Wii launches Dec. 8 in Europe for GBP 179

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Sep 15th 2006 at 8:55AM }

And yes, that's 2006. After deluging attendees with sales charts, DS success stories and grown men grunting their way through a game of Wii Tennis, Nintendo finally unveiled the European launch details for their upcoming console. Eurogamer reports that the system will see release on December 8th for EUR 249 and GBP 179. The European system will also have Wii Sports bundled, along with one Wiimote and one nunchuck. Software is expected to retail for between 34 and 39 pounds (or between 49 and 59 Euros). Much like other territories, the system is set to receive some 15 to 20 launch games, including the usual suspects -- Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz and Wii Play.

Tags: Wii Euro Launch, Wii Europe, Wii launch, WiiEuroLaunch, WiiEurope, WiiLaunch

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

toygen @ Sep 15th 2006 8:57AM

They didn't let us UKers down after all. good move Ninty! :)

Mono @ Sep 15th 2006 8:59AM

http://aussie-nintendo.com/index.php?v=news&p=4988

Therein contained are the supposed Australian launch details.

$400, Dec 7.

relieved. @ Sep 15th 2006 9:00AM

They still let us down on price, that comes to about $330 for us brits.

They gave us the date but left the shaft where it is.

ChrisRX @ Sep 15th 2006 9:03AM

I hate that the UK always has such a huge markup on consoles, and it's not even down to sales tax all the time.
I mean if you compare it with other prices
25000 yen = ~ £113
$250 = ~£133
AU$399 = ~£159
249 Euros = ~£167
And we have to pay £179 for it. I don't see the logic behind it.

stafford @ Sep 15th 2006 9:03AM

An Xbox 360 core system is 10 pounds (GDP) more than an WII, hmmmmm.........

student @ Sep 15th 2006 9:33AM

stafford, you say that but can people even buy the core system? It seems unfair to compare that when the majority of people are buying the premium systems. But yes, it does seem unfair that they get marked up. Thats what you get for having such a damned high value currency. Lower it and the price will drop.

Will B @ Sep 15th 2006 9:08AM

I knew you wouldn't let me down Mario my old friend.

TimeDevil @ Sep 15th 2006 9:08AM

Bollocks!

Nintendo just asked Europe to bend over one more time!

Can I import it region free from America for £130? The saving with by an extra Wiimote.

WorMzy @ Sep 19th 2006 2:33AM

What the hell is with the 3 week delay? I'm sick of being european, we never get anything on time. The price is ok though.

Razz_Eurogamer.net @ Sep 15th 2006 9:13AM

WOW! THat's really cheap! :) :) :) :)

I'm going to buy at least 2 remotes and nunchuks at launch. any word on how much they're going to cost?

13 Weeks til Wii in the UK! YES!

LivePyromaniac @ Sep 15th 2006 9:10AM

Man, thats bites. We get totally ripped off, even more so than europe, how is that fair? I was going to be picking up a Wii if it was cheap, like, between 125 and 150 pounds, but this is too much. And is dangerously close to the cost of the xbox360 core console package.

relieved. @ Sep 15th 2006 9:12AM

Im still gonna get it, but i mght import some of the first party titles, and maybe a controller or two if theyre too expensive here

martinj88 @ Sep 15th 2006 9:13AM

Only the premium 360 is worth buying.....and with the premium 360 at £280 the Wii is £180 it ain't too bad.....

and wheres the Virtual console games prices??.......please don't say there not going to launch the service until later

dsub @ Sep 15th 2006 9:36AM

why are consoles always so much more expensive in Great Britain/Europe?

that's around $330 in GBP or $315 in euros.

Since the hardware itself is region free, wouldn't it be just a tad bit cheaper for you guys in Europe to just import one?

