Wii price drop this month?

(Credit: Kotaku)

With Microsoft and Sony both slashing prices on their respective consoles, it's no surprise that Nintendo appears to be following suit. Last month, we explained why we think the Wii needs a price drop, and it sounds like we aren't the only ones who think so.

Just today, a tipster sent Kotaku a blurry photo of a Toys R Us circular clearly indicating a $50 price drop for the Nintendo console, bringing it down to $200. Since the circular is dated for the last week in September, the new price could go into effect on September 27.

A $200 price tag would once again solidify the Wii as one of the two cheapest consoles available on the market today. As of now, the Xbox 360 Arcade remains as the least expensive home video game console on sale.

This all technically remains a rumor, but we've got a sneaking suspicion that this one is probably right on the money.

[waspnestremover]

Well given the 1000% increase in sales Sony had in the UK alone, i think they must be more than a little worried about loss of market share.

[chrkeller]

In my opinion, $200 is still too much. I don't blame Nintendo, they are selling well, but for what you get, not not worth $200.

[QA_Tester]

it is worth what people re willing to pay for it

[deepen05]

yea it is too much for a console with worse graphics than my 8 year old gamecube

I'd rather go and buy a ps2 for $99..

[Mikeybabes]

I wonder what Nintendo has up their sleeve for their next-gen. Honestly the Wii is too shallow, and I knew that when I bought it as a party piece.
I mean, fool me once shame on you ...

[ccmike72]

I've been saying this for a while. It should have launched at 200 and it should be 150 now. Honestly people only paid 250 and thought it was a good price because the ps3 was 500-600 and the xbox was like 500. Maybe it will drive the used system cost down as well. I would like to have one for the hand-full of good games the system has but this still seems a little pricey for something I will probably get tired of in a month or two.

[Mr_fleabite]

Agreed, at 250 I've felt this is of low value, not even dvd, come on! Playing some friend's wii's was fun and the party style play is good for a while but for adults it wears thin quickly. The wii has done a lot to open up gaming to a broader audience, but there are too many shallow fluffy games (the kids even grow tired of them quickly). On top of the fluff Nintendo has become brilliant at selling all the plastic add on's ad nauseum. $60 a controller set is nuts + $20 for motion+ (that goes for all systems). It seems like the wii's audience is the oldest and the youngest of gaming. I think they will need to come up with something new in the next 2 years to have any hope of getting the meat of the gaming market back.
If this cut is true, I too hope it drives the price of the used/ refurbed market down, if it got low enough I'd pick one up for some fun with the kido & wife. Till then I'm sticking with the PC, price of consoles + games + controls for friends is too high and the price of games drops way faster for PC (I can live w/o the exclusives on any sys.). O'yeah and the PC is upgradeable, and performs several dozen other functions.
I dunno maybe I'm just a cheap bastard, where's Rick B. when you need him.

[Earthquake152]

The Wii was practically obsolete the second it came out. The main reason, in my opinion, why it survived was because of the price and the motion controller. Now, I am biased away from Nintendo, because I honestly don't like the Wii and it's games, so others may disagree with me on this. Nintendo was incredible stupid to not include at least 720p on the Wii. I mean, who wants to watch a standard definition game on their expensive, full-HD capable flat screen tv? I own a xbox 360 elite, and I would rather buy the $200 360 and add more money to get a bigger hard drive. To me, the money paid for a hard drive is more like the money you pay for HD. Plus, I after trying it at my friend's house, I totally hate the motion controller. Either I need more practice, or Nintendo didn't refine it enough. Who here would want to practice playing a console before being able to play a game properly? Definitely not me.

[Nakarou]

especially with all the crud you have to get for actual fun like more wiimotes and nunchucks

[BazzBro]

Ya, the Wii is def not the cheapest because of all the stupid Accessories you have to buy for it. Nunchucks, the Wii Zapper, the steering wheel, the wii fit board. the motion senor. Its not worth it. The game system isn't anything great and the games are terrible.

The PS3 right now is the cheapest console to own, because of the least amount of accessories you need to own to enjoy the system.

[KennethHuntley]

Until Nintendo partners up with the likes of companies like Capcom and Konami again so that they'll have more than just Nintendo brand games, I feel that any price is too expensive for Nintendo. Nintendo has been dry since the N64

[douggdangger]

I think Nintendo has reached the end of the rope with the Wii.

