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While the other consoles slash prices in a bid to attract custom, the Wii, seemingly impervious to the economic climate, gets a price hike!?!
What the hell? Anyone else think this is backward? Blame your economy.
Other companies have already started doing that, which is logical. This sucks.
Nintendo are already asking a lot based on the costs. They should suck it up and if anything drop the price. You can get an Elite for the same price in some places! Other companies aren't games companies, this is totally unprecedented in the industry. Apple may up trade prices, but their RRPs have stayed the same - meaning that if retailers increase the price everyone will just buy direct from Apple instead.
Plus the wii is already overpriced tat. Making it even more overpriced will hopefully prompt people think twice before buying it. Backward yes, but if it means i can flog the little box 'o' kak for a higher price than i paid for it, then i'm all for it! Has anybody let them know that we are in a deep recession! They deserve to lose trade if they do this and will they lower the trade price when the pound picks up again? No they won't, people are struggling enough why does this have to happen now, its like kicking families in the balls, who have not got the money to go on holiday and now entertainment at home is being hiked up, Sorry Nintendo but you make enough money don't be greedy and that goes for other companies willing to let families go right to the wall! You know what I blame?
People willing to pay more for something. If nobody buys it at the raised price, they'll lower it again. But guess what? People will. Because they're morons. I agree with all the of the first comments.
In a pound-for-pound games machine contest between the 360 and the Wii I'd pick the 360 any day of the week. Then again, since the Wii went after the casual mainstream market perhaps there are enough people in that group who are unaware of what the other consoles offer and at what prices to allow this move to succeed for Nintendo? On the other hand it might also be the catalyst for the beginning of the end of the Wii's so far phenomenal domination. Right on. This is why businesses need third party regulatory bodies to keep an eye on them because it's not in the nature of businesses to keep themselves under restraint if more profit can be made. I liken it to sharks smelling blood = frenzy attack. Everyone should get a 360 instead if the price of a Wii goes up, that's just plain insanity it should be dropping to £99.99 RRP. While I can understand the reason for increasing the price, I can't understand why on earth over the last number of years we have had a very strong pound and yet were still charged more for electronics than in the US and Japan! I know we have higher tax rates but they don't even come close to explaining the vast difference between what we often pay here compared to the US (quite often double the price in the past).
So in my opinion these companies can't have it both ways.
Erm Nintendo have also left the RRP the same.
Spoken like a true gamer :roll: However, Home electronics are luxory goods and as such no one needs to purchase them. In a capitalist society these types of goods are simply subject to the rule of supply and demand. If people are not willing to purchase at the retail price then the company either drops their price or sells no products. Simple. The only regulation needed is to make sure that companies do not cheat the supply and demand system by price fixing etc. they must have lowered the costs over the last 2 and a bit years enough to offest the strong yen, there just being greedy trying to keep the same profit margins! im sure there still making profit on them even now! "While Nintendo will not up Wii's recommended retail price of £179.99"
So that means any price hike is entirely determined by the individual retailers... I'd say that was a pretty fair assumption...
Probably trying to offset the cost of a 'not entirely successful' N64/Gamecube... Cant really see the price going up but if it does then no one should buy it!!
Simples.... no? They made a ton of money from both the N64 and the Gamecube. Pretty lame move. But that's what they gotta do I guess to keep the shareholders happy. Not meeting profit goals means unhappy shareholders and unhappy shareholders means lowered spending...and that means fewer good games (I mean how much lower can Nintendo go after the last 8 months?) or fewer people.
Glad I have a Wii already. Then again, I'm not in the UK so this wouldn't affect me.
I can't help but chuckle at all the people still trying to play the pound for pound game with the Wii vs the HD consoles. Especially when you consider how cheaply made the 360 was initially (still?). Fortunately, my 360 has never experienced the RROD in two years and counting (knock on silicon). When the wii was first released it was substancially cheaper than the competition. the only reason it hasn't had a proce drop is that its sold so bloody well, If the 360 had continued to sell as well as the wii has at its original price of £300 then they wouldn't of dropped the price. its simple supply and demand.