The United States Postal service ships a 5 pound package through global express mail (3-5 days shipping) for only $45. Not sure if there are custom fees an/or waiting periods involved, but why is is that Europe always seems to get the shaft on this stuff? This means the only next-gen system that isn't substantially more expensive to Europe is the 360.

kerin @ Sep 15th 2006 9:15AM

£179 is the same price as basic PSP bundles (PSP with 1 game), so this seems entirely reasonable. Also remember that the UK price includes VAT at 17.5%, whereas the EU price is before any sales taxes.

Ianc02 @ Sep 15th 2006 9:19AM

Cool, thanks Nintendo, a fair price with a game included too. I doubt though wether i will be playing Wii sports at all heh, but with the expected retail of software coming in at £34-£39 then its games-a-plenty for me. Nice one. Will sit well with my X360. Region free too (best Mr. Burns) Excellent.

Osiris @ Sep 15th 2006 9:22AM

If the rumours of the Wii being region free are to be believed, then i might have to import from the US. It'll still cost less even with the postage prices..

leadbelly @ Sep 15th 2006 9:25AM

WOW... the supposedly cheap console isn't all that cheap.

i'm really disappointed in that.

Jules @ Sep 15th 2006 9:22AM

Yay, finally we hear some European info....i haven't been able to find any info as to when the europe nintendo conference was starting, and all websites just seem to be like 'well we've heard the japanese and american launch info, so we're not really bothered what the european one is gonna bring to the table'.

but on topic i'm not too fussed about the price of the console but the release date i'm not happy with. Looks like we're the last region to get it...even after Australia! What gets me is the American whiners that have complained about the wii info, price and release date and yet they are getting it cheapest and first!!

still i'm looking forward to getting one (if i can....if they haven't shipped like 3million of them to the states first) and using the Wii Channels :)

TimeDevil @ Sep 15th 2006 9:28AM

OK Sorry for the grammer, I should have read my comment before smashing my head on the "Please activate your comments" link.

I've been really looking forward to this console since the details came out, but that price for the UK just isn't on. I'll wait till my birthday next March and evaluate the state of each next generation console before I jump in. I think I'll fianlly purchase a PS2 and buy all the 90%+ games I've missed. If anyone can give a valid explanation why the UK pays $70 more than our friends in America, I'm all ears.

wupperbayer @ Sep 15th 2006 9:31AM

Nice price, Nintendo. 249 euros isn’t that bad, since PS3s price is 2.4 times as high.

But 249 euros is about 316 US dollars. From that point of view, that european price isn’t that nice anymore. We have to pay over 60(!) bucks extra just for living in the EU. Nice.

But at last Wii’s going to ship here this year. ;)

Toonster @ Sep 15th 2006 10:45AM

Razz! Are you happy, now!?

I can't get on Eurogamer at my school but tell everyone there that I find that to be excellent news!

(although I live in the States) :P

Keef @ Sep 15th 2006 9:34AM

wow some of you are cheap cun*s.....

its a cheap console.....may not b gd but its cheap....

deal with it.... im 19 and £180 is crap all lmao

and yes i have a full time job, im an NC programer, yes i live with my perents but no i dont leach money off them.....

Paul Gale @ Sep 15th 2006 9:37AM

It's really excellent to see that Nintendo is making its launch almost truly simultaneously world wide. Wii will rock this Fall.
Paul Gale
1up.com

gLitterbug @ Sep 15th 2006 9:40AM

Ah there it is, the final word on what we all knew would happen. Europeans getting some happy unlubed sphincter fun. Just as expected the 249 USD were just converted over to EUR.

I wonder if anyone from England who has internet access will actually buy a Wii for that price instead of ordering it from at least another EU country with the "cheaper" price. 249 Euro is still too much, 220 Euro is the max that would've made me go out and buy one on launch, but now I wonder if I should just let my buddy bring one over from Japan. I wonder if there would be any problems regarding the Wii Channels and all that. Even if the thing is region free it might not be "localized" then by just connecting it to some european Interweb.

So whats the word on remote prices? did they get a nice markup too and run for 70 Euro per full controller now?

