NYT: Wii to launch Nov. 19 for $250 in US [update 6]

@91.

Mike, You're on a gaming blog. You should know that a simple conversion of currency cannot be made.

Japan is cheapest, followed closely by North-america,
South-europe and England are way pricier (, Australia and south-americaare comparable to Europe but often later. Africa is forgotten.

for instance a new PS2 game or Xbox game sells for €60
or 76 US DOLLAR;

an Xbox360 game sells for €70 or 89 US DOLLAR.

so it's a good thing you won't moan and bitch too long about the price

JB: "From what is known of the specs, it looks Nintendo could release the basic Wii system for $150 and not lose money on it."

My feelings exactly. This kind of power for that kind of money just shows how cheap they are.

People have to get it out of their minds that manufacturing cost is a reflection of retail cost. There's no need for Nintendo to charge less. They have the looks, the good PR, the cool gadget factor, and legions of the most religious fanboys in the world. Nintendo has learned a lot from Apple.

I'm sure Microsoft is feeling a bit better, now.

And, dammit, the PS3 is $500. The $600 version doesn't have a hard drive exclusively, it just has a bigger one. Speaking of people always focusing on the worst-case scenario...

Alcoholic Zombie: "Are you seriously complaining about it being $50 more than expected? Here are some ways you can make that extra $50..."

Hmm... given that kind of logic, anything is affordable, so long as you pawn enough used junk. That doesn't mean what you're getting is worth the money.

Hey, a dealer wants $25,000 for a car that is actually worth $18,000! It's got a whopping 160 horsepower, comes with power windows, just like every other car, and has a totally innovative center-mounted instrument panel! WOW! I can afford it if I trade my riding lawn mower for a push model, and maybe get rid of my barbeque. Pay no attention to the bare metal in the trunk -- casual drivers know soundproofing is irrelevant!

well, we will know at the end of the school/work day today. i predict 200-229, because yeah 250 is a little steep. i doubt wii sports wouldve been 50 dollars anyway, it IS a pretty basic (but great sounding) game. it will probably be 5-10 dollars for gamecube games, and maybe high end N64 ganes like ocarina or things like that, but probably alot cheaper for NES games and such. wii will find out in only a few hours! and that launch date is definately off...a sunday? there is no way in hell.

it's totally fair for Nintendo to charge $250. what was it Peter Moore said after Sony announced the PS3 price, "we've just had a price drop?" or something like that. there's no need for Nintendo to go any lower because the competition is so much more expensive and they know plenty of people will go for it. unfortunately I won't be one of them, not because it isn't a value at that price, but I'm just not interested in paying $250 for a machine without many games I'm interested in at launch. the Ubisoft stuff, in particular, is neat but it's pretty much stuff I've already played on other systems. Far Cry? Blazing Angels? thanks, but I'll wait until '07 when Mario Galaxy launches. the videos they put up about online functionality are cool, but I know I won't use them that much. the weather thing: totally great idea, but can you imagine how much longer that would take than just pulling up the weather channel website or turning on the tv? I'll treat the Wii as I treated the DS: I'll totally covet one at launch but take the plunge only when the content suits my interests (for the DS, that was Advance Wars, Lost in Blue, Trauma Center, Trace Memory, and Phoenix Wright-- geez that was a sweet few weeks!)

in the meantime, BioShock FTW!

Remember that the cost includes tax for the Japanese price.

Also, you are buying the software that is coming with Wii (avatar making, photo editing, weather service, Opera, BBS service, etc).

The 360 made you pay for the software on it to, it's not just hardware anymore.

oh i cant wait until it comes i want one so bad.

MS could have a:
Xbox 360 core starting at $250 (WASHAA!) or bundled with a memory card and (maybe) an extra controller for 300 bucks. (Figured out since they could do 255 in Japan)
I'm sorry, but Nintendo DESPERATELY needs a USD200 price point for the nice young-and-old people. No-one is gonna walk into a store with "OMG GAMEPLAY!!!111"
It's more like "you can play THAT game (Gears of War) for 50 more smackers? Me wants." The hidden costs, though VERY obvious, do not show up until the counter, which probably would leave the poor kid with one less game.

