Nintendo isn't ready to open up about its Wii U pricing strategy, but president Satoru Iwata has said you won't be getting the new console on the cheap.
The exec wouldn't put a ballpark price on the upcoming console when quizzed by the London Evening Standard, but did admit: "This is not going to be cheap."
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said earlier this week that the newly announced console will offer consumers "fantastic value" for money and be "competitively" priced with PS3 and Xbox 360.
Wii U's set to go on sale between April next year and the end of 2012. CVG went hands-on with it last night in LA. See what we thought here.
Comments
41 comments so far...
groble on 10 Jun '11 said:
looks like another nintendo console I'll be giving a miss.
That makes it every nintendo console I've missed.
svd_grasshopper on 10 Jun '11 said:
a high priced nintendo console is a non-starter.
sorry nintendo. can live without that gimmicky controller...
give me a classic controller and mario any day.
sakaspuds on 10 Jun '11 said:
sub £250, a wii-u controller and wiimote+ with a game or 2, its a deal, i'll preorder
rbt2 on 10 Jun '11 said:
By cheap he might mean 'not Wii cheap', i.e definitely not sub 200 quid launch price.
I'll stick to my prediction of a £299.99 RRP which with the tablet controller tech ain't exorbitant imo.
boskersrevenge on 10 Jun '11 said:
If Nintendo said "it's free and you get blow jobs and candy too" people would still moan.
Things are still too early to make judgements or criticisms. My primary Peeyoo concern is the games. Show me more games and then I'll start thinking about other things.
monkeyd_93 on 10 Jun '11 said:
is there any reason to buy this? most households already have a 360 or ps3, so no point buying third party titles on it and if they try to competitively price it, it will mean a lot of basic things found on its rivals wont be included.
i still think this is only something nintendo brought out because they realised sales were declining, and lack of development by the big names, and this is just a hardware upgrade.
pRM8 on 10 Jun '11 said:
What, you missed out on the NES, Snes and N64? They were great consoles! Even I managed to get my mum to buy me and my bro a Snes, loved that machine.
I reckon it's the tech concerning the controller that's going to make this system quite expensive though not the system itself.
Ultimately it's the games that will determine if I will purchase this, after that it's the price that will dictate when I might purchase it.
almanac2015 on 10 Jun '11 said:
Reason I bought a Wii on launch was the price. Too cheap to miss out on, so I hope I have a different idea of what is 'cheap' than Nintendo. I hope by this they're just telling us not to expect Wii-style pricing.
svd_grasshopper on 10 Jun '11 said:
that extra cash you pay for that gimmick controller would be better spent on raw power.
7 year old console graphics on a brand new console...
with ps4, 720 on the horizon with graphics to blow it away... will a touch screen controller be enough?
no wonder their share prices dropped. motion control was big for them. this controller won't be.
rbt2 on 10 Jun '11 said:
What sort of candy?
If it's American hard gums then I'm not interested.
They stick to me teeth.
Also, talking of things sticking to teeth, who's giving the blow jobs?
MD1500 on 10 Jun '11 said:
It's still early days yet.
We haven't even seen a proper game running on this thing.
A lot also depends on whether they'll include a game like Wii Sports into the package.
boskersrevenge on 10 Jun '11 said:
Gabby the gummy pensioner. Exceedingly keen yet a bit uncanny as he/she has reached an age of sagginess that it's hard to determine the sex of the creature. Afterwards you get a cup of weak squash and a digestive. The location smells like an old chip pan.
The candy is dolled out beforehand and the choices are either Parma Violets or ketamine.
ricflair on 10 Jun '11 said:
If it's not going to be cheap, maybe it will pack some punch. But yeah, cheap is pretty subjective - I hope they don't go mental though. I can't see me paying more than £250.
I think they need to get it out within 12 months.
Beetle Bum on 10 Jun '11 said:
And Nintendo will do pretty fine without you, aw poor baby.
blagger on 10 Jun '11 said:
The design is interesting on the wii u, but the price tag will kill it if set too high.
The wii was never cheap either, it was always about £80 overpriced imo which stopped me ever buying one.