As much as I like Nintendo's games, I still have enough Gamecube and DS fun to tide me over for a while until the Wii might get a tad cheaper to warrant me buying one.

So much for convincing all my friends to get a cheap Wii. Price coupled with the now not so great launch for any non Zelda addict and not much if any online multiplayer games for probably a long while ruined that.

I'm really glad now they took out DVD Playback and still make a profit on every unit while being able to get it into stores this DIRT CHEAP. yay.

Mindstormy @ Sep 15th 2006 10:13AM

Just import one you crazy european guys.

=['] @ Sep 15th 2006 9:44AM

I'm really disappointed by this price.
Nintendo have let me & my compatriots down (every other industry continues to do the same)

There's now no compelling reason to pick this over an Xbox 360. At least MS have a year's head start in terms of the games that are out, they have Xbox live which is a success & they have the multimedia components of xbox 360 which are more than just useful if properly implemented.

Nintendo's USP can be easily usurped too - Sony integrated a pared down version into the forthcoming PS3, there's no reason why MS can't do similar (don't give me the patents bollocks either).

Nope, Nintendo - you may have just lost yourselves some serious customers.

Gamer G @ Sep 15th 2006 9:42AM

First of all people should stop making direct comparisons on price between US and EU prices you can not compare.

Average salaries are higher in the major EU countries, retailers take higher margins because people earn more and their rent is much more expensive. You could go on for ever about taxes and all sorts but its not worth it.

£179 is not that bad for a console but with the 360 Core going for £199 including Fifa and a memory card I know which one i'd rather have and would get longer use out of personally.

haha @ Sep 15th 2006 9:46AM

Before you guys compare the price between US and EU/UK, pleae make sure that you understand the the US price will need to add sales tax onto it (usually 6 - 8%, depending on the state you are living in) and in EU/UK the price is inclusive of sales tax (around 15-20%). So the net price (before sales tax) is very close between EU and US, while UK is about 5 gbp higher.

If you want to blame for the high price in EU/UK, blame your own people in electing the high taxation welfare state mentality government, not nintendo.

RP @ Sep 15th 2006 9:47AM

The remote is going be be TWENTY NINE NINTEY NINE, and the nunchuck and classic controllers are FOURTEEN NINTEY NINE

Game over for Wii in europe i'm afraid. I'll still buy one, but i'm not going to be playing with friends on it, clearly.

Wii is going to achieve none of what it's supposed to in Europe at these prices.

Terry @ Sep 15th 2006 9:53AM

What, you Brits think NHS pays for itself? Your VAT is a indirect tax (i.e. not levied at the point of sale) at 17.5%, when you add that to the retail price in the rest of the world, the UK is only paying a 12% price premium that's not rolled into your pinko socalist tax structure. ;-) I can tell you what, living in the US I'd *LOVE* if I only had to pay a 12% premium on goods imported from the UK, but Noooo... it's $3 bags of Walker's Crisps and Aero Bars and $8 bottles of HP Sauce all the way! (50%+ international import premium) Of course, those all go through secondary importers, but you get my drift.

theflyingorc @ Sep 15th 2006 10:15AM

Baffled. These numbers seem actually BETTER than the average console launch in the UK, yet everyone complains. Don't consoles in Europe usually cost double what they do in the states?

RP @ Sep 15th 2006 9:58AM

@28

This is nothing to do with tax, this is NOE not doing what needs to be done (ie, make cuts, take losses for the greater good. IE success of the Wii). Because at these prices it just isn't going to work.

PiratePete @ Sep 15th 2006 9:59AM

Heh heh, UK products...
Where do I get um?

ALH @ Sep 15th 2006 10:08AM

£179?! AWESOME. Yeah, we got bummed, its still the most expensive of the lot, but geez,I was honestly expecting the old $250=£250, this is a MUCH nicer price :D. The only thing which would sweeten this deal is what they did with the cube 'oh did we say £170? we mean £130!'..I live in hope.

