Are you happy with the Wii price?

[ceraphis]

OK I have a lot to say on this topic, but really what bugs me is the forbidden XBOX360 core vs wii comparison. I know, I know, it's old hat but hear me out.

I thought the BIG difference between wii and 360/ps3 is the power difference. Nintendo has time and time again said they have underpowered the wii because graphics arent what they are aiming for. Well, if that's the case, how can their price for their "core" system (japanese=$215), seem that amazing? I dunno...I'm sure if you counted up all the parts between 360 and the wii, the 360 has way more hardware for only $85 more. Just considering processing power, the 360 has TWO processors that if i'm not mistaken are way more powerful on their own than the wii's processor.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say I think the 360 is a better deal, because I like the Wii much more. But playing devil's advocate, how is an $85 dollar difference indicative of the difference in hardware costs? Is Microsoft selling cores at such a loss, and Nintendo selling Wiis at equal to hardware costs or at a profit that there is only an $85 difference between the systems?

I ask this question because I really do not have a clue, so by all means if anyone knows how to do the math between hardware costs/selling prices then tell us where that $85 difference comes from. This is the reason why I expected the Wii to sell at $199, bundles or not.

 

[Athlon-pv]

One company tries todo business other company is trying to destroy the games market for large piece of the pie or will die trying.

What happens is that if MS or Sony knocks one or the other out they will have market dominance thus more profit and higher priced items without suffering from competition ....

 

[The Teej]

I'm very happy with the price! I was going to get Wii Sports anyway, so the fact that it's bundled in for about £10 less then then what it would of been if it wasn't is great news

A Little disappointing that I'll have to buy a secondary Wiimote, but oh well, I don't recall ever getting another controller with a console anyway!

And, to those people who are bitching about how the UK price is only £20 less then a 360 core: The Wii approximately has 512Megabytes internal storage memory more then 360, as well as having a game bundled with it AND the titles you can download online not only have a nostalgic appeal they are generally better then the titles you find on XBLA

Plus when you read "BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY" on the back of the box you are actually getting backwards compatibility and not some lame-ass gimmick which has been nicknamed "BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY" because MS didn't wanna be thrown out of the mix.

Oh, and Microsoft's propietary memory cards are a complete rip-off compared to the SD cards Nintendo lets you use.

...Just keep that in mind before you go ahead and decide to buy an XBOX 360 Core just because it's £20 more.

 

[yatzr]

Is Microsoft selling cores at such a loss, and Nintendo selling Wiis at equal to hardware costs or at a profit that there is only an $85 difference between the systems?

Yes, both MS and sony have stated that they're selling their consoles at a loss and nintendo has stated that they'll be making profit off their's from the start.

Also, there's a lot more that goes into the cost of something than the actual hardware. Just look at music cd's. The cost of a plain cd is like $.02, yet they charge $15. It's the same with games. The money you pay doesn't just pay for the physical item, it pays for all the work that went into it. I would imagine that a lot of engineering hours were spent on the wii controller, which ultimately raises the cost of the item.

 

[rupan]

250 euros is too much for europe, and to put Wii Sports in the bundle is a bad news.
I'll just take Zelda for my gamecube, then I'll see in 2007 if good games will be on Wii

 

[Darkforce]

Those sales taxes are only state sales taxes, so there are ways around paying them. If you order online from a company that has no physical representation in your state (e.g. no brick & mortar stores), they aren't prepared to charge you sales tax and then give it to your state so they simply don't charge the sales tax. Technically, you're supposed to report it when you file your taxes every year and pay those sales taxes to your state, but nobody does because the states don't have the resources to enforce it. There are a few states trying to push for a system to charge sales tax at online stores in other states, but fortunately my state isn't one of them. I've saved tons of money buying things online instead of at a store in town.Â

I will, however, be buying my wii at a store in town, so I'll actually be paying about $267.50 for mine.

Yeah I've heard about that before, you guys have it pretty lucky in some respects. Imagine having to pay 17.5% like we do!

It's very hard to make comparisons though... yes everything costs more over here in the UK, but our minmum and average wages are a fair bit higher - US minimum wage is $5.15, and the UK minimum wage is £5.05 or $9.05 converted, so it's all leveled out:
It'd take someone in the UK just under 36 hours at minimum wage to earn enough to buy a Wii (at £179.99), whereas in the US it'd take someone on minimum wage just under 49 hours to earn a Wii (at $250, NOT including sales tax).

This is why I'm sick of people in Europe bitching about prices they have to pay for stuff; in reality we have it pretty good going nowadays =).

 

[Hitto]

I voted impartial. There's no way I'm waiting until dec. 8th to play this console, so I'll get it from a place that has a favorable money exchange value - like the US.