I just checked the japanese nintendo-website.
The price ist 25,000 Yen. That´s around 212 Us-Dollar or 168 Euro. The package just includes one wii-remote and one nunchaku-controller. No game for the japanese! So the prize in the US is okay, I guess. Europeans will be f***** again. I bet we have to pay 250 Euros.

Funny thing, Japan will get the wii after you US-Guys. On December the second.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/console/index.html

@94

Why not go and buy an Xbox 360 or a PS3 if your so worried about performance?

The Wii is cheap because it is low powered. Would you rather have a Wii with a Cell-type processor and quad core GPU for $600?

Stop with the "Sunday release sounds fishy" garbage.

Gamecube launched on a Sunday.(Nov. 18, 2001)

DS launched on a Sunday. (Nov. 21, 2004)

So the last two major Nintendo system releases were on Sunday. Why is it strange that the Wii date is also a Sunday?

its a marketing tactic to release on sunday in order to get the big weekly sales figure

Not until I hear the official word today will I believe this.

I'll pay the $250 for the Future of Gaming but I WILL grumble about it. Consoles shouldn't really cost more than $200.
Nintendo better be lucky they're just that damn good.
I don't go over my $200 limit for just anybody.

The Wii will the first system ever I buy at launch.

Launch date inconsequential to me.
Was never gonna buy a PS3 anyway.

Maybe this story is a plant & at today's conference will be the surprise.
Wishful hoping.

To gather non-gamers never go over $200.
I really hope the price declaration ain't true.

Still I know it's worth it in the end.
Rather have that Two Hundred though.
John Lucas

For you people who were doubting the NYT ardicle, it is now on the New York Times website. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/technology/14game.html

At least we're getting a better deal than Japan.

Too bad, after the great E3 it was all just a downward spiral. "Wii prove our promise" in Leipzig severely disappointed with showing nothing but 2 new games, which look nice, but were nothing groundbreaking. I didn't expect too much from this, or so I thought, but Nintendo managed to go up some levels from disappointing me to making me angry.

All this talk about "you will REALLY like price" and "Wii is about being inclusive and playing together". Inclusive my cheap ass, one remote packaged for 250$ doesn't sound inclusive nor cheap to me. Hell even getting a "full" controller now got more expensive, since you have to buy the remote and the nunchuck separately.
Even if Wii Sports will be bundled, it should be nothing more than a non-full price game bundled to increase appeal and value, but NOT price.

I will wait for the EU conference before making any final decisions on buying one, but it can only get worse from here. Just looking at the DS lite price in the US compared to the 150 EURO over here, I get a feeling there will be no Wii for me this year, but me just playing my new DS and my old Cube games which I still have plenty.

50 Euro is a lot to me. I'm not saying Wii isn't fun and I was VERY itchy for getting one to replace my cube, but as another poster already said, apart from the controller, the Wii hardware itself is a Cube lite which could be sold for less. That makes me remember "I can't promise we won't lose even a dollar on selling the Wii". LOL is all I can say, no lost dollars there I'm sure.

Guess the market Nintendo is going for will buy the Wii just to get the interweb into their TV.

P.S. Metroid not being launch ruins it all anyways.

I for one, like the Wii's new price. Just think, if it were $200, Nintendo might of just charged extra for the new software features like Opera and the channels that look really cool.

you people do realize that Nintendo is a for profit company right? They are in business to generate a profit. They can't do that by selling a system at cost or $10 above cost like some of you guys seem to want.They said earlier on record that the Wii would be under $250. You shouldn't have expected anything less than like $229.You fanboys do want the company to survive right? They're not going to say "under $250" and then release it at $150 or $180. If they were going to do that they would have originally hinted at a price under $200 or $180.The Gamecube and DS light launched on Sundays. Maybe the fat ds did too. The Sunday launch is absolutely believable and probably makes better sense that a midweek launch from a marketing perspective.Anyways, quit bitching about the price. If you're up in the middle of the night to follow this story and post comments on it, you're gonna get the friggin cosole regardless of what you say now. I'm preetty sure you all know that.