Spiritualized @ Sep 15th 2006 10:15AM

Nintendo just made their last home console.

£99.99 - It would've flown off the shelves and cornered the "casual gamer" that Nintendo thinks it's currently aiming for.

£129.99 - Some casual gamers would still be tempted, but most of the sales would come from people buying a 2nd console to go with their PS3 or 360.

£179.99 - Suicidal pricing.

Nintendo dropped the ball like we hoped they wouldn't but subconciously knew they would.

James Spiers @ Sep 15th 2006 2:36PM

Sooo tired of people in the UK complaining about prices - get over it. PS2 was GBP300 when it launched 5 yrs ago, the Megadrive was 190 - 16 years ago. 180 is not so bad given the game, the unique joystick, the fact that wifi is thrown in (remember - thats GBP60/$100 extra for the Xbox 360), and that it's coming 3 weeks after the USA. I guess most of the bloggers here forgot the days when you were happy to pay 200 quid for a PC Engine on grey import, or 400 for a Playstation 1 9 months before the UK launch (and its horrible 50Hz games). Things have improved in the UK console scene immeasurably since the old days so STFU!

Andreas Berg @ Sep 15th 2006 10:15AM

Hey, they will really make it in 2006? Awesome. Being at the Games Convention last month everyone expected them being late in Europe, like eastern 2007 or something.

Lou D @ Sep 15th 2006 10:23AM

If you don't like the price on Dec 8 then just wait until March '07 when you can buy something even more expensive...

Gwyn @ Sep 15th 2006 10:18AM

Well, looks like I'm going to have to wait and see how things pan out. I had been planning on getting one at launch, but the vagueness over region encoding (1st party: no; 3rd party: maybe) and not knowing about the localisation of the UI, means I'll have to hold on with my final decision. If it's completely region free AND has UI language selection, then I'll be getting mine from asia.

I did this with my first DS (phatty). Bought a Japanese version from a shop in China, significantly cheaper than the UK. Since all DSes are basically the same, all I needed to do was switch the language and buy a UK AC adaptor. I may end up doing the same with the Wii, once all the info comes out.

Also, to answer the comment earlier, the price quoted on nintendo.co.uk is £29 for a wiimote, £14 for a nunchuk. That's £43, compared to the US price of £32 at current rates. Even with VAT the US price only comes to £37.

Of course, so many factors play a part in deciding global pricing, but the most important factor is how much people are willing to pay in each territory. If Nintendo have set pricing at this level in the UK, it's because they know that we'll pay it.

Lou D @ Sep 15th 2006 11:14AM

Casual gamers won't come on board until word of mouth spreads. Casual gamers aren't reading this blog and have no idea the PS3 and Wii are launching in November.

Next year we will get the "multi" console owners buying a second (or third) console.

Casual gamers are an X factor that you can only measure by what software people are buying and how many units a console sells over time.

99.9% of Wii and PS3 sales this holiday season is going to be hardcore gamer sales.

Nintendo can easily do a price drop in 6 months and pull in more casual gamers. Other than Wii Sports (Pack-In), I only see HARDCORE games available during the launch window.

Once Brain Training and other "casual" titles are released, then we may see a new bundle or even a price drop to $224.00 USD.

David @ Sep 15th 2006 10:24AM

I knew it! Always the same story. Man, I´m glad I´m moving to Japan next year. Just 170 euros over there, yeah! I´m a big Nintendofan, but this price is hard. I guess Nintendo is actually making money by selling the console alone. You poor brits, you really get f***** by all of them.

Xxiled @ Sep 16th 2006 7:03AM

Ok so I don't see what we're all so annoyed about. Frankly i think that price is good. Come on, we live in the UK, we expect prices to be marked up. It's not jsut nintendo, MS and Sony have and will do it. And if you look at it, it's not jsut games, everything is marked up over here, which is caused by lots of different social and economic factors. Cars, electronics, property etc. We should be used to it by now.

