Iwata says no Wii price cut coming

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 26th 2007 at 10:00AM }

It's such a "duh" statement, but when the president of Nintendo says the Wii isn't getting a price cut it does qualify as something to report. Speaking with the Associated Press, Nintendo pres. Satoru Iwata says, "Y'all beeatchs crazy? We ain't droppin' da price! Come up in my house askin' dumb question like dat? I oughta cap you." Fine, fine, he didn't actually say that. He really said, "We're absolutely not considering a price cut."

This echoes statements made yesterday by Nintendo senior managing director Yoshihiro Mori, who said that (surprise!) there is no price cut planned. This was following Nintendo's adjustment of their fiscal forecast where they said profits would be higher than expected. From the consumer perspective, the Xbox 360 Arcade at $280 hopes to put a dent into Nintendo's business, possibly prompting an eventual drop in the Wii's $250 price in '08 -- but first, the Wii needs to stop selling out the moment it comes back in stock.

Tags: business, iwata, nintendo, pricedrop, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Psaakyrn @ Oct 26th 2007 10:05AM

The hardcore thing is a curse frankly. I don't really see how the XBox 360 or PS3 will ever manage to woo the "casual" market, without substancial physical redesign and size reduction.

KVN @ Oct 26th 2007 10:13AM

I agree 100% i don't thing Microsoft can suddenly get casuals on the 360 by just dropping the price and giving away a few family friendly games.

jsn @ Oct 26th 2007 10:22AM

I think the notion that the Wii has this massive "casual gaming audience" is misguided. They're selling a lot of consoles, but not a lot of games. The system only has 1 game that has broken 1mil units sold (besides wiisports) and considering how many consoles they've sold that's not so good. It shows that the Wii's price point is clearly in the range of curiosity purchase, but people aren't really using it long term.

Microsoft won't get nearly as many sales with the Arcade's price point, because it doesn't have the curiosity attached to it like the Wii does, but it will help them move units.

Karen @ Oct 26th 2007 10:27AM

From talking to a few casuals I know who bought the system they get sticker shock from the $50 price tag on games. A lot are renting now and will buy more at the $30 range.

JodyAnthony @ Oct 26th 2007 10:33AM

wii play, twilight princess, mario party 8, super paper mario, rayman raving rabbids, and red steel are all million+ sellers

JodyAnthony @ Oct 26th 2007 10:34AM

also it's something like 66 million games sold worldwide right now

megaStryke @ Oct 26th 2007 10:36AM

Hey, jsn:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games#Wii

Excluding Wii Sports (11.58 million):

1. Wii Play (4.49 million)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (3.61 million)
3. Mario Party 8 (2.89 million)
4. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (1.82 million)
5. Super Paper Mario (1.25 million)
6. Rayman Raving Rabbids (1 million)
7. Red Steel (1 million)

Total software sales (excluding VC games): 65.81 million

Good morning to you, sir!

megaStryke @ Oct 26th 2007 10:36AM

Damn! Jody beat me by a couple of minutes!

Skeffington @ Oct 26th 2007 10:37AM

jsn you already know what you are saying is not true. There has been quite a few games which have broken the 1 million mark and several have sold several millions. As for WiiSports, since it comes with the console (except in Japan) its sales numbers are tied to the number of consoles sold which obviously is going to make it the most successful games.

Seriously, I'm not saying the Wii is perfect but at least use the right arguments.

AstroZombie @ Oct 26th 2007 10:39AM

God, not this horseshit again.

1. A large number of Xbox360 owners bought the system specifically for one or more of the following games: Halo 3, Guitar Hero 2/3, Madden. These people are, by definition, casual gamers.

2. The Arcade SKU seems to be selling well. I saw three people buying them in Gamestop when I was there Wednesday.

3. jsn, that "only 1 Wii game has broken 1 mil" argument is a load of crap, and you know it. Aren't you the same one that brought that up yesterday on another thread? If you're gonna be a jackass fanboy, at least get an argument with some facts behind it.

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:47AM

"Damn! Jody beat me by a couple of minutes!"

I beat you by a couple of days! I told him that the other day when he said the exact same thing.

jsn @ Oct 26th 2007 10:49AM

To the two that pointed out my numbers were wrong (megastryke, jodyanthony), thanks. Someone posted a link a few days ago here that showed them and it only had the Wii with two mil+ sellers. I was wrong. I'm big enough to come back and own up to it.

