Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told investors that the firm are extremely wary that people will hold back from purchasing the Wii U at launch in case Nintendo decides to cut the price after a few months of the system going on sale. Hopefully Nintendo has learned a lesson from the Nintendo 3DS and that is not to launch your hardware at an overly expensive price point.
“With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch. I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. Nevertheless, we have decided to cut down the price of the Nintendo 3DS as we consider it as a necessary decision now. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers’ trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us.”
Well of course, it its not gonna be as cheap as Wii, people are gonna wanna wait for the 1st price cut to get it…
minus the it..
not really, i plan to get the WiiU on release, I got the 3DS on release, and I got the Wii on release, some people may wait for the 1st price cut, but that will defently not happen for at least 1 year, maybe more
I am in complete agreement with you. But I need a job so I can get it. X(
I got all systems on release as well, Wii-u is no exception.
i completely agree. i have them all and the wii u will be a nice addition to my nintendo family. i never wanna leave my home. is that wrong? lol
that’s what I thought too!
I’m definitely gonna wait for a price cut to be honest. There are still some amazing Wii games I don’t own yet.
The price of a system isnt the problem, its the games that are available for the system. Even with the price cut to the 3DS I have no plans on buying it until around November-December when Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 come out.
^ This. http://kotaku.com/5827331/nintendos-problem-isnt-hardwarethey-stopped-making-killer-games?utm_source=Kotaku+Newsletter&utm_campaign=ebc96c42b3-UA-142218-8&utm_medium=email
I’m not going to hold off I’ll be in line just like I was for wii…but hopefully this time I’ll actually be able to go home with the console
The Wii was the only system I camped out for. I was #7 in line at my Wal-Mart. It was one of those 24 hour ones so they let us sleep in the store 8) I’ll definitely be in line for the Wii U
right there with you! (on both accounts!) i preordered mine, but it wasnt instock when it was released, so even I (who preordered it) didn’t get it for a whole week!
can’t wait for the Wii U, the games should be brilliant. I think in order for Nintendo to encourage more to buy it, will have to have several brilliant release games, such as a main Mario game, or even Zelda. Zelda however looks unlikely since SS will be out in the next few months, and although they may be planning a new Zelda, it doesn’t seem likely to be out until 2013-2014, but you never know
More like 2016. It take more than 2 years to create a Zelda game.
IMO, so long as they put the games in the launch lineup that people Want to play, the system will sell. Period. We’ve all heard it by now: The SOFTWARE sells the HARDWARE. I understand the they make up a big chunk of the market but I could care less about the casual crowd. They’re easy. Sell the Core Crowd!
If they can provide good, original, and long-lasting games for launch, then I will buy it day one. My only problem with the 3DS so far is that there hasn’t been a title yet to keep my attention on it. Besides that, I love my 3DS.
If they release something like Pokemon Colosseum 3 or even just Pokemon Stadium 3, and with other good games on the horizon, then I will buy it at launch.
Also, as long as the console is no more than 350 dollars, then I will be fine. 400 will be pushing it, based on what launch titles they offer.
I’ll be more likely to purchase a 400 dollar console with a ton of great launch titles than I would to purchase a 350 dollar console with one or two great launch titles.
Agreed.
I’ll definitely be looking forward to buy one as long as I get to play Batman!
AGREED. I’m gonna suffer through the wait since it will release on Xbox 360 and PS3 beforehand. Man that’s gonna suck but I think it’ll be worth the wait to play it on the Wii U.
Play it twice :)
$300 may end up being my max on this console. Unless we have a Mario and Zelda at launch its very unlikely for me to want to blow upwards of $350 or even $400.
problem with the 3ds has been 3 things. and in my oppinion it wasn’t the price.
1. lack of good games (best games so far have been mostly remakes of old games)
2. no combined packs. i bought the ds with mariokart in the days. You get a small discount this way and feel better after buying it. (wii&wii sports for example; gamecube & windwaker)
3. people not sure about the 3d. it isn’t obvious to everybody how to hold the 3ds so you get the max result. this resulting in bad vision and pain in the head after playing a while.
as far as i can see it the wii u wil be better in at least the first part. games announced so far are great. I also expect more to come since a lot of genres have advantages due to the wii u
iam sceptical tho in some ways. but lets see how they will start making the wiiu better. i hope we will get an option for 4 wiiu controllers instead of the planned 2. but on the other hand .. i am afraid it will cost a lot then.
Have they confirmed that the the system will support 2 controllers? Last I heard they had the capability to but were opting out for only 1 controller 8|
I think they may be leaving that open. It would be crazy for them to shut down the capability 100%. Something tells me they will see how much people want it before turning it on for games to use.
I really hope so. Seems like such a waste not to include it. It’s practically a no brainer. Don’t quote me but I’m pretty sure that no home console has ever shipped without at least 2 controller ports. Not even the Atari 2600 8O.
i know i have seen it somewhere on twitter. but if i am correct the plan was for 2 wiiu controllers and the rest the normal wii controller. but even that wasn’t 100% sure due to costs. they will use wii controllers for most multiplayer games if i am correct. which is a shame because the wiiucontroller has multiplayer written all over it
1) I completely agree on. The lineup sucks. It is getting better, but it is still not great.
2) Not really a problem. It has built-in and free downloadable games (AR Games, Excitebike 3D, and Face Raiders).
3) This was a problem. I first saw the 3DS as a display in Best Buy. The screen was crappy, there was no real 3D effect (it was bolted down at a really bad height and angle) and it looked like crap. Then, my cousin showed me the one he bought and it looked great. I do see the problems with the narrow viewing angle especially when mixed with games that require movement of any kind. As for the headaches, I have never experienced that. Maybe I am just lucky or I just don’t play it that much.
