How much did Nintendo pay for wii.com?

by Blake Snow { Dec 13th 2006 at 6:00AM }

Six months ago Nintendo sent an informal email to Weyerhaeuser, a Washington paper company, asking about the availability of their wii.com domain. Subsequent offers and counteroffers followed before a final purchase was made. So how much did Nintendo end up paying for the fancy domain name to be used by their newest console? Redding reports: "How much? That, apparently, will remain a mystery. Terms of the financial agreement dated Aug. 8 included a nondisclosure clause, demanded by Nintendo, to which Weyerhaeuser agreed."

Dang it! Non-disclosures always take the fun out of high-stake purchases. Still, one domain tracker estimates the URL could have easily gone for anything between $5,000 to $250,000. But if Weyerhaeuser effectively played its "hard to get" card while giggling like a school girl crushing on the star quarterback, we'd expect that sum to be upwards of seven digits. You?

[via Game|Life]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Petrie @ Dec 13th 2006 6:27AM

Whatever they payed it was worth it. Can't have that Url owned by anyone else, could be disasterous.

Yeah? @ Dec 13th 2006 6:37AM

How much did joystiq pay for Joystiq.com?, What about Amazon.com?, FilthyFatWhores.com?

the_game_master @ Dec 13th 2006 7:00AM

how much did I pay for www.betastart.com

$8.99/year from godaddy.com :)

then discovered that I could have used a discount coupon and got it for $6.99 :doh:

ash @ Dec 13th 2006 7:03AM

Can you use the Freedom of Information Act? Or is that only in UK?

Jonstiq @ Dec 13th 2006 7:13AM

You can't use the Freedom of information act for that sort of thing in the UK only, its only for Public Service things, ie Government, NHS, POLICE etc... Nice idea though Ash

Brogan @ Dec 13th 2006 7:29AM

joystiq could try suing either or both parties over the name then the details of the contract would have to be public record like that film the insider but i'm guessing no one cares that much

Greg2k @ Dec 13th 2006 7:37AM

Gotta say it's awesome having an @wii.com email address

octium @ Dec 13th 2006 8:14AM

foia in the US is really only applicable to government and public agencies. in any case i wish some company would create a product using the name of any of my domains and come knocking on my door. i could use the money :|

Jdoki @ Dec 13th 2006 8:22AM

@7, Yeah, it's nice having a short email address ending in @wii.com... just a shame about the 12+ digits that make up the bit before the @!! :)

Does it matter what Nintendo paid? They're a massive cash rich company - they could have paid 10million out of petty cash and not felt the pinch. They probably could have bought the entire company to get the domain!!

Not that I want to drag up all the arguments and childish rubbish around the name, but I still really think it was a poor choice.

Every non-gamer, regardless of age, I have spoken to about it has asked why they called it the Wii, and all think it's kinda weird. I find myself prefacing any mention of Wii with the word 'Nintendo', just to give it some context.

Oh, and if someone is really keen to find out what they paid, there's a slim chance it could be deduced from looking at the company accounts.

Unfortunately I could only find the consolidated accounts here (and these are for 2006 so only go up to March 2006) http://www.nintendo.com/corp/annual_report.jsp

They could probably tuck the figure away in exceptional items anyway and I'm not sure they would have to publish more detailed records anyway. It does make some interesting reading though. Nintendo sure make a lot of money!!

Gazell @ Dec 13th 2006 8:25AM

The swedish site http://www.wii.se (World Internet Institute) has noticed the launch of Wii and writes about it on the front page.

"We couldn't help noticing that when Nintedos new game console Wii was released this friday it sold out in a few hours. Wii is available now at different auction sites on the web. Nintendos Wii was retailed for 2800 SEK, and now goes for approximately 4000SEK. World Internet Institute is not for sale." :)

pandlcg @ Dec 13th 2006 9:41AM

@Greg2k

Wow this is quite the impressive website you have there...you can really tell you put a lot of work into reflecting your personality on the first page:)

copa @ Dec 13th 2006 9:45AM

I know the dude who owned the 1up.com domain. When the publishers inquired about buying it, he thought he'd dick around with them for fun, and threw out $35K as the asking price. Much to his surprise, they immediately accepted without negotiating. So yeah, I figure wii.com was probably a six-figure transaction.

chenry @ Dec 13th 2006 10:16AM

I'd have held out for a free wii and some games :P

gLitterbug @ Dec 13th 2006 10:53AM

I would've traded it for some shares.

SK @ Dec 13th 2006 10:53AM

One Nintendo Wii and every single game which comes out for it.