To astrozombie, go fuck yourself. You are forevermore in the catagory with the other mental midgets here who can't do anything but call someone a fanboy because they post something you don't like. I came back and acknowledged my mistake. Would you do the same?

samfish (MSDF- Nurse Outfit!) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:57AM

Well, at least you admit it. Good on ya, mate!

and for the record, whoever it is that keeps saying the Ratchet & Clank series has sold a total of 13 million copies...you're completely friggin' wrong, too.

megaStryke @ Oct 26th 2007 11:02AM

I know where that 13 million number comes from. There was an interview with one Ryan Schneider, Insomniac's Marketing Director. Mr. Schneider was the guy who said Super Mario Galaxy borrowed the spherical world concept from the R&C games, so take that as you will. There were no press releases announcing this information, and the fact that the series only has two million-plus sellers doesn't support Mr. Schneider's argument.

AstroZombie @ Oct 26th 2007 11:24AM

jsn: That would hurt, but your big words are too much for my tiny brain. Please try to dumb it down in the future. Thanks.

Seriously, though, I just calls 'em like I sees 'em. When somebody spouts the same false stats on two separate occasions, you gotta admit, it has a certain trollish vibe. I appreciate you owning up to your error, and I'll strive to follow your example, should the situation present itself.

arrrgh @ Oct 26th 2007 12:45PM

yep, many million+ seller. Way to talk out of your ass jsn.

keep talking though, maybe someone will listen someday

bm @ Oct 26th 2007 4:21PM

To contrast:

PlayStation 3 games that have sold one million copies or more.

* Resistance: Fall of Man (2 million)[98]

* MotorStorm (1 million)[99]

Yes, I'm having a complete fanboy moment here. Leave me be, alright? ;p

vidGuy @ Oct 26th 2007 10:06AM

The Wii may see a price cut by Spring 08, but I think it's more likely that Nintendo will just pack another Remote and maybe some Wii Points in at the $249 price. I pray that they don't go for the multiple model system that is dividing 360 gamers and absolutely confusing the hell out of potential PS3 buyers.

Javi0084 @ Oct 26th 2007 11:03AM

I rather they bundle Wii remotes and nunchuks for $39.99. It's expensive for families that need to buy extra ones and almost every game I have requires both.

duerra @ Oct 26th 2007 3:09PM

I disagree with that. As soon as Nintendo gets a surplus of Wii's lying around, I think they'll want to cut the price to $199. After that, then maybe we'd see different types of pack-ins and bundles at that price point. Marketing 101 says that $199 is much more attractive to shoppers looking at the store shelves than $249 is.

Mr Khan @ Oct 26th 2007 4:06PM

I agree with duerra

Nintendo will only price drop once they get their fingers singed a little by slow sales

until then there is literally no reason, unless 360 gets BELOW Wii's price, then they would be almost forced to

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:06AM

Are you planning a separate entry for the announcement of WiiShop gift giving: Buy a game on your wii and send it to a friends as a gift. That seems like way bigger news than the obvious no price drop.

Vidikron (FU) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:11AM

I didn't know about that. That's a good idea.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 26th 2007 11:02AM

agreed, that seems pretty cool.

sunpippy @ Oct 26th 2007 10:07AM

Ok, I think Nintendo is catching the Sony Arrogance now, I was totally rooting for Nintendo but now they are just so smug. I hope sony and m$ kick thier ass this xmas

vidGuy @ Oct 26th 2007 10:12AM

Nintendo's just being money-smart. If they lower the price, they lose money since they'd be selling the units anyway. The only reason to lower the price is to sell more.

That's way different in my mind than Sony designing a console to be ridiculous expensive and expecting gamers to get a second job to buy it because it's a Playstation.

Vidikron (FU) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:14AM

I agree that they are indeed rather smug (like with the whole "gamers weren't having fun before the Wii" thing), but I don't think this has anything to do with it. With systems still selling as fast as they are it's really just smart business sense to leave the price where it's at. I think the Wii will still be difficult to find through the holidays even with the lower 360 price.

KVN @ Oct 26th 2007 10:17AM

What's so smug about this the system is doing fantastic why would they drop the price?They're doing the right thing by trying to get as many systems out there for the holiday rush

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:21AM

Seriously, there's nothing smug about keeping the price the same (still cheapest console on the market) when they know they're going to sell out.

Raising the price at this point would be smug. Just because their "competitors" have lowered their price, doesn't mean Nintendo has to.

Not that a price drop would be unwelcome to anybody, its just smart business to keep a higher price when you know its going to sell regardless.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:28AM

ummm what? Why would they need to lower the price? It's a lot lower than everyone elses console so they don't need to lower it. How the hell is that arrogance?

And please. Anything that Kaplan said doesn't even come close to the shit that Sony spewed out at the launch of their ps3.