Only a fool would drop the price of something that was selling well at its current price. when the wii stops selling so well it'll get a price cut not before.
Granted nintendo probably should of taken the extra production costs on the chin and this may be detrimental to the machine in the long run, but we'll have to see about that. The Wii has never been a pound-for-pound contender for the 360/PS3 spot though; it's about doing something different, not just going for brute power.
I had respect for that, and it was the very reason I got one at launch. Sadly that "doing something different" gave way to "doing the same thing over and over in every game" which is why I got rid of it. If some of the newer titles had come out a few months earlier I might've stayed on board.
But, that's a little off-topic. After 2 years, can you name anything other product that warrants a price RISE? I certainly can't think of anything.
It's what we call "cashing in" because they know people want them and will pay whatever it takes. Prices in the Eurozone seem to be dropping in the last few months. I get regular marketing e-mails from komplett.ie, for example, who always seem to be promoting the Wii. You can get one there for €229 now. If this keeps up, you might see more and more people in the UK buying their Wiis from abroad, dealing in Euros. This is largely my opinion on the matter.
There is no need for a price hike, AT ALL, aside from greed wrapped up in a fairly tenuous 'weak pound' reasoning... Blame Gordon Brown, not Nintendo. Actually no, blame Ninty a little, I'm sure they could have absorbed these costs. Thing is, when the pound improves, I bet they won't be as quick to drop the prices. The Wii is worth it at it's current price but any increase is ridiculous.
**** man, I could do with some good Wii news after this and the RE letdown. What ********! Have MS and Sony increased their prices? No. You're talking crap, its just Nintendo getting greedy. When the economy was booming only 2 years back and the pound was very strong did we see a price fall in any consumer electronics? No again! Stop talking shit and thinking because your consoles so 'popular' you can inrease the price and blame sterling Nintendo. Take the rough with the smooth like everyone else. Upon checking the exchange rate this morning...
1.00 GBP = 1.37902 USD
When I visited my brother in May last year it was a shade over 1.91 USD. The pound really is a giberring mess of a currency right now.
I have a Wii already so any price rise doesn't bother me... well actually it does. Nintendo are taking the piss. Sorry big N, you need a slap. Greedy gits. There are other industries other than the games industry you know. I think the original poster was talking about other electronics companies and car manufacturers etc. Also Sony are having trouble selling the PS3 at it's current price so they are hardly going to jump at increasing it. You're not honestly defending Nintendos actions here, are you? There is no reason to increase the price. The fact that the Wii is selling like hotcakes is CERTAINLY not one! Maybe a lot of people here are too young to remember the reputation that Nintendo had as being ruthless greedy *******s. That reputation dwindled as they had to compete with the success of the Playstation, now they are in the driving seat and have gone back to being complete *******s again. The only difference is that back then they used to make loads of great games that made their machines must have items. »
I don't see home electronics as a luxury, does anybody here believe that having a TV and DVD player as luxury, I don't think so, I think that people that work deserve some sort of reward for doing so surviving is not enough people want to live, maybe its different for people who live in the countryside there is so much to do in the out doors but if you go outside in a town or city what is there to look at but grey blocks of nothing, to these people home electronics are a necessity otherwise what is the point in working or doing what you are told.
As for price fixing companies have been fixing the price of goods coming into the UK for decades, we pay more than most other countries even though we had a strong currency this is all bollocks if you ask me and the way things are now I don't think people will be in the mood for price hikes which will lead to deflation and worse profits for companies in the long run because people will wait for the prices to go back down. Almost all companies are essentially greedy; the only thing companies are really trying to do in a capitalist system is make as much profit as possible. If Nintendo have got a product that sells well and want to try and maintain their current margins, they can increase the trade price if they want. If people don't like the new price, they don't have to buy it. But I think they will, Wii Fit still sold really well when private sellers etc were selling it at £90+. In a downturn, people tend to buy products that make them feel happy, so because of Wii's family friendly image it has low price elasticity of demand, so as long as the RRP doesn't rise too much, people will still buy it. Especially since most of them are sold in some sort of expensive bundle anyway. considering the amount of bashing the wii gets on this site i'm surprised any of you care. You've either already got one or have gotten rid of it.