For everyone saying its "fishy" about the Sunday release--Nintendo has released SEVERAL consoles on a Sunday. It is not "fishy" at all.

'bout time nintendo!
this means i'll be enjoying the wii revolution soon! if the NES was $299 I think $250 is great, they both are or have changed the face of gaming today!

Check out my website: http://38cents.ath.cx

Jerichoedge, i agree, the DS was relesed on a Sunday if I remember right.

I didnt want it to be $250 but since it includes Wii Sports I'm not very upset (I had planned on getting it).

anyone seen the look of the wii interface? it looks amazing!!

It looks like opera is pre-installed, and there's lots some cool lil apps: you can check the weather online in one cool app (will they release nintendo wiidgets?) etc

Best feature: Creating avatars for your chat buddies, really cool!

vwii.com/jp/movies

This is ass! I don't care about it launching on a Sunday. Why the hell is the Wii $250? I'm not feeling it. I just knew Nintendo had to blow it at some point. Their run after e3 was too smooth. I agree with many of you that I'll buy a Wii...eventually, but $250 pisses me off and the late November launch sucks.

Sony blew it with the PS3 this year, Nintendo is in a great position right now. Launch the Wii in late October for $200 with no game and sell the VC games between $2 and 5$. Why are VC games slated for $5 to $10? Bonk's Adventure, Golden Axe, Tecmo Bowl for $5 or $10? Cmon that's bullshit!

I'm hoping this is rumor...I'm PRAYING this is rumor and I don't care what site or publication prints it. If the Wii dropped for $199 I would've bought two. Now....ughhh, this news is not what I was hoping for.
what a let down...

Small scan of packaging here:
http://ohiomike.vox.com/library/post/wii.html

Oh how the irony amazes me.

Now look at the Nintendo fanboys trying to justify this insult of a price with “look at all the extra features you get, so you have to pay more”

O RLY

When it was the PSP it was” they shouldn’t make us pay more for features that aren’t for gaming”, with the ps3 its “they shouldn’t charge more for features (blu ray) that isn’t for gaming”. BUT NOW. With the wii, it’s all about the extra non gaming software you get. What about now they are forcing you a game that looks like something my N64 can handle (wii tennis)

Hypocrites. That’s what all Nintendo fanboys are. With sony its NEVER BELIEVE THE HYPE, but with Nintendo its “this is the future of gaming”. You are being sold a dream not the truth. The fact is the nintenodo wii hasn’t changed gaming, so how can they charge us consumers twice the products manufacturing costs? You see, with Sony and Ms they give you a product which is VALUE FOR MONEY. I can have it and know that im not getting ripped off, the company is making a loss, but that’s not my problem, I don’t own sony. But with the wii, I can see how the Nintendo execs are laughing as they get to give you 5 year old graphics and wii fanboys suck it up. You justify it that as long as Nintendo make a lot of money that’s good. Wow YOU are the perfect consumers. You know why? Because you are idiots. You care more about someone else taking your money, then the fact you are gtting ripped of, with atleast an 100percent profit increase for them.

F***** Hell, 5 dollars for snes/nes games!!!!!!. ARE THEY INSANE? This is crazy; they are charging me for 20 year old games, for the same price I could get brand new innovative games like geometry wars. Wow you wii fanboys have lost the plot now, all you care about is Nintendo happiness. Why should I give a f*** if they make 2X as much profit if osny make a loss, who cares, if microsft makes a lost who cares, YOU ARE A CONSUSMER. You don’t have stock on nintendo, and neither do i. They are charging you MORE than they charged for their last console, with the same graphics. With 20 year old constrols.

But go on, justify how you are gtting ripped off and how happy youa re that you are, go on, idiots, tell yourself how the control has shaped gaming, when you haven’t even used it GO ON. Fools…………..

