Gaming Isn't Wii supposed to be cheaper ?

[Firtermish]

Hey there. I'm by no means a regular and I hope I'm not bringing an over-discussed issue to the boards. Looking through Ebay's homepage today I noticed something that astonished me : Wiis are being sold more expensive than Xbox 360s.

I know we're talking about companies , that they don't care about promises just as long as they make money ( they won't usually sacrifice a penny for a prommise ) , that they sometimes have to deal with massive production queues ... but I used to believe in Nintendo. They said they wanted the Wii to be tagged the cheapest they could ( they even thought that U$100 was plausible during the console development ).

As the big N realizes that consoles sales are not dropping whatsoever in spite of the Xbox being cut off to be virtually as expensive as the Wii , they don't dare say a word about a price drop. Probably due to lack of supplies in some regions, resellers at Ebay and many other on line stores are currently ripping off the average consumer loathing for a Wii. How come there's virtually no place where the console can be found at its suggested price tag ?.

I hope the market will somehow " stabilize " in the short term future . I know that christmas only makes matters worse, but I think this pricing policy is going a bit beyond a holiday frenzy. Wii , be great, be creative, be a pioneer , be awesome , but BE CHEAP.

Thanks for reading my rant,

Firtermish

 

[BoneMonkey]

its the cheapest console out there

 

[Smwbigboss]

It's $250 MSRP, but it's out of stock everywhere because it's so popular. So people are selling it on ebay at a high price to people who are desperate to buy one. nintendo is making them as fast as they can, but it's the fastest selling console in history, so it's pretty hard to keep up.

 

[Firtermish]

Yeah, I guess your statement makes the most sense bigboss. I hope they'll catch up with demand soon enough then.

Cheers

 

[OSW]

sure i think it should be sold cheaper, but you blame nintendo for ebay prices!?!?

nintendo can't control ebay sellers who are out o make bucks higher than retail price.

 

[Firtermish]

No you got me wrong. Or maybe I didn't express myself correctly.

I'm trying to blame :

-Nintendo for not trying to drop the suggested price tag of the Wii. The PS3 has already done so, having lived a very similar lifespan as the Wii. I know it's a different scenario since the PS3 desperately needed to be more affordable in order to increase sales, but anyway.

Right now the difference in price between the Xbox 360 ( cheapest model ) and the Wii ( only available model as of now ) is negligible


-Online resellers ( ebay fishers mainly ) for abusing lack of supplies.

 

[Saylient_Dreams]

I think Nintendo wanted it to be $200 initially, but retailers said no because they wanted more profit so they made it $250 instead. If the thing sold for $150, oh man that would be nuts. I still can't find any Wiis in my area.

 

[Lumstar]

Bundling in Wii Sports raised the price a little. It's somewhat cheaper in regions where that wasn't included.

 

[ozzyzak]

Wouldn't surprise me at all to find out that Nintendo is manufacturing a shortage. It wouldn't be the first time a company has done it, but it seems this could backfire on Nintendo.

Honestly, I don't really believe that Nintendo is 'making them as fast as they can'.

 

[HyoImowano]

The PS3 has already done so

I know it's a different scenario since the PS3 desperately needed to be more affordable in order to increase sales, but anyway.

Exactly, it's a total failure

.

http://ps328dayslater.ytmnd.com/

 

[ozzyzak]

The PS3 has already done so

I know it's a different scenario since the PS3 desperately needed to be more affordable in order to increase sales, but anyway.



Exactly, it's a total failure

.

Mightn't it be smart to wait until it's proven a failure? Wait until the PS3 is pulled from shelves and you are unable to find games in stores?

Or better yet, why not wait to see what the holiday season brings? The PS3 could pull some major ground this Christmas season. I wouldn't count it out.

 

[HyoImowano]

I count the PS3 out, the only people buying it are the rich kids and the die hard Sony fans.

Everyone gets a Wii and either a 360 or a PS3. Either way they want a Wii, and usually they get a 360 because it's so much cheaper.

Cutting backward compatibility support was a major mistake in my opinion, the PS1 library helped to sell the PS2 in big ways. They should cut out Blu-Ray support since it's all rubbish anyways.

 

[richardo]

With respect to nintendo they've not had much success in the home console market for a while now. Its mostly been mobile gaming thats saved them. Its quite possible they just completely underestimated the market and just dont have resources to meet demand (even after all this time!)

That said they are also reliant on a few very specialist components like the sensors in the wii remote - so it could even be that the bottleneck is other manufacturers. It did make sense at the beginning to withhold stocks to drive up demand, but I'm sure thats not the reason now as they're missing out on all those extra ebay profits that consumers might have spent on games if they could get the console cheaper.

 

[adgloride]

With some of the offers in the UK with the premium 360, with you getting free games and stuff. Its been working out around the same price as the wii for a while.

 

[Veho]

Nintendo is targeting a market that won't even consider the PS3 or an Xbox. The fact that some gamers are also buying it is a welcome bonus, but not their primary focus. Wii is a console, but aimed at a different market, and their marketing strategy doesn't have to depend on (or adapt towards) Microsoft's and Sony's moves.

Wii can't be compared to the X360 or the PS3, other than in fanboy flame wars. The Wii is a different product, and as such, can be priced based on "how much can we ask for and expect to actually get", instead of pricing it according to PS3 and X360 prices. So far it's working, and Wii-s are selling faster than Nintendo can produce them, despite the fact there's a $300 X360 out there, and a $400 PS3 (or less, if you manage to sell the bundled game).

 

[Xarsah16]

I don't personally think that the price for the Wii could be any better. It's the cheapest console out there right now of this gen.

I heard on my TV gaming channel that Nintendo is shipping 1.8 MILLION WII'S A WEEK nationwide. Why is there still such a shortage?

Anyway, I'm also kinda pissed that I can't get that damn Guitar Hero III game. I own a Wii, and that version is so hard to find. It's on Amazon for 3 times the price and no stores are carying it right now. I can't even order it online at the normal retail price.

 

[hollabackitsobi]

rofl 1.8 million Wiis a week? WRONG. More like a month, and that's WORLWIDE not in the USA. The Wii is just a Gamecube with better controllers, and I'm not trying to hate. You guys know it's true as well. It really should be retailing for less than $99, but Nintendo wants to make the most profit they can from it.

 

[Xarsah16]

Okay, so it's 1am when I was reading the ticker and my memory isn't serving me right.

But that still sucks.

 

[Seraph]

rofl 1.8 million Wiis a week? WRONG. More like a month, and that's WORLWIDE not in the USA. The Wii is just a Gamecube with better controllers, and I'm not trying to hate. You guys know it's true as well. It really should be retailing for less than $99, but Nintendo wants to make the most profit they can from it.

The Wii is just a Gamecube with motion control, barely more powerful than the PSP, etc. Just look at the specs and it's in plain sight that it's not a Gamecube.

I don't think many people knew how much of a success the Wii would be. I believe that the shortages are true. If Wii's were even cheaper there'd most likely be an even bigger demand, and ebay sellers would gain a decent profit either way.

 

[sonicstorm]

Just wait a couple months they'll be selling it in the bargain bins at gas stations for a whopping 99 cents.