I may say this often... But I really do mean it :

FUCK YOU NINTENDO OF EUROPE

 

[adams89]

I voted no.
In my country - 2 buy Wii (250€) u have to work 2 months, and u don't get any interest 2 tax & food... ;/ 250€ it's a damn big cash in my country... we have 2 bring Wii's from USA... there is no other way...

 

[adgloride]

What ever happened to the harddrive that was meant to come with the wii? When did that disappear? The wii was meant to be region free, now I've heard it isn't going to be.

 

[legendofphil]

There was never a hard drive in the Wii, there is a 512MB of flash memory and that still exists.

 

[Wuschmaster]

Happy with the Japanese price.
Unhappy with the European price.

Therefore, I'll get the Japanese console.

 

[OrR]

Do you think you'll be able to get it at the Japanese price?

 

[serious_sean]

I'm torn. It's a souped-up GC, and that thing costs $100 new right now. What is so expensive to warrant another $150?

let's pretend the hardware costs $50 extra. the wiimote costs $60. those are generous numbers, and that's still a good chunk of money missing. what is it covering, wii sports? I don't think many gamers even want that.

Overall, i think $199 would be much more fair.

Now that MP3 isn't a launch title, i'm getting zelda on 'cube and waiting.

 

[Mehdi]

I agree with serious sean and we from europe are getting screwed over by Nintendo royally.

 

[Darkspark]

I voted yes

Think its a damn fair price. And please people, don't start saying that it's only a few dollars away form XB360 core system. Everyone knows that Core system SUCKS as it's missing core components that you will eventually have to buy. So, that argument is not a valid one.

The core system can do just as much as the Wii powerwise, so its roughly samely match. Therefore the argument is valid.
If the xbox core sucks, what should you think of the Wii?

I think its too expensive. Especially when Nintendo were touting how much cheaper it would be compared to the other next gen, which I cannot honestly say the nintendo wii seems part of. Its just innovative way of playing games. It will be popular, but fall behind quickly. I dont think Nintendo have the luck of hoping the competitors consoles are their own downfalls. It wont be as easy to take the market as ds vs PSP was.

Out of the three, the wii was looking to be the console for me simply because of the price and the fact I have a nintendo ds, but I think that the xBox 360 now looks better comparatively priced to the Wii, and the games developer kit being released is really interesting.

 

[legendofphil]

I agree with serious sean and we from europe are getting screwed over by Nintendo royally.


We in Europe are victims of higher tax and import laws, there isn't much that Nintendo can do.

The core system can do just as much as the Wii powerwise, so its comparative match. Therefore the argument is valid.
If the xbox core sucks, what do you think of the Wii?

The wii is nowhere near the power of the X360 core, and the 360 core doesn't suck its just not good value for money (but can be upgraded to the premium, unlike the PS3). Comparing it to the 360 core is fruitless because the Wii has an SD card reader, WiFi and wireless controllers. The 20GB PS3 doesn't have two of those and neither does the premium 360.

 

[Covarr]

The Wii comes with 512MB of internal flash storage. The XBox 360 Core comes with NO internal storage of any sort. Subtract about $30 from the price of the Wii for that storage before making any comparison between the Wii and 360 Core.

The Wii comes with a wireless controller. The 360 Core comes with a wired controller. Figure the difference in cost between the 360 wireless and wired controllers before comparing the 360 to the Wii.

You'll find that once you even out the playing field in pretty much every way except for power, the Wii is, in fact, considerably cheaper than the 360 Core system.

 

[Darkspark]

I think thats because the xbox 360 has streaming capabilities? Does it?

The sd card slot is just a cheap gimmick.
If there was a sd card slot in the DS, now that would be useful and great, but Nintendo is just a step behind. Its cheap to add that capability, and next to useless.
What is it there for? Its cheap.

per gb, the hard drives built into the other next gen systems represent better "value for money" as one commented on before.

However Nintendo think only in the present, and yes sd will do for now, then capabilities will catch up like it did for the DS browser and they will release some sort of external hard drive you will pay extra for.

Now that other next gen console using the "cell" is just out of the picture. I dont even like to mention their name.

 

[Wuschmaster]

Do you think you'll be able to get it at the Japanese price?

Sure will. Got a friend living in Japan.

 

[beedog19]

Not thrilled with the price at all. I would be happier if it included 2 Wii-motes and Wii sports so you could really show off how great a concept it is, but to have to pay $310 to do that is a little steep for my tastes.

I think I'm gonna wait it out a little and pick the console that has the most games that I'll be interested in. I could very well end up with a Wii sometime down the road, but probably not within the next 12 months. I'll be too busy playing Zelda on my GCN for most of that time to care, really.