Jesus christ, you guys will complain about anything. When Reggie said that the console should be "no more than $249.99" everyone should've realized that that meant the console will be $249.99. I don't understand what the problem is. And $5-$10 for the old games is great! It's the same price as the XBLA games. I just paid $5 for Pac-man...I would pay $5 for Super Mario 3 in a fucking heartbeat. This is great news! Only thing I don't understand is coming out after PS3, which probably has something to do with Zelda anyway. You knew the Wii wasn't launching without Zelda, and if that's when it's ready, then goddamnit that's when it's ready. I'll have one first day...PS3 may take a couple of years for me to get.

$250 puts the price perilously close to the $299 XBOX 360 Core system. I wager that Microsoft will ensure that there are more core systems on the shelves.

Prior to this announcement, a sub-$200 Wii was a no-brainer. At $250, I'm going to have a tough time justifying this thing to Mrs. Claus. I'm better off buying a pink DS lite for my daughter (replace her "phat" DS). Viva Pinata is making a whole lot of sense right now.

The price point is disappointing, but the release date is very disappointing. It is almost as if Nintendo doesn't want more market share. I'm not sure why I was expecting anymore from them though, this seems to have been there M.O. for a few generations now. For the past three generations it has always been the most aggressively pushed console that has "won" the generation (at least in America) and this is a concept that Nintendo just doesn't seem to get (note the downward spiral that is the SNES>N64>Gamecube, all of which I owned and was frustrated by). Maybe this is a cross-cultural misunderstanding or maybe NOA just needs some new leadership.

I think they'll probably still doreally well this round because of the innovation theyre bringing to market, but they could have done much better.

"I guess what annoys me is the politically correct advertising. Here's an old guy conducting an orchestra. Yeah right, old people are NOT GONNA PLAY THE WII."

Yeah, just like they don't play on the DS....oh, wait.

The NYT article has the ring of truth to it. $250 is suddenly a high price? Since when? Personally, I think the pack-in of Wii Sports (which I suspected would be the case all along) is brilliant. Lots of folks are going to be buying these consoles for their families...and being able to just buy the box for the grandkids is MUCH easier than having to select a game, too. Someone earlier in the thread pointed to someone spending $50 more to get a 360 core and Gears of War...which is another $60. So if we're going to compare the two, you're still a hundred dollars different.

Further, the market for Gears of War is NOT who Nintendo's targetting. This may make the hardcore gamers sad, angry or whatever...but the fact is that Ninty's strategy is to make the Wii a household appliance. Just look: a photo service, community avatars, full featured Internet browser, news and weather...these are things the hardcore gamer may not care about, but less tech savvy consumers may find it compelling. Every night before I turn in, I use my TiVo to get the latest weather from Yahoo. I could just as easily do that on the Wii, now. If the Wii supports access to stuff like Internet Radio and podcasting...well, you do the math.

Iwata and Fils-Aimee said "under $250"...and that's what you've got. Expect a new bundle after the holiday season, if demand is strong for it. But more likely, expect rotating bundles with different games (such as Mario Galaxy bundle with a custom color Wii). The 'outrage' expressed here will translate into lost sales as well as the buzz of SOAP did for it's box office...which is to say not that much.

People, $250 is not *so* much more expensive than previous consoles. When adjusted for inflation, it actually makes the Wii less expensive than most past consoles. Look at these prices, adjusted for inflation, in 2006 dollars:

1985 NES - $200 in 1985 = $378.25 in 2006
1991 SNES - $200 in 1991 = $298.83 in 2006
1996 N64 - $200 in 1996 = $259.40 in 2006
2001 GCN - $200 in 2001 = $229.81 in 2006
2006 Wii - $250 in 2006 = $250.00 in 2006

So in reality, Nintendo's consoles have overall been getting cheaper. If Nintendo kept pricing their console at $200 at launch, eventually inflation would make that unreasonable.

I got these numbers from this handy inflation calculator from the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl

Well I dont know what this costs them to make. But 250 is well beyond impulse buy. If they are serious about capturing non-gamers, the price had to be a bit lower IMHO. I happen to be a nintendo fan boy, but for 250, I can cancel my reserve and wait a while. If it were 150, I'd buy it day one, and probably buy one for my little brother as well. I think their message is good, but to get to non-gamers, you can't ask them to make a large initial investment.