Slaziman @ Oct 26th 2007 12:21PM

The PS2 is cheaper Ska... in terms of hardware it's much more comparable to the PS2 generation than with the PS3/360. Not hating, but don't say "yeah it's the cheapest, Nintendo forevah!" because in terms of hardware (

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 26th 2007 3:10PM

@slaz

I meant of the next gen consoles, the Wii is the cheapest.

Slaziman @ Oct 26th 2007 3:58PM

Half my post got cut off... damn it Joystiq!

Anyway, Wii is only a next-gen console in the literal sense, but in terms of hardware it's more on par with last-gen. So saying that it's cheaper than the other consoles is a non-argument. In fact, in terms of hardware, the Xbox 360 Arcade is much much much better value than the Wii. So gloating that it's the cheapest is a little silly.

bm @ Oct 26th 2007 4:34PM

Slaziman:

I'm sorry, Xbox Live Arcade may be great with it's arcady games good for an hour or two, but it just doesn't top the sheer treasure vault of classic gaming that is the Virtual Console. Like has been said before, the VC is the only download service on any of the consoles that offers such things as full-length RPG's and other real, commercially developed "meaty" game experiences. Nothing else holds a candle.

bm @ Oct 26th 2007 4:38PM

(That should be "its", not "it's". Yes, I'm my own grammar Nazi.)

jc @ Oct 28th 2007 10:56PM

bm... except having a 100x bigger library of the same games for free.

Sorry, I know ROMs are piracy but no one cares. Just like the music industry needs to compete with illegal mp3 downloads, Nintendo needs to compete as well. Buying each lame old nes, snes, and nintendo game for 5-10 dollars is just plain braindead. And dont tell me the low resolution Nintendo crap looks better on a big tv.

They could have hit the ball out of the park by offering a gametap like subscription service. But as it stands, the virtual console is for suckers. Might as well just donate your money to Nintendo directly.

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Oct 26th 2007 10:13AM

Itll go down. Ill get when its $199 w/Mario Galaxy

AstroZombie @ Oct 26th 2007 10:52AM

You may be waiting a while. Better grab a Snickers.

Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Oct 26th 2007 11:02AM

...

I see what you did there.

xXFenixKnight13Xx @ Oct 26th 2007 11:26AM

LOL good one. Oh but I do have a while. I have a 360 so it should be a while b4 im bored, and I prefer KitKats thankyou very much lol

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 26th 2007 2:20PM

+10.

Seeing how much people here are in love with Mario, that would be only logical for N to do.

SoulBlade @ Oct 26th 2007 10:15AM

There's no reason they should cut the price. The thing's still selling like hotcakes and they're not really trying to compete with anybody. They're just doing their own thing.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 26th 2007 2:34PM

But at some point of time (sooner than many expect), N would want to prolong momentum Wii has at this time.

W/o price drop and additional bundle that would be very hard.

Skeffington @ Oct 26th 2007 10:17AM

Seriously, though, why are people even asking?

'Your product is ahead of the competition, you can barely meet the demand (at least in the US), so when are you going to lower the price?'

'Er, when (if) we're no longer ahead of the competition, and when the demand is lower than our supply.'

Silver R. Wolfe @ Oct 26th 2007 10:18AM

Of course they're not going to drop the price, they DOUBLED their profits by selling this dinky white console for the price it's at now, why would they want to hurt that?

Ethan @ Oct 26th 2007 10:19AM

This is really the only reason I bought one at launch. I knew that price wasn't moving. It's not quite proven it's worth yet, especially with the recent drought but I did get a wonderful christmas of legless tennis (in more ways than one).

baby sea tuna @ Oct 26th 2007 10:22AM

Yeah, me too. Thanksgiving as well...but honestly, since then I can probably count on 2 hands how many times I've even booted the damn thing up. I mean, it's been flashing blue for a month and I don't even care enough to turn it on and find out why.

Ethan @ Oct 26th 2007 10:28AM

Well, it appears my apathy does not quite reach your level up until last month when I went to uni/college, I was playing warioware for 5 mins most days and failing at ocarina of time. And I am finding myself missing it now that I'm away, even if it was nowhere near it's potential.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Oct 26th 2007 10:25AM

You don't have legs?

BTW, Zack and Wiki is a great adventure/puzzle game. I am loving it so far. Its the first game in a while thats an actual challenge to complete, instead of a chore. And there is a real possibility of failure, not "oops, don't do that" warnings all over the place. Kinda reminds me of lemmings in that respect.

I died on the first level (after the tutorial level). I fell through a floor onto some spikes. Yes. Spikes. And I was dead. No life bar, no nothing.

I miss old games.