This news doesn't effect you in the slightest. Also the RRP of the machine hasn't gone up. the cost to merchants has risen not consumers in theory.
big chains will more than likely take the decrease in profits so that the machine continues to sell.
Its indy stores that may have to increase prices on the whole it more than likely won't happen, but its good to see the usual faces falling hook line and sinker (myself included) for news that was 50/50 actual information /analyst bs.
It's still going to have a cheaper trade price than a PS3 though Presumably the price of Nintendo games will be increasing next?
I don't know how Nintendo are going to survive after only making billions of profit off the Wii over the last couple of years? Poor buggers. :cry: According to gamesindustry.biz, the trade price of upcoming games could increase, but not the trade price of the DS or DSi. As a business tactic, Nintendo has it (pun incoming) bang on the money. They have never made a loss with any of their consoles and they seem to have managed to get purchases out of a massive range of non-gamers. That's an absolutely amazing business model and for that they need commended.
However, as far as actually showing support and respect to the people BUYING their product, they've done nothing but screw them over and they're continuing it now. People have been wanting storage space for 2 years and they know it - nothing. And now they're screwing customers over before they even HAVE the damn console. They're perfectly in their rights to put up the price. However, the UK price was some 50% more expensive than the likes of Japan and the US early on, while they said they made a profit on each one sold in other regions, so they were gouging at the start. Production costs would have been expected to come down noticeably during the volume production, exchange rates aside, so you'd have thought there would be significant scope for the price to have dropped further - at least to be competitive with the 360's Arcade Pack.
Yes, the change rate has weakened significantly, but I agree with the others that the ongoing unit cost reductions should be able to account for that, especially when you consider that at the launch of the Wii the change rate wasn't at the peak either.
Haven't they been reading the information from the Steam guys indicating that reducing the price can boost sales significantly, more than sufficiently to offset a reduction in per-unit profits? OK so that's software and not hardware, and has much lower per-unit costs, but some of that may still apply.
I for one said that if the Wii was launched at the Japanese price (at the time around £120), then I'd have bought one. I still take a similar view - that at under £100 I'd probably be sold, and at £120 I might be sold, but at £180, significantly more than the more-capable XBox 360, it looks like poor value, and no deal.
The thing is that Nintendo's already seen Sony effectively throw away their massive lead in the console wars by pushing too high a price point. Microsoft should just need a few new packs to offer some interesting 'casual' games with the Arcade pack for £150 or less, and they're then in a decent position to target potential Wii sales. what for, i still don't understand this need for storage space.
I have a wii with 50+ games and i still haven't filled up the internal memory.
You can buy a 2gb sd card from ASDA for £5 now, even cheaper online.
The biggest wiiware games i've got are the strongbad series and world of goo and they're only 35 mb a piece. the only thing the wii needs id the ability to use run things stragight off the sd card. and that is a firmware update at most. Nintendo haven't actually raised the price to you, the consumer. And the likely hood is that retailers will absorb the small loss in profit to remain competitive.
Why are you moaning about 'greedy' companies and saying 'oh because you have a popular product you think you can charge loads'. Yes of course you can, check where you live, it's called capitalism.
Nintendo rely solely on the games industry, bar their flirtation with a MLB team(which i don't think actually makes them any money), they have profit forecasts to live up to, they've already slashed them for this financial year once they can't really do it again without destroying any market confidence in them.
It's not only about the pound being strong but also when in comparison to the god awful state of the Yen.
people need to stop acting like a rabble when they hear the words 'price rise' Nintendo what are you doing, you want to drop the price, increasing demand and start some craze again.
Of course Japan is where they need to drop the price, the PS3 outsold the Wii 2:1 according to Famitsu.(it might not be quite 2:1 though because Famitsu got higher PS3 sales and lower 360 and Wii sales last week than those other guys although it's generally right about the trends.) The price of Wii should have been lowered along time ago. Instead, people were happy to pay for last gen technology at prices comparable to that of 360 and PS3 (myself included sadly).
