Rumor: Target circular advertises $199 Wii

by JC Fletcher { Sep 17th 2009 at 1:40PM }

The image above, posted by Kotaku, appears to be a Target ad for the week of September 27, featuring a $50 price drop on Wii hardware. This ad would further corroborate the Toys R Us ad we saw that also showed the same price cut -- if we knew either ad was real. Us? We're hoping for a drastic price cut on cameras so tipsters can get better pictures of these advance ads.

The DVD at the right side of the Target ad is Monsters vs. Aliens, which comes out on September 29. That at least shows that if this ad is a fake, it's a somewhat clever one. As always, we're not going to take this as confirmation of a price drop, but we will take it as confirmation that it would be smart to wait a couple of weeks before going to buy a Wii.

Tags: ads, advertising, price-cut, retail, rumor, target

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Orion @ Sep 17th 2009 1:44PM

Actually that TV to the right looks a lot more appealing.. could you move the camera over just a smidge?

Orion @ Sep 17th 2009 1:44PM

Directional FAIL

EDIT: Left

Punishment4Gluttons @ Sep 17th 2009 1:45PM

That made me laugh

Dance Mofo @ Sep 17th 2009 2:15PM

hahaha

GewurztraminerX @ Sep 17th 2009 2:53PM

But, you were talking as if you were the Wii, right? Right?

Orion @ Sep 17th 2009 2:54PM

I thought about saying to the Wii's right.. then I realized I'd just further perpetuate the incoming laughter, so I just admitted my fail...

Shagittarius @ Sep 17th 2009 3:25PM

"...but we will take it as confirmation that it would be smart to wait a couple of weeks before going to buy a Wii."

Or even smarter not to buy one at all...oh snapz!

WINterfang @ Sep 17th 2009 3:47PM

wii version of course.

Quiggy @ Sep 17th 2009 6:13PM

@baby sea tuna: Also, Uncharted 2 is just a port of Uncharted 1 to the same system with multiplayer. Seriously, what the fuck? Just because two games look similar (i.e. two games in the same series) doesn't mean they're ports!

Quiggy @ Sep 17th 2009 6:14PM

Wrong thread. I suck.

Faceman @ Sep 17th 2009 1:44PM

to remain competetive, they need a $100 Wii... and of course better games. If they had just a few more good ones to get along with Tatsunoku vs Capcom n RE Chronicles, I would actually THINK of considering a purchase.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw @ Sep 17th 2009 1:56PM

Even if Nintendo magically disappeared off the face of the earth they would still end up with millions more sold over Microsoft and Sony by the end of this generation. I think they'll do just fine remaining "competitive".

WREturns(There was once a dream called Rome) @ Sep 17th 2009 2:02PM

Uh...I think a look at the latest NPD numbers will show that Nintendo is AT LEAST still competitive. I'm pretty sure nobody at NOA headquarters is like, "We brought it down $50 and Joystiq poster Faceman still won't buy one? What the FUCK?!"

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2009 2:04PM

There are excellent games coming to the Wii this holiday season, and not only those two: New Super Mario Bros., The Crystal Bearers, The Sky Crawlers, Fragile, Dead Space, Resident Evil, Sin and Punishment 2, Spyborgs, A Boy and His Blob, the new Super Monkey Ball, Valhalla Knights, Cave Story, Bit. Trip games, etc...

I have a Wii and a PS3 (and had a 360)... use your HD systems to play certain games, and use the Wii to play other type of games. Just like I wont find games like Uncharted or Modern Warfare on the Wii, I could not get games like Fragile or New Super Mario on the PS3.

Cody @ Sep 17th 2009 2:12PM

"to remain competetive, they need a $100 Wii... "

To remain "competetive"??

Until PS3 dropped to $299 and Slimmed up, Wii was routinely trouncing monthly sales figures of PS3 and 360 worldwide.

lol, to remain competetive.....

baby sea tuna @ Sep 17th 2009 2:12PM

"Excellent" might be an overstatement on several of those games, Fernando. We know NSMB will be fun since it's a first-party port of a 3 year old DS game that was fun, but the rest of them (while some do look good) are untested properties.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 2:15PM

Competitive? I know Wii sales have slowed considerably this year (something like 50%) but they are still selling equal or more than everyone else. Not only have they remained competitive but also in control.

My only question would be are Wii sales slowing because of the cost of entry or because of market satruration or something else entirely? It's not the same as the PS3 where people wanted one but not at that $400 & $500 price point. But, a price drop is a good thing and the fact they are bundling Wii Sports Resort instead of just Wii Sports really adds a lot of value to this $200 bundle.

I'm just not sure how big of an impact this will have on sales. It certainly can't hurt sales thats for sure. I don't know that there are very many people who wanted a Wii but didn't get one because $250 was too expensive. Now, if they had dropped the price to an absurd $150 then the thing would be breaking all sales records.

This is why it's a great thing that Sony dropped their price to $300. It forced MS & Nintendo's hand to follow suit with their own price drop. In the end, consumers are the ones who win bigtime.

Fernando Rocker @ Sep 17th 2009 2:18PM

sea tuna

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is not a port.

baby sea tuna @ Sep 17th 2009 2:21PM

The screenshots (despite the 4 player co-op) say otherwise.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 2:28PM

Cody

I agree with what you are saying and I even echoed that sentiment in my last post. But, one can't rest on their laurels forever on what they have done in the past. The fact is that Nintendo Wii sales have been declining for a while now. The question is "why" have sales been declining. You shouldn't take the "remain competitive" thing as such an insult. Nintendo did need to do something to reenergize people about the Wii and it may be semantics but to remain competitive.

