Pachter predicts Wii price cut by November

by Alexander Sliwinski on Sep 8th 2009 12:30PM

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes Nintendo will cut the price of the Wii by "no later than November." The prediction was part of his "August 2009 Video Game Sales Preview," which hit inboxes today, right before this Thursday's August NPD report. Pachter doesn't believe Nintendo can achieve its sales projections for the year if it holds onto the Wii's 2006 launch price of $250.

Pachter's been talking about this Wii price drop for a couple months now, but we're still not convinced that Nintendo will drop its console's price -- like its HD competitors have been doing -- or if it'll just make something like a Wii Fit bundle at the console's current price. Oh, how about just releasing the Wii in some new colors? That's always a winning strategy, isn't it?

Reader Comments (80)

I want a Sea Green Wii!

I want a Black one....and maybe a Yellow or Pink one for my daughters' room

I actually like Pacther a lot. Although others will disagree, I think he's spot-on quite often.

I still dont think they will drop it....they REALLY dont have to....hell If they Released it in Black, Blue, Red, Green, and Gold they would STILL sale like hotcakes....

I mean hell they have saturated the market like hell...and ACTUAL gamer has already gotten a Wii....they are still going at Soccer moms...Soccer moms that have NO intention of getting a PS3 or 360....so the face that she can get one of those for $50 more than a Wii is pointless to her

True story. Both my aunts (stay at home, middle class, soccer moms) both own a wii with wii fit and wouldn't give an xbox or PS3 a second look.

If Nintendo where to release different colored Wii, I'm pretty sure there sales may go up. Maybe.

Well that's why I said maybe. But you just never really know with Nintendo. An example, though a bit dated, would be the Game Boy, as it was re-released in different colors and sold very well.

Nintendo is unpredictable when it comes with sales.

I have and I'm not the only one....they release that Black on here and I will get it...hell I bought 3 N64's one black, one Jungle green, one red....With The Gamecube I had 2....a Black one and a silver one....I dunno I was just a Sucker for color game systems then.....

Historically Nintendo's sales have increased after releasing alternative color choices. It's been part of their business model for years and it never fails.

They are the only manufacturer that can do a redesign via hue and saturation change and get away with it.

@Martin: I dunno, I think a white PS3 would sell pretty well. I would buy it at least.

I don't see them doing WiiHD...why?? not even 2 years ago they said that HD wasn't required for gaming...that it was overkill....sure companies talk shit and go back on it all the time(look at Sony & MS) but I SERIOUSLY think that they would need to build an ENTIRELY NEW SYSTEM....I mean I dont think simply upscaling the content to 720p would be enough....it would have to be rendered that way...

I hope he's right for once. I could get a couple extra games on amazon with that extra $50.

If you buy a Wii, I will send you two WiiWare Gifts... Bit.Trip Beat and Bit.Trip Core... really.

I doubt it will happen tho. Especially considering the 4 original colors displayed before launch never released in the US. it's more likely they're gonna release those other colors & keep the retail price as it is. I know a few people who will buy a wii in red or black. I even know others who will trade in their white one for a new color. They're rich kids, money has no value to them.

Well I'm definitely getting a Wii this time, either for christmas or immediately after. It's almost 100% guaranteed (I never say 100%, just so I don't jinx anything).

You a soccer mom now tmac?

You have been so antiWii all this time, that now hearing that you'll get one i might go like fernando and gift you a couple of WiiWare/VC (your choice)

Just let me know when you get it and remember, cuz i'm pretty sure i wont, xDDDDD

No TwEE, see the Wii will be his 3rd system purchase this gen, after the 360 and PS3 purchases. This instantaneously upkeeps his HaRdC0rEz!!1! gamer cred by not only owning consoles other than Wii along with Wii, but by having obtained those consoles before Wii.

It's all right there on page 42.

So you are criticizing him for getting the console you cherish now? I didn't know it was such an elite club. I never even got a membership card with mine!!

No I will not be a soccer mom, I know what games to get. I got a somewhat hefty list of games to go after once I get one, most of them I can get on Amazon for anywhere from $10-$30 right now.

Oh and I won't forget about free stuff lol. I have most VC games I wanted on Roms but I could never find a copy of Paper Mario for N64 that would work perfect for some reason :P

I disagree!

Will a price cut work?

All those who want the Wii already have it. Those who had it and didn't like it traded it in.

