Asda shaves £50 off Wii U Price

[Rummy]

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-03-04-asda-shears-50-off-wii-u-console-prices

 

By George! Asda has chopped £50 off both editions of the Wii U console.

 

A black 32GB Wii U with Nintendo Land now costs £249 on Asda Direct (via MCV). A white 8GB Wii U with no games costs £199.

 

 

That's one of the best new Wii U Premium Pack (32GB black Wii U with Nintendo Land) prices on the internet. SimplyGames isn't too far off with £265.

 

Last week, Zavvi temporarily lowered its Wii U Premium Pack price to £225, although it's now back up to £275.

 

Asda's Wii U Basic Pack (8GB white Wii U) price of £199 stands out as well. ShopTo is still cheaper, though, at £190.

 

The Wii U Premium Pack has a guideline RRP of £300, the Basic Pack an RRP of £250.

 

The Wii U was released in November 2012. If prices are already dropping significantly now, what will they look like this autumn when PS4 and the next Xbox are (probably) released?

 

Title says it all. What do people think? Permanent, temporary promotion? Lack of faith in the console(wanting to sell it and be done), hoping for a loss leader on games down the line?

 

Personally, I still don't want one even at that price because I'm not fussed about Nintendoland and want a premium back with the classicretropro/whateveritscalled pad in it too, and I'm not sure if my £50 would buy that and a game I want(ie MH). I digress though.

 

 

£50 price cut from ASDA, what do you folks make of it?

Edited March 5, 2013 by Rummy

[Retro_Link]

Yeah it's still too much for me tbh.

 

Once there's a decent £199 Premium bundle, I'll think about it then.

[Josh64]

None of the asdas by me have it in the entertainment section so maybe they're just trying to get rid of stock

[Helmsly]

I told myself I'd wait a year to buy a Wii U of my own, but with these new prices are tempting me to get one now.

[liger05]

It is funny that they are doing this when I havent seen a Wii U in any Asda store I have been in.

[Serebii]

None of the asdas by me have it in the entertainment section so maybe they're just trying to get rid of stock

They'd need to have stock before they can get rid of it

[Agent Gibbs]

Considering hardly any supermarkets had them in until recently i can see this as being a good thing that might see some uptake for the console, besides there will be a £100-£80 price cut before the Ps4 officially anyway i'd imagine

[Grazza]

Yeah, I think a £200 Premium would do it for me too, especially if it had Pikmin 3 in it (when that's out). I do want one, but I can't quite justify £250 on it. I gave Monster Hunter on 3DS a few goes, but the series in general really isn't for me.

 

And I don't mean to be flippant, but to me the biggest news about this is that ASDA actually stocks the Wii U!

[Josh64]

They'd need to have stock before they can get rid of it

 

Lol obviously. The ones that do have stock are trying to get rid of it. I was confused as to why the one by me had nothing Wii U related yet a whole Wii section full of new titles such as dancing abba and Kylie games.

[Sheikah]

Still nothing worth buying on it.

[Grazza]

This really makes me wonder what the wholesale price is. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but if supermarkets are starting to not want it at the wholesale price, that really is a problem.

[liger05]

This really makes me wonder what the wholesale price is. I'm not trying to be dramatic, but if supermarkets are starting to not want it at the wholesale price, that really is a problem.

 

I think I read before the wholesale price is £245

[Rummy]

Well I see no one read the Eurogamer article; but it's according to the Asda-Direct site. I can wholly support the fact that my local Asda does not have it on the shelf, nor does another one a few more miles away.

[madeinbeats]

I think I read before the wholesale price is £245

 

Wholesale prices normally vary ultimately to a finite minimum base price, depending on the volume you buy at one time. I can't imagine Zavvi were selling at a £20 loss + P&P.

[Rummy]

They'd need to have stock before they can get rid of it

 

So...you're saying they don't have stock? Based on....?

[liger05]

Wholesale prices normally vary ultimately to a finite minimum base price, depending on the volume you buy at one time. I can't imagine Zavvi were selling at a £20 loss + P&P.

 

Couldn't nintendo be covering that!