It's dropped to £99 in certain stores now but the interest for the wii died ages ago for me.
£99 - £119 is what i thought the wii was worth back when it was launched.
I think the 2 new consoles we've seen are going to be overpriced, the wii u and the vita.
Well over £200 for the psp 2 is far too much money and if it's nearer £250 uk price it'll be dead very quickly.
Wait and see what happens i guess, but waiting for the proper new gaming machine's like the new xbox and ps4 sounds like a wiser investment to me.
Agent75 on 10 Jun '11 said:
If a 3DS is around £220 (without a game) in the UK, I can't see the Wii U being around the £299 mark, I'd say more closer to £399 due to the packaged controller. Nintendo should do 2 packs to make it more affordable, but without the controller, it'd be around £299 anyway. The tech is up there with the Xbox 360 and PS3, but that's virtually old tech, not forgetting the Xbox 720 and PS4 will be out soon... The hardcore (the minority) will rush out and buy it, but at such a high price, the majority (the casual gamer), will take a step back like with the 3DS which isn't selling too good due to the high price (up to 150% more than the original DS which came with a game). And too be honest, we all know what Nintendo is going to knock out games wise (same old stuff...), third party support will probably be better than ever, but don't forget that the Xbox 720 and PS4 will be able to match it.
Beetle Bum on 10 Jun '11 said:
aww a another person who cant adopt to change. changing is what life is about and if you cant adopt to it your basically dead.
originalbadboy on 10 Jun '11 said:
+ Classic controlller + Game ... and its a deal ... And I would preorder today!
shellster2 on 10 Jun '11 said:
I'll buy it regardless as I'm Nintendo's bitch
I just hope you can use more than one controller others it's a bit of a s**t idea otherwise.
justforkicks101 on 10 Jun '11 said:
3 ton is pretty much my upper limit for a console
ashadian on 10 Jun '11 said:
This Wii U will be at least £299 by which time PS3 will be £200 and X360 even cheaper.
The Wii was the biggest ripp off ever. Nintendo selling a £99 console for £180. I'm glad i never bought one cause you can count all the great Wii games on one hand. I don't enjoy waving my arms about thinking i'm playing tennis or golf etc. Motion control on Wii is s**te!!! But they did con a lot of people in believing those adverts of ppl having great fun.
Most people i know hardly even use their Wii now except for kids maybe.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 10 Jun '11 said:
Did they copy THQ's game called Udraw then just added a U after the Wii ?
I'm not getting it with that controller and I don't care how good Zelda will be in HD.
rbt2 on 10 Jun '11 said:
I know people are concerned about the weight of the controller but I can't see it being that heavy.
Beetle Bum on 10 Jun '11 said:
this console will be £350 max at first retail, but people will sell this on ebay for £89425729825.99 when the console is released and stocks are low.
Jcs1984 on 10 Jun '11 said:
For me the thing that will decide if I buy a wii u cost of a replacement controller if the original one breaks, battery life of the controller and games.
I believe a nintendo representative at e3 said that the controller won't be sold separately so what happens if the original one breaks
If battery life is terrible and I'm constantly charging it it's a no go for me
But games will be the defining thing
Also i wonder if there will be a list of rules as to exactly what the devs have to include with games released to ensure they don't just release rubbish ports of old ps3 games that don't actually utilise the wii u controller elements.
JakeyBaby on 10 Jun '11 said:
"Ahhh! I'll buy it at a high price!"
...not really.
justforkicks101 on 10 Jun '11 said:
almanac2015 on 10 Jun '11 said:
Of course Nintendo won't have such rules. Ports all around!
As for the controller, they'll sell replacements for if you break yours. No doubt they just mean having two Wii-U controllers will be useless - the console will only allow for use of one at a time.
dangermouseuk78 on 10 Jun '11 said:
Same old stuff is that somehow different to the Call of duties modern warfare and the shed loads FPS's on the other consoles PS4 and 720 will be just as repetative you can predict the games these days.
Proper gaming machine what you on about The Wii plays games in fact thats pretty much all it does its a pure games machine the other two are more multimedia centres.