Now Nintendo increase the price? lol
I started this gen wishing Nintendo all the best but they've really shown a real lack of respect to the fans who kept them going when they were struggling with N64 and GC. The picture that forms the background to the top story on the front page shows the coloured wii remotes when the wii was first announced. What on earth ever happened the coloured Wiis? :? »
You are correct that home electronics for entertainment are a luxury. However, given recent events over the past year around the globe it should be abundantly clear that the rather simple theory that the market will always correct itself in a seemly way is dead in the water and sinking fast. I'm of the personal opinion that contemporary economics needs a shot in the arm and some brilliant new theories need to be aired. Sure, some would argue the markets are adjusting right now yet they should never have gotten to the place they did in the first place if sound financial planning as opposed to all out avarice had been the modus operandi over the past five years. Capitalism is not good for the individual nor society anymore so than communism is. Both ideologies offer some useful points but when taken exclusively without mixing and rinsing with other ideologies they are harmful to the human condition. I don't care which company, brand nor product is at stake where it pertains to screwing over the customer and the general public. At that point a good old "parliament of the streets" may not be entirely misplaced. Lynch the greedy *******s! I have no problem with a company making a profit, but pushing it at a time like this? Well, I suppose it's Nintendo's choice. I just hope it comes back to bite them hard. Total rubish, Nintendo have long since recovered their development/production costs on the Wii, and are raking in the royalties from third party publishers hand over fist. The longer it sells at it's current price the more profitable it becomes. :roll:
PS, I bet they're still kicking themselves they didn't launch at a much higher price point to begin with. :wink: The wii. Raking in a bunch of money for nintendo and despite the economy raises its prices and rakes in more. While still being understocked. If thats not nintendo magic or nintendo voodoo or nintendo just making everything that would seem real by being only high then i dont know what is. The Pound was at nearly 2 Dollers to the pound for 12 months much more than the usual 1.79 to 1.84. Why didnt they reduce the price then. Its called rip off Britain. always was and always will be Nintendo arn't the only tech company to do this. HP have increased trade prices by up to 30%. It's still a daft idea though. I agree with the business model, Nintendo consoles have always been the most efficient. I think you are going too far with the customer service bashing though. Nintendo consoles always have the best build quality and their customer service is supposed to be second to none, just look around the internet for examples.
As for the HD issue. That is Nintendo stupidity, but they are hardly screwing you over if you are buying the games.
This price hike though is screwing the people that Nintendo wants on board (everyone!) over. The UK already has to pay far more than anyone else and the components in the Wii must be cheaper than ever. I could understand if they were raising the price if they had somehow improved the Wii, but it seems unfair in the current economic climate to start raising prices... Floodgates are now open. Go on Sony. You know you want to. Thats what I was thinking that Ninty said they already made a nice profit off of the Wii even so far as to making a profit on every console sold immediately. Something unheard of in the console world.
Ah well we will see what the impact is in the long term. As said before pound for pound the Wii is looking bad against the 360's lower price range offerings (unless Msoft/Sony have to hike prices too). Cocky *******s. :roll:
I'm thinking since they're already making loads of money they have just got greedy. They've got to be rolling in it considering the amount they've sold at a profit.
I really am not a fan of Nintendo. Here's an idea, why not go down to your local Game/Gamestation and buy a second hand gamecube for 20 quid. You can then play the exact same crap on there, then if you want you could wave your arms about to get the 'motion controls'effect. :lol: Brilliant. I will never knowingly give money to Mintendo ever again. The greedy *******s. :x
There isn't one game for the Wii that I am desperate to play. I guess Sony will have to beg to the Japanese government for handouts? Well done Nintendo for keeping your books straight. The practice of subsidising hardware and trying to catch up later was not suited to a credit bubble. Nintendo made less than $80 on the Wii at launch and then had to pay costs, millions of which were R&D costs.
Some of you guys don't live in the real world and think everyone owes you a damn living. The only people entitled to moan or applaud this move are the Nintendo shareholders. | 