[Serebii]

So...you're saying they don't have stock? Based on....?

Based on the fact that of the 10 ASDAs I've visited since launch, none of them have stocked it.

[Zechs Merquise]

Based on the fact that of the 10 ASDAs I've visited since launch, none of them have stocked it.

 

My local Asda isn't stocking it in store, neither is my local Sainsburys. The only supermarket around here that is stocking Wii U is Tesco - and that's a half hearted effort at best!

 

I don't think this price cut will have much effect on the sales of Wii U because at the moment it's not actually in stores and people don't know it exists.

 

I think Nintendo seriously need to think about a relaunch.

[Rummy]

Based on the fact that of the 10 ASDAs I've visited since launch, none of them have stocked it.

 

Did nobody read the original link? It's barely half a page long! They're selling it through Asda Direct.

[Agent Gibbs]

Did nobody read the original link? It's barely half a page long! They're selling it through Asda Direct.

 

[Rummy]

Apparently dropping in europe too - http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/631516-wii-u/65663984

 

Yeah, gameFAQs, but was just there for daily poll and happened to see it. Apparently Gamestop.It are selling premiums for €250 - €100 less than at launch.

 

http://www.gamestop.it/WiiU/Games/30850/nintendo-wii-u-premium-pack-32-gb-black

 

(also dropped €100 off the 'regular')

 

 

Despite Nintendo's statements, does anyone think that with retailers slashing prices like this we might see an official price drop sooner over later? Still got titles like MH, Lego and Pikmin to go, though.

[Grazza]

Yeah, gameFAQs, but was just there for daily poll and happened to see it. Apparently Gamestop.It are selling premiums for €250 - €100 less than at launch.

 

I've started going there for the poll too! I voted firmly against mandatory online today!

 

Despite Nintendo's statements, does anyone think that with retailers slashing prices like this we might see an official price drop sooner over later? Still got titles like MH, Lego and Pikmin to go, though.

 

They've got to do something, or the Wii U is in danger of becoming something that retailers aren't prepared to stock. I mean, seriously, once it starts disappearing it'll be a case of "next stop: Dreamcast".

 

I still think they've got a few options available though. Maybe they could make a 3rd bundle, to replace both existing ones. 8GB of memory like the Basic Pack, but with a game included like the Premium. Basically, as little of the expensive stuff as possible. Hopefully there's a way Nintendo can make it cheap enough so that they can sell it to retailers, but not actually take a loss.

[Rummy]

They've got to do something, or the Wii U is in danger of becoming something that retailers aren't prepared to stock. I mean, seriously, once it starts disappearing it'll be a case of "next stop: Dreamcast".

 

That's my concerns on this too; this appears to be retailers decisions. If it's to sell the stock(and if it still struggles to with the cut); will they bother getting any more if/when it DOES sell?

 

Personally I'm looking at the MH3 bundle because it comes with the supermeganewclassicretropro pad and a game, which I'd rather than Nintendoland and a game at the same price. It's really still more than I'd like to pay, but I look at it as saving £50 now or in a year and it isn't that big to me atm(because I've been saving and intending to buy since Nov). I'm worried about the Wii U's success on the high street/more mainstream market than ourselves though - judging by some of these cuts there's some possible doubts by some retailers.

[liger05]

That's my concerns on this too; this appears to be retailers decisions. If it's to sell the stock(and if it still struggles to with the cut); will they bother getting any more if/when it DOES sell?

 

Personally I'm looking at the MH3 bundle because it comes with the supermeganewclassicretropro pad and a game, which I'd rather than Nintendoland and a game at the same price. It's really still more than I'd like to pay, but I look at it as saving £50 now or in a year and it isn't that big to me atm(because I've been saving and intending to buy since Nov). I'm worried about the Wii U's success on the high street/more mainstream market than ourselves though - judging by some of these cuts there's some possible doubts by some retailers.

 

That's the real key. Quite a few retailers must be have quite a lot of wii u's sitting on shelves.

[Retro_Link]

Based on the fact that of the 10 ASDAs I've visited since launch, none of them have stocked it.

Are you an ASDA spotter or something?