Nintendo Targets Wii U Price Cut to Drive Sales

[admin]

Nintendo has dropped the price of the 32GB version of the Wii U by $50, as the company signaled its intention to keep their flagship console competitive with its soon to be released Xbox One and PS4 rivals.

The 32GB Wii U, previously priced at $349.99, will now be available at just under $300 from September 20th. The standard bundle includes the game Nintendo Land, but a limited edition bundle that includes The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD, the Hyrule Historia book and a Zelda-themed Gamepad will also be available at the same price.

The basic Wii U model which features 8GB of storage will be phased out, Nintendo also announced.

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime expressed his company's confidence at the sales boosting effect of the price cut.

"It was critical for us to have a strong software lineup to support Wii U," says Fils-Aime. "With that in place this holiday season, we believe providing consumers that extra incentive in terms of a $50 price cut is really going to help drive momentum."

Wii U sales have been lackluster so far. A recent report revealed that only 160,000 Wii U consoles were sold worldwide in the April-June quarter (as a comparison, the Xbox 360 managed to sell 140,000 units in the US only, in just one month).

The now $299.99 Wii U will be up against the $399 PS4 and the $499 Xbox One this holiday sales period, which is the biggest sales period traditionally for game consoles.

[CP1381]

I've found Nintendos recent moves to be quite confusing. Why not reduce the price of the basic model? No one's going to get it if they can get the bundle for the exact same price?

They've also announced a price-cut 3ds...called the 2ds. So it's basically the old ds?

It seems the WiiU is going the way of the Gamecube. Which is a shame, as it looks like a decent console.

[admin]

I think the Wii U could have been a success if it had been launched a year or two earlier, or if the hardware was a bit more powerful (closer to that of the PS4 than the PS3). It all feels a bit rushed to me, like Nintendo came to the conclusion that they needed a new console far too late and so used old but familiar hardware to knock one out quickly, and then rushed the console onto the market without a super strong game line-up (Wii U Zelda should have been available from day one, for example).

[CP1381]

I completely agree on the rushed front, I literally don't know anyone that owns one, and that includes my friends who are life-long Nintendo fans.

I thought ZombiU looked like good fun too. The whole thing felt poorly handled.