The charm of its control has worn off. Nintendo should now join the world of High Definition and build a system that adults want. Nintendo should work with Sega and release a kick arse system. Two of the best companies in the gaming world working together should be able to make something great.

The 8 year old boys who bought the Wii 3 years ago now wants an XBox 360.

[Zoobie]

If the charm of the control system has already worn off, why are Sony and MS working on their own versions of motion control? Nintendo did what good business people do--they maximized revenue by keeping the launch price for three years at fantastic levels of unit sales. The Wii now holds the record for the console that maintained its launch price for the longest period, and they are going after the next level of customer to revive sales.

Having said that, I don't expect Nintendo to see the same sales bump the PS3 and X360 got with their price drops, but they will get a lift, regardless. I also don't see them launching an HD system any time soon because it's just not that important right now (as MS is demonstrating by backing off their HD requirements until the rate of HD TV adoption goes up).

[thom2002]

While I agree that some of the luster of the motion controller is gone, the Wii still has a lot of appeal. The appeal I'm talking about isn't to the kid demographic you speak of either. Most of those kids want awesome graphics and shooters. People that play the Wii still are people that don't normally game or people that have little parties. It's a totally different market than the PS3 or the XBOX and it's still selling quite well which is why they had no motivation to drop the price until now.

Will Nintendo release an HD gaming console? I'm sure in the future but at this point I don't think they see that market as a valuable business venture as XBOX and PS3 have it covered pretty well.

[eg6motion]

agree'd with the above. I think the Wii has finally worn-off of the initial "cool" factor. Most people I know that have one do not play it anymore.

[TheHBK23]

I think that Microsoft should go lower on the Arcade, 179.99 would drive up sales a bit, especially for the holiday season. MS seems to have the worst pricing of the three. I believe the real trick will be to be the first to $150.

[ZetaZeta_]

Personally I'd expect a Toys 'R Us ad to say something along the lines of "Now $199."
Would they use the "price cut" terminology unless it was just a sale?

[ZeeZazu]

Great game console, but too small too late. I have just purchased the PS3 Slim for me and my two brothers. Nintendo really jacked-up on this one. Blueray for $100 more, no game console beats that. Oh, DSi price.......... no comment (DS lite $99 three weeks ago at Target).

[strongpimphand]

What's the real hurry though?

[lil-yankee]

It's just natural that nintendo fallowed suit after seeing the success of the ps3 slim and somewhat xbox 360. The thing is; the wii believe it or not has been overpriced all along, and yet is last to lower price and least in the amount, no doubt due the popularity it has enjoyed so far. Like manny of you have said, the wii lost it's momentum. They did though have an impressive run, I was shocked to see how much people were price driven this gen, and to be honest disapointed. I do give kudos to nintendo for converting manny non-gamers that will sway later on to the more powerful consoles, I just think the rocket lift under the wii has shrunk and this price cut will not flame it back. Kids that were 8 and got a wii, are now 11-12 and want an xbox or a ps3. Mario nor Zelda could undo this, it's evolution at it's best

[douggdangger]

"If the charm of the control system has already worn off, why are Sony and MS working on their own versions of motion control?"

Over 10 of my friends are gamers and we all have Wiis. None of us have more than 4 games and none of us have touched our Wiis since February of this year.

So yeah, I'd say it has "worn off".

[george_liquor]

It really has worn off. I fire mine up every so often to play SSM Brawl, and I use a Gamecube controller for it.

[shytown021489]

While I would have to agree to your comment. I have a question for you. Since you have not used your machine since Feb would you consider selling it? I only ask because it is priced out of my price range ( I am on disability and my check dose not go very far) and I am undable to get out and about. I am desperatly want to use the fit game control. It might actualy make moving this old body just a little easier. If I offend anyone with my question I am so sorry. But with the way the economy is and how small my check is I figure it can't hurt to ask. I have already called nintendo to see if I can buy a refurbished one. They told me that they would charge me the same price as a new one. But if mine broke???? they would charge me $89.00 to fix it. what a racket.

[peterwhite]

I live in the Northwest, so this could be a regional point; however the Wii shortages have not been an issue since at least the 2008 holiday season. Even then you could find one if you were patient or willing to drive a little further off the freeway than you normally would. My point is that I personally believe the hype and hysteria surrounding this toy is behind us. Although there may be a handful of potential customers who may consider either (a) buying their first Wii or (b) investing in a second for a cabin, grandparent's home, etc ... my gut tells me the sales will continue to fall behind the PS3 and 360 as more and more gamers realize they would rather play hardcore games in HD. You can only bowl, play tennis, try to play Zelda, so many times until the Wii is abandoned to the shelf. Honestly, I'm sure most of us know at lease ONE person (in my case there's three in my cul-de-sac) with Wiis gathering dust.