Oh you mindless cretins your precious Wii will crash and burn just like the virtual boy...(pause for dramatic effect)...Mwa HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, up to now I thought I would be considered a Nintendo fanboy. Reading all these comments about how the interface of the chat software combined with the Avatar creator alone seems to justify the price makes me feel like I'm suddenly a Nintendo hater.

I mean come on, you all surf the internet on your PC already don't you? I bet plenty of you play the console in the next room to your computer room, or like me actually on your PC Monitor. So even if the Wii features interweb on your TV(in low res as mentioned), that hardly excites me unless Nintendo has some seriously nice stuff going on with in-game communication and buddy lists for games and all that jazz. Which I seriously doubt looking at the multiplayer on my DS. Having to click a gazillion dialogues to visit my friends town in Animal Crossing is getting old. So is Advance Wars:Dual Strike or Meteos not being multiplayable over WiFi.

I hate to admit it really, but THE TRUTH is on to something there. And I'm not complaining just for the sake of complaining, but simply because they promised that you'd get hell of a value for your bang and all that big talk. Surfing the internet on my TV and checking the weather doesn't give me anywhere as much value as a second Remote+Nunchuck even.

Nintendo will have to dish out some more info about their online stuff and I'll be sure to wait for plenty of hands on info from various websites before I run out and buy one. Especially if they translate the price to a straight 250 Euro as I expect them to. No way in hell are they going to make it 200 Euro(which would have been the price I expected at max for having only one controller in the package).

Oh well, so its another day of waiting time, but this time around it's not with anticipation but ducked for cover.

250 dollars is what I was expecting. I already have the money saved up, so I'll get it shortly after launch. Also not surprised so many of the comments are bitching "OMFG IT'S OVER 20 DOLLARS".

the wii comes to the usa before it comes 2 the jpn it comes to the jpn desember the 2th ti will come to the use before hmm maybe the eu will get it first:D

@ All the idiots!

People keep on bitching about how the wii is underpowered & cost to much. Its a great deal check out the screen shot comparison for Madden 07 on the wii, xbox, ps2 & 360. The wii looks close to the 360.

You can't call yourself a gamer if you think the classic games are not worth 5-10 bucks. I bought Mario All-stars for $45 on ebay. Most of you non-gamers complaining will eat your words!

I was waiting to see what Nintendo was going to sell this for, and what the fanboys would say. I usually try to be objective about these things, but I admit that I was thinking more around 200.00 for it. It's amazing to me how MS has been able to change our perception of value and affordability. The last generation launched at 299.99 and 199.99, and the 360 shattered that with a price of 400.00. Sony went higher at 500 and 600 hundred and all of a sudden everyone thought that 400 is affordable and Sony is WAY too high! Nintendo's mantra has been bringing non gamer in, and to be launched at a great and affordable price. Yet it seems they are coming in for more than they charged for their last system. They talked about the price of games being higher, yet they are pricing their 1st party games at 50 bucks. 3rd party games typically cost more, so what will they be? and I thought they were not trying to be the center of the living room with all this unnecessary stuff, but the Wii will have a web browser and photo option? No hard drive, so how much are SD cards? 40-50 bucks? I personally think these options are pretty cool, but I just point this stuff out because all these Nintendo fanboys have bashed the 360 and PS3 for trying to be more than game machines. You see, its easy to bash once a company lays out its plans to you, and you can nitpik it to death. When Sony laid out its plans @ E3, I knew they were going to get smashed for it. Some of it was justified, and the price was for some sticker shock. They have since scaled back their launch, but due to expectations they set, it has left many dissapointed. Will Nintendo go thru the same thing? 250 is not that much, and it seems like you get a lot. But the expectation they set was that it would be cheaper, and that it was really just all about games. And I was thinking the VC games would be a little less. 5 is not high, but don't these compilation discs come out with about 15-20 games on it for 20-30 bucks? And didn't MS catch heat over the price of some of its downloadable games?
Once again, I ain't hatin, and will probably get a Wii for the Zelda game. Just remember tha tNintendo is a business just like Sony and MS are, and they do this to make money. Hope the Wii does well, competition is good for everybody. No about that HD-DVD add on MS.....

