Wii U Launch Price Expected to Be $399

It seems that the Wii U will be one of the most expensive launches in Nintendo’s history, as reports indicate that the console will launch at a $399 price point.

In an interview, Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Aime stated:

“If I’m the head of a household of a family of four, and my disposable income is $50,000 to $60,000, I’m going to continue to look at the Wii because of the software, and it’s a great entertainment device. For consumers who want to have the latest gadgets and have a higher disposable income, that’s for the Wii U.”

Those eyebrow raising comments have laid an expected MSRP of $399 for the Wii U and its tablet-styled controller. Let us know what you think.

0 thoughts on “Wii U Launch Price Expected to Be $399”

  1. Doesn’t matter, I’ve saved up enough money to buy anything they throw at me. If there are any awesome launch titles, I will buy it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Post

Episode 397: Closing InEpisode 397: Closing In

A good episode this time, if a little meandering. The episode is slowly reaching its milestone.

The news items for the week include:

  • Nintendo patents new hardware, doesn’t include a disc drive
  • VS. Excitebike coming to Nintendo’s Virtual Console
  • Nintendo increasingly considering movies
  • 2DS dropping to $100
  • Darkest Dungeon adds option to turn off controversial features

Check us on twitter: Jonah Falcon is @jonahfalcon, Paul Nowak is @stagermonkey, and Scott Dirk is @alphashard.

Wii Sports Resort and Wii Motion PlusWii Sports Resort and Wii Motion Plus

Nintendo plans to capitalize on the monumental success of Wii Sports by doing what they do best, building a hot game with an accessory backing its success. The new Wii Sports Resort will be a mini-game set like Wii Sports and Wii Play but with a beach setting and games like frisbee.

Frisbee? How can the Wii motion controller handle a Frisbee toss? Wii Motion Plus of course! We believe they’ll be packing the game in with the Wii Motion Plus to add more value to the purchase. Honestly, this adds more value to the accessory as a driving force to make sales and increase margins. Game accessories are a great way for Nintendo to profit, consider the pack in game marketing material.

As Wii Play has shown us, historically, gamers want the accessory and the bundled game is just icing on the proverbial cake. Wii Play, as a game, was lacking in many ways and would be, as a stand alone product, a definite must-not-have title. But, considering the amount of Wii controllers sold, this allows Wii Play to show up high on best games sold month over month.

Wii Sports Resort takes this to a new level by using the term “Wii Sports” in the game, allowing the masses to flock to the store to get anything that can reproduce the fun of the original title. Nobody knows, yet, if it will reproduce the same fun factor but the accessory is neat.

(Thanks, joystiq)

Wii U Priced at $300 for Basic, $350 For DeluxeWii U Priced at $300 for Basic, $350 For Deluxe

Nintendo announced the price of the Wii U in New York City today, and to the surprise of some, the Wii U will come in two price SKUs:

  • Basic Set ($299.99) – 8 GB white Wii U, white Wii U GamePad
  • Deluxe Set ($349.99) – 32 GB black Wii U, black Wii U GamePad, GamePad Cradle, Wii U console stand, Nintendo Land

Already, GameStop is offering the following trade-in deals:

  • $50 trade credit for a Wii
  • $90 trade credit for an Xbox 360 (original), PS Vita or 3DS
  • $115 trade credit for a PS3 (original) or Xbox 360 (slim)
  • $140 trade credit for a PS3 (slim)

(more…)