Looking at the controllers prices....£29.99 for a Wiimote. a wireless 360 contorller cost 29.99...so whats your problem? Are we annoyed at this price because we feel that the Wii is somehow inferior to the 360 and Ps3 and therefor shouldn't cost as much??
This is exactly what happened with the PSP and the DS when they were first announced. On paper the PSP with its high tech gadgetry and sleek finish should have destoyed the more homely looking DS. But we all know what happened there don't we. The games were better.

We're not really paying for the console itself, we're paying for the fun and joy that this console will hopefully bring.
The games on the Wii will be immense, theres no denying that, the Wi-fi connect function will be high quality (anyone with a DS will testify), and come on, it is cheaper! Maybe not much but it still is!

What were you expecting? A next gen console for £100 with a free game and two controllers? Gimmie a break. This is Britain, things cost more, if you don't liek it take it up with Mr. Brown, not Nintendo.

Jay @ Sep 15th 2006 10:41AM

good.

Wii- £180. 360- £280. PS3- £450

Sure it costs more but our wages are higher. it all balances out.

Quim @ Sep 15th 2006 10:49AM

Don't forget that the 179 includes a game. 360 core doesn't come with one.

Ninty Europe site says of Wii Sports "the groundbreaking collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disk"
What are all the 5?

RiemannMeetLebesgue @ Sep 15th 2006 10:58AM

Quim,

Assuming it's the same as the US (no reason to think it isn't):

Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, and Golf

Anticrawl @ Sep 15th 2006 12:31PM

So wait that means without the tax they added on that is required by UK government it is only 186 euros? That's pretty kickass, about 236 US dollars right?

Or am I just missing something,
Anticrawl

Moogle @ Sep 15th 2006 11:16AM

"This is nothing to do with tax, this is NOE not doing what needs to be done (ie, make cuts, take losses for the greater good. IE success of the Wii). Because at these prices it just isn't going to work."
(And other posters that said the same...)

Where's your market research that determines what a reasonable price point is? Oh, that's right, you're just making wild-ass guesses. Nintendo is a profitable, highly regarded, 100 year old company. It's pretty safe to assume they did a fair bit of market research, as well as bring their extensive experience to bear. Claiming that they're stupid because they didn't price it like you think they should is really saying a lot more about your own intelligence.

Seriously, some of you talk like the Wii isn't worth the plastic and silicon it's made of. Please, don't buy it then, leave some stock on the shelves for those that want to have fun.

gLitterbug @ Sep 15th 2006 11:16AM

Boxing, Bowling, Baseball, Golf, Tennis.

I guess Wii airplane probably got pulled because there is Wing Island now(which might turn out nice I hope). But it just shows that all those things were more a prototype development to see how the Wii controls are best implemented, but by no means is that compilation a full game.

As much as I like the innovation of Wii, if someone tells me Wii Sports would be a 40-50 title I wonder if those are the same people complaining about how next gen games on other consoles have increasing prices. You can at least SEE that you need a gazillion artists and programmers for it to be made, which in Wii Sports you simply can't, sorry.

Even if it is fun, it's still a tech demo. There isn't even anything online in it, no online play or at least a scoreboard or something.

Which brings me to my next point of worry, what is up with negating the online again(apart from of course looking at weather forecasts)? I didn't mind for my cube because I got it late and just for cheap games, but for the Wii I expected games like Excite Truck to be playable online with the friends I can not get into my house easily.

My disappointment isn't really tied all that much to the price as it is to the small things that are out of place. But when I read a comment like DVD playback is out so we could make it cheaper, I get angry even when I don't really need it in.

Wii is the only console I consider next to having my PC, so that is why I get so worked up about Nintendo failing at things like giving games online play in this time and age. I didn't mind the graphics, loved the controller innovation (if it actually works out as well as promised), but is a nice price and decent online too much to ask for?