That price is bullshit.

Not in that it is false, but in that it is a huge ripoff.

I totally believe that the Wii will launch on a Sunday. Every piece of Nintendo hardware has been launched on a Sunday. At least back til Nintendo 64 when I started to notice a pattern. All of em were on Sundays in North America. Probably Japan too. I can't wait for the Wii!!! And I love that we get an extra wiimote and game! =D

Sooooooooo....what about Nintendo World coverage? Wasn't that supposed to start @ 9 AM Eastern?

That date is not as bad as it sounds. First. There is allegedly only 400000 PS3s for the states. There will be no competition other than 360s. If Wii launched earlier than the PS3 all of the people who are trying to obtain a PS3 (whether to keep or resale) most likely will not buy a wii. That would send out waves of bad sales reports all over the net. If they wait until the PS3s are just a memory; people will expect not to be able to find PS3s over thanksgiving weekend and the buzz over a brand new system will cause huge numbers. Nintendo will look like its old golden goose started laying eggs again. Investors and publishers will love it. That is what is important for giving the system legs. Remember the hype over tickle me elmo etc over that time frame is what caused shortages of them. It was smart to hold their cards until today.

Have to agree that 250 is too much for me and the virtual console games are also a tad high at 5 and 10. I may just save that 250 and get a ps3 instead at this rate.

Gamespot is live blogging the nintendo confrence. Why is joystiq not doing this?

Controller attachments are more then likely going to double the price of the Wii...if you plan on having lots of friends over...

to have your friends and family play with you. Remember, the Wii is touted as an 'everyone' fun box..and about the only console that advertises four people playing it..

3 extra controllers - $120
3 extra nunchucks - $60
4 extra 'retro' - $80
Total cost for 4 - $260

Of course, this doesn't include any other controller add-on that Nintendo comes up with...

Granted, you don't HAVE to have 4 remotes, but the way that Nintendo advertises the Wii, you'll 'need' to play with 3 friends in order to have the most fun.

10 dollars more than the initial cost of the system.

3 extra wireless controllers for the 360 cost about $150.00

Even with just an extra controller (and to get the 'most' out of those controllers..)

The wii costs..

Wii console - $250
Extra retro attachment (x2) - $40 (more then likely going to be needed to play downloadable SNES and N64 games...)
Extra nunchuck attachment - $20
Extra wiimote- $40

Total cost is.... $350 dollars..50 dollars cheaper than the Premium 360...

to cheekymunky , #120, who said "I just paid $5 for Pac-man" cookoo!

I don't understand all the "doom and gloom" comments about Nintendo launching on the 19th of Nov. The smartest move Nintendo could make would be to release this AFTER the PS3. Think about it, massive sellouts of the PS3, people going to every store in their local area to get one, there's none left, what's the cheaper, more available, hot, new holiday game system? The Wii. Nintendo's just assuring that they get every single last person who CAN'T buy a PS3 this year and keeping Microsoft from picking up those sales. Super smart.

haha Audie beat me to it.

Um, YOU GUYS!!???

For every other Nintendo launch in history, the machine has sold for 25,000 yen and $199.99. So why, suddenly, does 25,000 yen = $249.99? The announced Japanese price reiterates a $199 price!

Wait, there's a Crayon Shin-Chan game? I'm so there.

All a whiner here is bunch of cheap asses. First they bahsed and laughed at PS3 price and praise Nintendo and now they saw Nintendo price, they are dissapointed. What the hell, $249 is not that expensive. How disappointed can you get? Are you really looking for a steal or what? if you want Consoles at launch of couse, you have to pay for the R&D. Stop whining, the price isn't that bad. Like I said before about PS3, If you can't afford, get a job. If you can afford but too cheap ass to buy it, then STFU, buying consoles at launch is not for you. the launch are for the enthuasists. period.