So The Wii U WILL Get A Price Cut

On 08/29/2013 at 08:33 AM by gigantor21

Just two weeks after Iwata said otherwise--citing the better sales of the $350 Premium as proof that a price cut wasn't needed--a WiiU price cut has been announced.

This had to be done. The complete lack of interest in the WiiU at $350 has been palpable. Considering that the WiiU only sold 160k globally between April and June, the much more popular premium model being only $50 less than the PS4 (not accounting for PS+) would've been an awful look come Christmastime. They need to do whatever they can to eliminate doubts about the system's overall value.

But will it be enough?

This current quarter--July through September--won't be much better. Pikmin 3 only provided a temporary boost; The Wonderful 101 didn't do jack shit in Japan, and may not do much better in Europe or the States. The Wind Waker remake will help in a much bigger way, but will only account for 2 weeks of the remaining 3 month period. Hence their holiday and 2014 releases will have to carry nearly ALL of their projected 9 million units sold.

Even if Smash and Mario Kart come out before the end of March, that target is insane. They'd have to push over 8 million of those sales in a 6 month period while competing with the PS4 and Xone launches. And they only have two potentially big sellers (Zelda and 3D World) left this year.

Beyond that, Iwata not only promised the moon in terms of WiiUs sold, but also wants "Nintendo-like profitability". If they were taking losses on the WiiU before the price cut, though, he won't be seeing that anytime soon. Announcing the cut a month before it actually happens certainly won't help. Why buy a WiiU now when you can save $50 at the end of September?

Nintendo had no choice but to do a price cut this year. There are too many forces working against the WiiU not to. But those forces are so great that even the price cut may not be enough.

Homelessrook

08/29/2013 at 08:44 AM

Honestly it was not much of a price cut. The Vita had a real price cut. I just do not see why people are so excited about Zelda WW HD, a rehashed, rewarmed, ( although good game for it's time)... I fell for that with LoZ OoT on the 3DS and found myself disappointed. I want something new, not part 2 episode 12 or what have you. I want a new JRPG, like was promised by Nintendo in February. I am not sold on this system yet.

gigantor21

08/29/2013 at 11:55 AM

To be honest, I don't expect it to have a lasting impact either. It just seems like something they had to throw out there so they could say "Zelda on WiiU in 2013!" But it is going to be one of the biggest launches for the console this year.

Take that as you will.

08/29/2013 at 12:39 PM

Oh, I agree. There will be people buying it,but for what reason really? I just feel if they are tosell this system they need to bring something new and fresh to it.

transmet2033

08/29/2013 at 09:46 AM

I was never planning on spending 350 on a Wii U. If I was going to get one in the past year, I probably would have gotten the white one. I know that sounds really stupid because you get 4 times the storgae space and Nintendo Land for $50 more.

08/29/2013 at 11:59 AM

32GB is absolutely pitiful if you're going to be taking advantage of the digital content, though. You could get a 500GB external drive for around $50.

But yeah, $350 was going to be an issue from the moment Sony announced a $400 price point.

NSonic79

08/29/2013 at 01:37 PM

I had a hard time swallowing the cost of a premium Wii U given I didn't see much being offered with that pricing amount. Most of that was from the hard drive size. 32GB? Really? I don't usually buy digital downloads but that's anemic in what we've seen in HDD offerings during this console generation. I've been told you can connect an external HD to the system but I've never found out if you can load/boot games off from it.

I still want a Wii U though. This price cut does help but not enough to move me there just yet.

08/29/2013 at 02:42 PM

I really don't get much of anything Nintendo does when it comes to digital content in general. It's not surprising to me that they put so little memory AND didn't have any option to put in a proper internal drive. This is the same company still "figuring out" a proper account system in 2013. -_-

Nick DiMola Director

08/29/2013 at 03:00 PM

I'd argue that the external HDD is better than messing with installing an internal one. Plug it in via USB and you're done. Seems pretty easy, especially when you can buy literally anything off the shelf to get it done. Plus you can avoid the smaller 2.5" HDDs which typically have less space for higher prices.

08/29/2013 at 03:24 PM

My main problem, though, is that I have limited space to put game stuff on my shelf to begin with. I want to keep the area as uncluttered as possible. Nor do I have room on the power strip to plug-in a new console AND another external drive, which is required because Nintendo recommends against USB-powered drives.

I didn't have to worry about that at all with my PS3, as I never filled up the 160GB drive it came with. That the WiiU's approach is several steps backwards compared to a console from '06 says a lot, really.

08/29/2013 at 04:02 PM

I won't argue for a minute that the HDD it comes with is big enough. It's not. However, I'd much rather plug in an external HDD because it's much easier and space/power strip constraints aren't a concern for me.

That being said, I don't think the Wii U's approach to storage is a step back. I do think they undershot the amount to include on board, but supporting any off-the-shelf external HDD is, in my opinion, a much more user-friendly option.

jgusw

08/29/2013 at 01:55 PM

I have very little interest in the Wii U. I'm also growing a bit tired of Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. It's not that I don't still enjoy the games, but I won't buy a new console to play any of them. I won't even consider getting a Wii U until it drops to $250. I'll more than likely buy a few Wii U games until then.

08/29/2013 at 02:45 PM

Even when I had Nintendo consoles in the house, I was never super attached to those franchises to begin with. It seemed like they did a much better job attracting people outside the Nintendo fandom back in the SNES/N64 days. I think the Gamecube's failure and the Wii's ascent on the back of first-party content has made Nintendo's approach too insular and conservative to appeal to me anymore.

Super Step Contributing Writer

08/31/2013 at 04:00 PM

Yeah, I am sure WW HD + price cut will be a great boost, but maybe not enough of one.

08/31/2013 at 10:24 PM

Even if there is a great boost, I honestly don't expect it to last that long.

PixlBit