According to an Engadget report, citing a "trusted source" Nintendo will cut the price of its Wii console by 25 percent to $150 on May 15.
Last month Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that a price drop is one of the tools the company might use to extend the Wii's lifecycle.
"The Wii has a long life in front of it," he said at the time. "We're still sitting at $199. There are a variety of marketing tools at our disposal."
The Engadget report further speculates that the timing would be good because it would be a good lead in to the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but by the same token price cuts and E3 go together like peanut butter and jelly. A new game bundle might also be another reason to give the system a price cut..
We'll have more on this story as it develops. Hopefully it's true.
Comments
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
There's a handfull of games I've been wanting to play on the Wii for a while now. A price drop might be what convinces me to buy the console.
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
"The Wii has a long life in front of it."
Not without a plethora of new, quality games, buddy.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
Agreed. If Nintendo doesn't get more third-party support with AAA franchises, the Wii's days are numbered.
Then again, it's had that handicap the whole time, and they've been successful. However, that won't last much longer, as sales of the 360 and PS3 are ramping up (mostly due to price cuts on their end). Nintendo will either need to get more AAA titles, especially from third-party developers, or announce the next Nintendo console.
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With the first link, the chain is forged.
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
Hell, first-party support seems to be the most lacking. Nintendo's got almost nothing coming out in the next few months.
Wii Play: Motion and Mystery Case Files: Dust to Dust. That's it. A few minigames bundled with a controller and a find-the-hidden-object game. Yay.
There's some third party stuff coming out: Conduit 2, Thor, Green Lantern, Transformers, and LEGO Star Wars 3 but the movie games will probably suck, I thought the first Conduit was terrible but hey, I like the LEGO games.
What else is there? Movie games Rio, Kung Fu Panda 2 and Cars 2. A Spongebob game, a Reader Rabbit game, Exerbeat, Karaoke Revolution, and Get Fit with Mel B.
That's just not very appealing. To me at least but I doubt I'm alone here.
Andrew Eisen
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
I liked The Conduit, and am looking forward to Conduit 2, but I won't get my expectations up as high as they were with TCon. As for your list, the only thing that looks interesting is Conduit 2, since the Wii version of movie tie-in games is usually the worst one of them - even if the premise IS good - and, while I like Lego games myself, I've played it before, because they all pretty much play the exact same.
The new Zelda game would be very welcome right about now. Also, a Mario Tennis Wii - not the GameCube version with motion controls slapped on - would be awesome.
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With the first link, the chain is forged.
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
On the Thor note, from what I have seen of gameplay videos, it is going to be less a movie tie-in and more a God of War clone. Sounds like fun if it is executed right.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Re: Rumor: Wii Price Cut in May
Indeed, the first looks I've read have been pretty positive. Maybe it will turn out great.
Hell, hopefully it will turn out great because there sure isn't that much to choose from.
Andrew Eisen