Aside from the game lineup, I feel the the biggest problem is that (practically) no one has one. From a sales perspective, if people seen an actual 3DS with a good game, I am sure there would be more sales. Playing with my cousins 3DS pretty much sealed the deal. The Demo units just plain suck because you can’t pick it up and hold it in you hand. Most importantly, apart from the 3D, Its biggest features are the social components. It is hard to use the social parts (Streetpass, PuzzleSwap, FindMii, local multiplayer) if there is nobody to interact with. If anything, they need to double-down on the social aspect in introduce more social features like wireless and internet chat, more social games, better use of Streetpass and Mii Profiles and integration with the online features of the Wii U. If anything, there should be one Mii profile that it static across 3DS and Wii U much like my Live profile works on my PC and 360.
If I have the money and if there is good games for it at release then ill get at release (I would love to wait in line forever for that stuff :D im serious). But if it came out in Fall/Winter then I wont wait in line in the cold.
I just wish nintendo would show case games for it =/
I definitely will wait but just because I spent all my money on the 3DS and I won’t buy it until somehow I will be able to play Mario sunshine, Windwaker and paper mario 2, either through backwards compatibility or Virtual console
Solution: Get a Gamecube for dirt cheap and play to your hearts content. Heck I have Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, you could buy it from me! 8)
I’ve already got $400 reserved for it that I won’t be spending on anything else. As soon as I can pre-order it I definitely will.
May not buy it at release, but this console is way too amazing, just might be tempted!
Im honestly not buying the 3DS until either the next Pokemon Game or Mario Kart. I just want I DS with a GBA game slot so I play my GBA games without having to actually use a GBA.
And I might buy the Wii U but Ill need to save money or wait for my Bday/Christmas for one
Next Mario Kart is in December so you won’t be waiting that long
If they have some real decent games, i.e. a Mario title, on launch then it will sell. The launch titles weren’t too bad for the 3DS, but waiting so long for the big guns is a killer!
If there is good games at launch I will for sure but it at launch. But If there is nothing good I will probably hold off just untill there is something I like.
Show me a good game and give me a fair price like no more then $300 and I’ll buy the Wii U at launch. I bought the 3DS at launch because of Super Street Fighter IV and the promise of 1st-party games within a year.
I’m hoping for a launch bundle with a brand new 3D Mario game. If not, hopefully Ninty wises up and doesn’t price it higher than $350-400. If it’s more than that, there will have to to be some good launch titles to back it up.
I can’t wait for the Wii U, as it matures I’m sure developers will find genius uses for the new controller.
After what happened with the 3DS price drop, Nintendo will be looking to avoid the same with Wii U. They’ll have the price to a minimum at launch to still make a profit but not alienate consumers during a downturned economy and non-holiday season (depending on when they release it). This news is actually encouraging, meaning Nintendo will more than competitively price their next home console in order to circumvent the same fiasco with the Wii U. PS3 + Move is at least $350-$400, Nintendo will undercut that easily.
I personally don’t know why people are bitching about the 3DS price drop. Other companies have dropped console prices after customers buy them, and don’t do ANYTHING to try to make it up to the consumer. Yet Nintendo actually gives customers FREE GAMES to balance it out. I’m sorry, but they have NO reason to complain about the price drop.
Thank you for being the voice of reason I have been thinking this for so long. I got it on launch day. so great comment.
I think Sony did that with their PSP Go system. It was $249 at launch and the launch was not spectacular. Some months later the price was dropped and it was better.
I plan on Buying the Wii U on launch day and the 3DS price drop has not made me change my mind.
I agree with this, although I don’t have a 3DS, Nintendo’s loyalty to its very dedicated and hardcore fanbase is nothing short of amazing, and I will be getting this new console on opening day, no matter how long I have to wait in line, just as I did with the Wii.
Have no fear ninty I’ll have mine day one! But hopefully a lot of people pick it up early don’t want ES saying Wii U is also a waste of time.
EA bla auto correct
Yes and no. I tried to wait for a price drop and got impatient. I think it will benefit them to put off a price drop and keep pushing out “must have” exclusive titles…
I can’t say that I will buy the Wii U only because they haven’t announced any games to it. Once they start to reveal games for it, I will judge whether it’s too expensive :P Im kinda weird like that
A reasonable concern, but I know I would get mine as soon as possible.
Depends on the games really. Darksiders 2, Batman etc don’t do anything for me due to them being on other consoles.
If we have have one of the big guns on launch (Metroid? New Super Mario Bros U?) along with a one of Nintendo’s not-so-big franchises (F-Zero? Fire Emblem? Pikmin?) it would be worth picking up. As long as it’s not something like Animal Crossing (great game. Not worth buying a console for) or a mini-game-game then I’d be happy.
There’s a simple solution…Strong launch titles! If that means delaying the release then so be it. People will be a hell of a lot more likely to pick up WiiU early if it has launch games like Mario or Zelda or Metroid. I know lots of people were thinking “I’ll just wait for the 3DS to get cheaper before buying it” but part of that is because there wasn’t enough decent games to sway their decision.
I also realise Nintendo was trying to make the 3DS launch more third-party heavy to draw in more third-party interest, but that was obviously a mistake. I think first and foremost, people pick up Nintendo consoles for the awesome first-party titles, if the price isn’t too out of this world of course.
They won’t have to worry if the Wii U has sweet launch titles. Otherwise, people will be more than willing to wait.
I think they might take a loss to sell more. I don’t know if it was just a tech demo or not, but either way, they could probably get New Super Mario Bros Mii finished by launch if they work at it, since it runs on the original ending and everything. Its not quite a new game, but as a launch title it would be great.
original ending? I meant Engine. Derp.
I will be lined up at Gamestop’s Midnight release for the Wii U. Nintendo makes good things, so they are worth paying launch price for.