Faceman was being sensationalist when he said "$100 to remain competitive" but the fact is they do need to throw a curveball out there to get some of the magic back. It's obvious they feel a price drop will accomplish that goal or they wouldn't have done anything to start with. Truthfully, I think Nintendo should have dropped the price to $199 during the Summer when sales were sagging but it's better late than never. I think simply introducing new colors and bundling Wii Sports Resort would have a better impact than simply cuttung the price. People underestimate how much effect the redesigned PS3 which was just as important as the price drop because it felt "new" to people. A fresh coat of paint on the wWii would accomplish the same thing.

guttertalk @ Sep 17th 2009 2:32PM

@baby sea tuna:

The rest are untested properties? I know you said that many look good, but really, most have good reasons to expect a high quality.

The Crystal Bearers -- Previous FF Chronicles games have been pretty good.
The Sky Crawlers -- This has already released in Japan.
Fragile -- This has already released in Japan.
Dead Space -- This pedigree is excellent.
Resident Evil -- This pedigree is generally very good.
Sin and Punishment 2 -- This pedigree is excellent.
Spyborgs -- Unknown
A Boy and His Blob, -- This pedigree is excellent.
new Super Monkey Ball,
Valhalla Knights -- The PSP version wasn't very good.
Cave Story-- This game is excellent on other platforms.
Bit. Trip games -- The first game was very good.

Cody @ Sep 17th 2009 2:45PM

"But, a price drop is a good thing and the fact they are bundling Wii Sports Resort instead of just Wii Sports really adds a lot of value to this $200 bundle"

Man, I WISH they would be bundling Wii Sports Resort with the $50 price drop. That way it would essentially do the same thing that Microsoft/Sony have talked about, and do it BEFORE they could get it done. And that is bundle the new 1 to 1 motion offering with all hardware units going forward.

One can still hope though :/

WINterfang @ Sep 17th 2009 3:45PM

New Super Mario Bros is Nintendo's take on Little Big Planet.

If you disagree you are wrong.

johnnynumber5 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:48PM

Cody

I guess I should have my eyes checked. I thought it was Wii Sports Resort ... my bad.

TwEE @ Sep 17th 2009 4:03PM

Thats a joke right WINterfang?

Mr Khan @ Sep 17th 2009 4:57PM

@ Fernando

Sin & Punishment 2 is next year, unless you're importing (which might work out well, since the original game was all subtitled in Japanese, and spoken in American English, and they may do the same here)

Luke @ Sep 17th 2009 1:45PM

I work at Target and that looks legit, I will see if we got in any early editions of the AD today and confirm later tonight.

Jeff @ Sep 17th 2009 2:11PM

You do realize that is a terminable offense, right?

Markez @ Sep 17th 2009 2:17PM

And so marked the September 17th "L"assacre, of when every Luke, at every Target was fired around the globe...

*sobs in remembrance*

B3astofthe3ast @ Sep 17th 2009 2:49PM

I have to go to target later today....to work:(

EI8HT @ Sep 17th 2009 1:45PM

Again with the blurry images

Orion @ Sep 17th 2009 1:45PM

Because only people with the worst tech find the best prices for new tech... of course.

samfish [is sad there is no Gene in Tats v Cap =( ] @ Sep 17th 2009 2:28PM

They also have a tendency to spot flying saucers and cryptozoological creatures.

Petebot330 @ Sep 17th 2009 3:02PM

I just saw photos fro a cryptozoological creature today, and I thought to myself, "why do they always end up taking such shitty pictures?"

Obie @ Sep 17th 2009 1:45PM

Why not include Wii Sports Resort and Motion plus? Or maybe they will introduce that when the Holiday shopping season comes up. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Punishment4Gluttons @ Sep 17th 2009 1:46PM

They would do that if sales were hurting. Sales may be down, but they're far from being dismal.

Anthology @ Sep 17th 2009 8:35PM

Why would they give up potential profit?

JXCgunrunna @ Sep 17th 2009 1:46PM

Did that say "199 for a Wii" cuz all i saw was a page that said "Nintendo world domination fund"

emotaku @ Sep 17th 2009 1:50PM

Don't worry, it says neither.

SpyderTaco (PSN: Ar4chNova89) @ Sep 17th 2009 1:46PM

I have a feeling that Nintendo is going to be rather subtle about it's price drop(s) because of it's current #1 spot in the industry. They don't need to have these big announcements like Sony or Microsoft because the people who wanted a Wii most likely already have one.

I'm actually kinda tempted to pick one up now just for Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Sep 17th 2009 1:54PM

Fuck that shit...Just give me a black one...

WREturns(There was once a dream called Rome) @ Sep 17th 2009 2:03PM

That's what she said!

nriveraexpress @ Sep 17th 2009 2:04PM

LMFAO!...nice

esposch @ Sep 18th 2009 3:11AM

*looks at avatar*

Tyger @ Sep 17th 2009 1:54PM

I would say by now its pretty well confirmed. But honestly, how many people don't have wiis that didn't buy them because they were $250?

Bradwart @ Sep 17th 2009 2:21PM

Me. I'm holding out for 150.

Guibs @ Sep 17th 2009 2:25PM

me as well. waiting on a price drop to decide of my son gets one for christmas or not. I won't pay 250$ when I can get an xbox 360 or a PS3 for 50$ more.

Courtney @ Sep 17th 2009 2:47PM

I was ready to get a Wii two years ago, but that was when they were still sold out constantly. We had a bunch of BB giftcards saved up from birthdays. Ended up getting a PS3 instead.

Since then I've had no interest, as two consoles plus my PC keep me plenty good on games. But, a price drop and perhaps an interesting bundle this Christmas might entice me into one.