I thought about getting one for parents in SoCal so that my nieces and nephews can play when they visit but I'd require a nice little bundle (controllers, games, add-ons, etc) - much like the Best Buy $250 360 PRO bundle, game, 2nd wireless controller, etc. That was a great deal and my bros / sisters got together to buy one for my niece / nephew in LV.

[abundantsnotbob]

The first time I read about the Wii, I never thought it would succeed, because with the unusual controls, there would not be as much development for it, because developers would rather make games that work on 3 systems instead of only 1. I have only played the Wii a few times. I think the next version should have at least DVD, a hard-drive, better graphics, and a closer to normal controller available.

[vprods]

Not disagreeing that there are a bunch of Wii's that don't get played much anymore, but those were bought by "real" gamers who buy into hype. There are also a whole bunch of Wii's that get played on a regular basis. Mine for example, gets used everyday as I'm not one whoe cares about "HD" graphics and definitely
doesn't want a bunch of buttons to push. just having fun (still) with thw Wii.

[electroplid]

Here, here! I play my Wii quite often, and am always finding new things to love about it (GameCube backwards compatibility being my latest yen - long live Super Mario Sunshine!)

I also play games on the PC and on the DS. I should say that the majority of the games I love are not the "usual" types of games: "Professor Layton", anything Mario, Spore, The Sims 3, Bioshock, Rhythm Heaven.... sure, the gamers love to moan and groan about the graphics on the Wii, but I have a pretty nice computer, so if I want graphics, I'll play something there... what I love about the Wii is that some of the best games for the system are wonderful offbeat plays on genre: "Madworld", "No More Heroes", "de Blob", Wii Sports Resort, Super Mario Galaxy... They're fun and engaging and not typical... at least not to me.. I don't claim to be an uber-gamer.... but why push a button to punch or slash when you can simulate it? I hate button pushing.

[jackandjay]

Its not even a month I bought a new Wii for my home... I might have to check if they can reimburse the discount to me.

[1kingsfan]

I really think it's impossible to compete. It's unlikely that this will boost Wii sales to even more unprecedented levels. . .and you can't really compare the Wii to the PS3 or 360 anyway. When Nintendo comes out with a Wii HD that has graphics like the 360 and a blu-ray player to boot - MAYBE we can talk. I love mine-but it only gets played when friends are over-otherwise my 360 and PS# get all the love

[mgheff]

Well, I thin the initial excitement of the Wii has worn off, but the idea is still very much alive. As posted Sony and MS are creating their own motion sensing technology, with, no doubt, inspiration from the Wii. I do think Nintendo needs to release a new console sooner, though. Perhaps one that comes with a regular controller, motion sensing controller, and some amazing graphics, HDD, and online capabilities to compete with Sony and Xbox. I mean, then you have EVERYTHING in one.

[kfpanda]

The Wii does have online capabilities. It has built in wireless that allows you to game with other Wii owners that are connected to the Internet.

[1kingsfan]

yeah kfpanda - with quiet possibly the WORST idea in online gaming ever invented - Friends Codes. I haven't played online since I first popped in Mario Kart - and Friend's Codes are to blame. Trying to protect the kiddies is great - maybe Nintendo should consider unlocking it for the people who actually LIKE to play with tons of people. Nah, nevermind, that didn't work for Live or the PSN. . . . . .

[kfpanda]

1kingsfan, I was merely pointing out the fact that the Wii does have online capabilities and the above post could be misleading to some people. You may not like the way Nintendo implemented the online capabilities of the Wii and it may not be for everybody but it exists nonetheless. A little more research before you make a purchase could be more rewarding for you in the future.

[play7]

Well maybe soon will see a new model, but until then the Wii really doesnt have to worry about sony. They already outsold them. Sony and others are playiong catchup.

[etiahwhite]

I still like my Wii....I don't use it everyday but I've played with it longer then any other system I've had. I'm not a serious gamer and I can't commit to those seemingly endless games that come out on the ps3 or the xbox360. I also don't care much for HD graphics and like the simplicty of of fewer buttons.