower price than Sony's two year old handheld.

But I really can't see them holding their line when MS monsters them with huge spoiler marketing drive that they surely must be planning for November (I predict a drop in price for the hardware, new improved bundles, and maybe coupons for free or discounted XBL Gold subscriptions).

Of course, corporate pride and an early feeding frenzy by the early adopters will mean that the price drop won't happen immediately. But after a decent interval (3 months? 6 months?) I'd expect to see some disingenous nonsense about allowing the masses to experience the brilliance the PS3, and a £125 price drop.

Like previous contributors here I'm reminded of the Saturn. I desperately wanted one of those shiny black boxes under my t.v. but it just cost too much money. So I carried on with my MegaDrive (the all conquering system of the time) for a couple more years, then bought a PS2. Next time I looked round Sega were console history, so I guess I wasn't the only one.

I've seen these kinds of articles before, but never really bothered to post. I do want to add that while I consider myself no expert, trying to simply use the current FX rate to determine the price point in other markets isn't very fair to International Companies. You first have to start understanding International Accounting.

There is A LOT more involved once you start getting into how to determine gains and losses in these markets. A good International firm can sell a console at a profit in another market, but FX rates may actually force them to take a loss when they file. People need to understand that Sony and Nintendo's Base Currency is the Yen, while Microsoft's is the U.S. dollar. A good CFO will try and move cash accounts around, buy Forward Contracts to lock in rates, etc., but to get any REALIZED gain or loss to put in their Quarterly Filings, everything has to be translated back to their Domicile Country currency. If a company tries to institute a world-wide price, (which already has its own set of problems since FX rates move constantly), they signficantly increase their risk to currency exposure and can wind up losing money in a country, just because of FX rates. It is a wise BUSINESS move to inflate your price to hedge against currency risk. Those of you in Australia, Great Britain, Euro countries that actually use the Euro as their currency, and Japan have a little more right to complain because your markets are developed and FX rates don't move too much, but there is still a risk involved.

I think what Nintendo is doing is a good move for their Europe-based customers, but they are taking a gamble that the Yen won't weaken against the Euro and Pound (technically also the US Dollar but that's a VERY LONG story).

Lastly, I believe Great Britain gets segregated because of the size of that Economy. The British securities market is just about as developed as the U.S. I work for a brokerage firm and even we classify all our European securities as U.K., or everything else. We do understand it's part of Europe, but their desire to stay autonomous from the Euro makes us treat it differently.

"It's funny how people always say "UK and Europe" as if UK didn't belong to Europe."

well as soon as the UK adopts the Euro's then we'll consider you part of Europe...

"well as soon as the UK adopts the Euro's then we'll consider you part of Europe..."

Considering we've been in the EU since 1973 I think it's safe to say we're part of Europe. Just because we have a seperate currency doessn't mean anything.

Anyone who cant afford a Wii doesnt deserve one. Shigeru needs to eat too you know. Dont be a scrooge.

Nintendo = teh wiin.

Lol, UK is like the heart of Europe, Morder, I don't know what you're getting at.
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The Wii seems mega cheap now, honestly, I think minimum wage jobs over here in the UK pays close to £100+ a week. So basically, 1 week = Wii.

''well as soon as the UK adopts the Euro's then we'll consider you part of Europe...''
I could easily say that the other European countries should change there first language to English. Duh.

screw you the UK is part of europe the UK is pretty much the biggest hub for the UK markets, just because we dnt want the shitty euro next to the high value powerful pound doesnt mean anything. dnt diss the UK its the french who are the worst part of europe their hik farmers swallow up all of the funds of the agricultural policy and cost all EU countires billions lets hate them instead. 150 is an awesome price i neva expected it that low even for the cheapest console

Nice one nintendo, though i will probably just use friends Wiis(sigh) as i can only see it being fun in groups.

my point being is that since the mainland of europe uses the Euros and the UK uses the quid or pounds they're being considered separate...unfortunately for the internets sarcasm doesn't translate

Xbox360 games currently cost $95 in the UK, the PS3 will cost over $800!

UK is clearly paying way too much for the next gen.

Armin, I know it seems like it costs alot, like ''Wow, that makes it $800!'', but the pound is powerful. Really, most of us are like, wow, I wish I could have a PS3 at $500, because $500 is like £250, which isn't much.

Give me a break fellas.

In Mexico (and Latin America) we had to wait two years for the PS2 to arrive "oficially" to our Country. And guess what, we had to pay the double of the price if we wanted to buy the console as soon as it launched.

So, you don't have reason to cry.

"but they are taking a gamble that the Yen won't weaken against the Euro and Pound (technically also the US Dollar)"
Even if your explanation is right as to why retail prices do not match currency rate +- VAT (you could also have added that foreign companies selling in Europe have to incur substantial localization costs and deal with as many legislations), there you have it the other way round : the gamble is not that the yen might go down vs € or £, but that it might go UP : a stronger yen means less ¥ for each € or £, thus a lesser profit in Japan.

Wow. Sony are in trouble. I will be getting a wii to go along with my 360. But who will get a ps3 when they can get a 360 AND a wii for the same price??
This will place nintendo in second place with sony the loser this time round!

£150??? That sounds awesome for me ^_^ I just gotta work abit harder and then i'll get enough money ^_^ Wii all the way. PS3 Puts me off..... to expensive >.> Might be getting a Xbox 360 hmm... And about the UK in Europe... UKs always been part of Europe ... And just because we have pound coins doesn't say much. I mean other countries could have also said no to the euros right? They accepted and we haven't. Thats our choice!