DeezNuts420 @ Dec 13th 2006 11:07AM

Screw the website. Where can I find a DAMN Wii??!!!

kelekod @ Dec 13th 2006 11:17AM

@18

I hear target gets them every sunday.. better get there by open like it was launch day or something.

the best buy's i've called trying to locate a pink DS lite (for my girlfriend) have a number to press for "PS3 and Nintendo Wii availibility information"

I'm still trying to get my Wii's internet set up at school. It recognizes my router's access point (wireless) but it won't connect when I enter the password. Any help for me?

octium @ Dec 13th 2006 11:19AM

i second #12s comments. seriously those mp3s are awesome. especially the dkc2 one and flying ecstasy zone. brings back way way way too many memories of the 4th grade...

eight @ Dec 13th 2006 11:25AM

1) dont plug your own website. 2) THere is no way Nintendo paid over a million for a domain. With their slogen being Wii Play, they could have EASILY just had WiiPlay.com or nothing at all. They still have Nintendo.com which is where most people would go for imediate informaiton anyway. If i wanted to get informaition on my Mustang GT i wouldnt go to Mustang.com, i'd go to Ford.com.

ps. click my name to view MY website... ;)

Daniel @ Dec 13th 2006 11:27AM

Um, could someone please tell me how I can get an @wii.com email address?? Please tell me where to go to sign up for this!!

Thanks!

kelekod @ Dec 13th 2006 11:37AM

@21

You get one when you own your very own Wii. You get some 16 digit number@wii.com that once set up to the internet, you can email other Wii users (if you know their 16 digit number) or you can send emails to actual addresses like abcdefgh@gmail.com or @hotmail... etc etc. Once an email is sent a verification goes to the @gmail.com address asking if they'd like to receive messages, once accepted then you can email the wii console (a message will pop up on the wii) and such.

Daniel @ Dec 13th 2006 12:10PM

Thanks, kelekod.

calthaer @ Dec 13th 2006 12:21PM

You mean they not only decided to use that godawful name, they paid a large sum to secure it?

upirons @ Dec 13th 2006 12:30PM

Wish I could register a stupid name for a site that turns out to be a windfall for me a few years later... Surprised it wasn't some porn site they had to buy it from, lol.

keepitsimple @ Dec 13th 2006 12:41PM

Did the Big N get a Wiibate.......keke

im sorry i had to.

op @ Dec 13th 2006 1:19PM

I don't understand why Nintendo wouldn't try getting the domain for cheap and pretend to be a regular joe looking into buying wii.com. If a multinational corporation is knocking on your door you know they're willing to spend huge dollars to get the domain, but if it's just some girl named Jane Smith from Memphis the domain could go for just a few thousand or even less, since nobody knew what the Hell "wii" was at the time. Is it really in a corporation's best interest to keep their spending secret for just a domain name? Hell, Jane Smith from Memphis could have asked for the same courtesy.

dvnt @ Dec 13th 2006 1:21PM

Ninty had to pony up for gamecube.com from a cybersquatter back in the day too. I remember going to gamecube.com as soon as they announced the "dolphin's" real name and seeing a little blog type entry on the page. It said something along the lines of: "Q: What was the smartest domain purchase you have made? A: Gamecube.com!"

It inspired me to write a letter to Nintendo begging them not to buy and find an alternative but they ended up buying it. And I'm sure they paid at least 5 digits for it. I loathe cybersquatters.

So I'm sure after the people who owned Wii.com contacted their lawyers and found out why Nintendo wanted the name their price sky-rocketed. Though I doubt it was a six-figure sum.

ackmondual @ Dec 13th 2006 1:31PM

@ #9
""Every non-gamer, regardless of age, I have spoken to about it has asked why they called it the Wii, and all think it's kinda weird. I find myself prefacing any mention of Wii with the word 'Nintendo', just to give it some context.""

It doesn't matter. When the Xbox came out, I'm sure no one had any idea what it was. Since M$ was never in the console biz, saying M$ Xbox didn't help. Then when someone asked why they called it an Xbox, I doubt ther ewere any good responses (WERE there any good responses?). My guess is, he EXACT same reason as they called Wii "Wii". B/c that's what it says on the console. I probably wouldn't have choosen Xbox since 'X' appears on certain Linux OSes.... screensaves and mouse cursor, but that's just me

James @ Dec 13th 2006 1:58PM

I thought there was a recent copyright office ruling on this subject? Something along the lines of if you can prove that you registered a trademark before a domain name using that trademark was bought, you can "confiscate" the domain name for face value. If I'm wrong, we should probably have a law like this, 'cause I also loathe cybersquatters. This whole thing with speculating in domain names is about the dumbest system I've ever heard of. ICANN should have a policy...

kelekod @ Dec 13th 2006 2:12PM

No problem Daniel, glad I could help.

Anyone know how to solve my Wii internet problems?

-I really need help, just cause I know about the Wii mail that doesn't mean that I don't need some help myself. I originally had my Wii set up at my parent's house (with unsecured wireless internet) and it worked fine, but when I'm down at school I haven't gotten the Wii to get past the password. It brings up the WPA option, and the 2nd one is highlighted on the Wii console as default, but it says I have no connection or something (the router is mine and within 3 feet of the Wii) when I select it. Maybe this winter break its time to read the Wii manual, unless some kind soul helps me with the problem.