At the end of the day wait till the release details come along and we know more about the whole package before jumping the gun and writing it off.
YCshinobi on 10 Jun '11 said:
I remember when the PS3 launched at £425 and that price point turned a lot of people off, Nintendo won't go overboard though, I reckon £250-£300 tops.
mrlister on 10 Jun '11 said:
Why bother deciding wether or not to get a new console when it is over a year away and no proper games have been shown on it? Wait until some retail games are shown off, the price is announced and you have had a go on it! I think the potential of this controller is huge, and to write it off so soon is little more than trolling.
wwinterj on 10 Jun '11 said:
I see it been £300. Anything other than that will hurt Nintendo a lot. People already have a Xbox 360 or a PS3 or even both like myself and even if they don't these consoles are cheaper. It's not like the Wii U is any different than these two.
Personally I won't pay over £200 for a console and over £100 for a hand held. I am interested in the Wii U though and have no problem waiting for a price drop on the Wii U or Playstation Vita.
groble on 10 Jun '11 said:
You seem to be under the impression that everyone who's not willing to shell out £250+ for the latest peice of gimmicky nintendo tat is in the wrong.
I like the idea, but I don't £250+ like the idea
horngreen on 10 Jun '11 said:
Price seems fine. Certainly cheaper than the 360 and PS3 were at launch.
gmcb007 on 10 Jun '11 said:
On one side you could say the Xbox 360 and PS3 were fairly expensive when launched but on the other you could argue that the Wii U doesn't offer higher specs than the other 2 and so should be around the same price .
I think its a big risk releasing a console focused on the controller and not the techincal specifications. I can see why many are skeptical about this console.
It doesn't feel new, but more like an update.
The_Jaster on 10 Jun '11 said:
If we get this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8tUr4t4 ... r_embedded
on day one then I'll be all over it like butter on toast regardless of price.
Balladeer on 10 Jun '11 said:
Sigh. Iwata, if you want people who are upgrading from the Wii to buy it it needs to be at most £250 (which was the N64's price, and then take inflation into account). That said, I'll buy it regardless because Nintendo games.
AJDarkstar on 11 Jun '11 said:
I know it isn't Nintendo's style, but perhaps 2 SKUs could be better - one with and one without the tablet controller, perhaps giving the option for 3DS owners to use that for anything requiring the smaller screen for the time being (and make the interface similar to how the iPad hides the on-screen keyboard when using a physical one).
Either way, 250 - 300 seems very reasonable for a new console to me, and being a DS and 3DS owner, I get the benefit of a second screen - it just makes sense. Seems weird that Wii motion controls became integrated into 3DS and DS stuff is making its way to Wii U though - blurring the lines a bit. WIll offer more control options if devs are willing to be creative though (think of additional on-screen controls for Mass Effect or Fallout - would be very handy, giving almost PC-like control layouts, but you can actually see what you're getting before you press it!)
The controller is genius, and not just a gimmick.
alan666 on 11 Jun '11 said:
if it's more than £299.99 then it won't sell, it's as simple as that, ok it's got a new type of controller & on the Wii it was a new thing & different but now the PS3 has Move & the 360 has Kinect & by he time the WiiU comes out the Move & Kinect games will be in full flow, i think for it to hit the ground running it will have to be £250, but with the 3DS costing £200 at launch i cannot really see it, the thing is the WiiU doesn't really offer that much more than the Wii or Kinect or Move enabled consoles.
the WiiU needs to launch with some killer app games, ie a Mario platformer & either a Zelda or Metroid game because this it what has caused problems with the 3DS 99% of it's launch games were 3rd party ones & yes there is nothing wrong with this, in fact it's pretty darn good, but they were average at best & Street Fighter was by far the best, but it's a very limited audience, it's the games that sell a console at launch, it's as simple as that.
jay bob on 13 Jun '11 said:
LOL you people are a joke! you want a more powerful console, but you don't want to pay for it. if they make a cheap console then you'll complain that it isn't powerful enough.
Balladeer on 13 Jun '11 said:
To be fair, it'll be competing against two other powerful consoles which have had price cuts and the like.