The Wii had its massive spurt of popularity at the start but now the sheen has worn off... what next?

Honestly most people I know who bought a Wii, they kept it and let it collect dust. I don't know anyone who traded it in.

I seriously can't think of anyone I know who still plays their wii.

Well I don't own one, could never really get into the motion controls whenever I tried it.

I also never owned a Gamecube, but I still get cravings for Metroid Prime and Zelda from time to time, so having a 2-in-1 machine would be nice. I just don't feel like spending $250 for one when I could use that to buy several games for other systems.

Well, with Little King Story, Prime Trilogy, and the three re-released Super Star Wars games, I've had no shortage of Wii games to play.

Sure it will. It'll convince a lot of "hardcore" gamers (for whom the Wii was never competitively priced, i'll admit) who want their first-party Nintendo game fix, it'll convince a lot of "fence-sitter" Blue Ocean gamers, who are convinced by the idea of Wii, but just aren't moved by the price-point, and it'll get a lot of those "PS2 gamers," casual gamers, but not Blue Ocean casual, who just haven't upgraded to this generation yet.

What the hell are you talking about Uk31337?

Anecdotal evidence whylekat, is my favorite kind of evidence. Keep up the good work.

"I seriously can't think of anyone I know who still plays their wii. "

Haven't heard this one enough the past 2 and a half years.

Funny though, even Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 continues to have 32 player online matches taking place to this day.

Well I don't know any of those 32 losers. Why play that dumbness when you have access to HD graphics on an xbox or PS3.. yes, that means no one I know owns JUST a Wii.

Also I'm sure every single one of those medal of honor Wii players accidently killed themselves multiple times by throwing an unwanted grenade due to shoddy motion controls. =P

The stench of bullshit is so strong, I could almost swear I'm swimming in it.

That's not bullshit floating around in the pool, it's a Baby Ruth.

Wii's should include a wiimote, nunchuck, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, and one motion plus device. Keep the price the same - no worries.

I wonder if that happened, would Nintendo reimburse me like they did with the web browser deal?

Dell.com was selling them for $225, and yesterday I was tempted to order one, but decided not to because I had a feeling that an official price drop or maybe a new bundle was on its way. I don't really NEED one right now, so much as want to get my mom one so I can take mine back from her, without depriving her of her Wii Fit.

I hope you know he serves soup at shelters for the homeless.

SERVES SOUP!!!

I won't buy one until it's 150-and then only for a few exclusives and the VC games. Some games are just getting too expensive on the used market.

If it were $150 I'd buy it. I'd catch up on all the Gamecube games I missed and maybe give SMG or MP3 a whirl. I know I'd like to play SSBB with the GC controller.

Bingo. $150 and a couple more worthwhile games. I'm slowly collecting games when they clearance out right now. $250 isn't worth it for Zak and Wiki and Little King's Story and a couple other games.

THEY'RE GONNA KICK THE CONSOLES! SOMEBODY STOP THEM!

yea CLEARLY the PS3 Price Drop and the Slim came out around the time he Predicted them to....which was 6 months ago....not to mention he STILL thinks GTA5 will come out next year....which is crazy as hell considering it was like 6- 7 years Between GTA3 & GTA4....my guess is we will see Another side game along the lines of San Andreas and Vice City.....and that MAY be next year but not GTA5

I wouldn't really call San Andreas or Vice city side games. They both were drastic improvements upon one another.

yea they arent side games...meant to say Spinoffs.....

I wonder if this means we're going to see a "Wii Slim" in the horizon.

The only thing they could remove, in all seriousness, would be the fan (which they apparently can do now). They could also remove GameCube functionality, but it would really hurt the device's value (though it would mimic their competitors in so doing)

But if they removed the GameCube there would be nothing left but an empty shell.

I would think that Nintendo has to be considering it now that there is only 50 bucks between the two consoles.. when it was 150 bucks that was fine for them.. but 50 dollars is like hmm.. for 50 more bucks I can have True Next Gen/Online Play/Blu-ray? Sorry Mario...

The 360 has been cheaper then the Wii for a while, hasn't bothered Nintendo yet. There is absolutely is no reason they would want to drop the price.

Yes, but the 360 has the hardware issues that the PS3 doesn't have.

Nintendo did a price increase instead. $249 at launch and $279 for awhile now.

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Pachter predicts Wii price cut by November

Reader Comments (80)

Posted: Sep 8th 2009 12:33PM RobS the 3rd said

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