Wii for £120!!!?

[Mikey]

DailyTech had an article saying 'Wii CPU is clocked at 1.1 GHz and 1 MB L2 cache' but then they seemed to have removed it. It wasn't very informative except for those numbers so it doesn't really matter. This is what Nintendo has to say about the specs, not really useful but hey.

 

The graphics info I get from watching the Mario Galaxy, Brawl and Rayman videos. Though I'm not an expert (we need pedrocasilva for that) it's pretty safe to say that those graphics are impossible without making big upgrades and changes in the graphics hardware compared to the GameCube. Bottom line is, the graphics shown say that the inner hardware won't be cheapass. It's likely that $200 is the lowest they can go for launch.

 

Thanks. If the Wii is only slightly more powerful than the Xbox, then I'll be happy to be honest.

[Flaight]

The problem with all this is that it's a conflict of perception. Some see the value of microchips to be the value of the machine (hence the price tag), while others bring in other elements into the perceived value.

 

Personally, I think it's a disease of humankind today that most of us see value of a computer based purely on the value of the microchips inside. It's the extension of other "superficial" views we see today (like "the bigger the better" etc).

 

In fact, we should be complaining about how expensive Big Macs and Ferrari are, because they are ripoff, if you go purely by what makes them.

[Hero-of-Time]

I cant believe how many people are complaining over the price of the Wii. I went over to the Wii boards on G-faqs and there is like a 14 page topic on whether the price is justified. Its crazy, in my eyes if the price is anywhere between £130-£200 its a bargain.

[Jay]

http://darkzero.co.uk/news.php?newsid=9895

 

£85? I doubt we'd get it that cheap even if thats what it translates to but a £99.99 price point could happen, would certainly sell it to the non-gamers.

[DCK]

Nintendo would be making heavy losses on it that way.

 

If you'd guess prices, you'd come up with something like this:

 

Sensor $15

Disc player $15

Wifi/Bluetooth $10

Flash memory $10

Controller + nunchuck $20

Inner hardware $110

Casing/packaging $10

Profit $29.99

Total $229.99

 

Note these are production costs. This is just pure guesswork, but most prices make sense.

 

I think Nintendo wants to make profit on this one. Microsoft and most likely Sony have overpriced hardware and make losses by selling their systems a few 100 dollars under their production price (yes, even Sony).

[ShadowV7]

That article makes it just sound to cheap though.£120+ I say.

[Jay]

Nintendo would be making heavy losses on it that way.

 

If you'd guess prices, you'd come up with something like this:

 

Sensor $15

Disc player $15

Wifi/Bluetooth $10

Flash memory $10

Controller + nunchuck $20

Inner hardware $110

Casing/packaging $10

Profit $29.99

Total $229.99

 

Note these are production costs. This is just pure guesswork, but most prices make sense.

 

I think Nintendo wants to make profit on this one. Microsoft and most likely Sony have overpriced hardware and make losses by selling their systems a few 100 dollars under their production price (yes, even Sony).

 

Not really, the GC was £130 including packaging on Day One and they made a profit on that - The Wii hardware is technically not significantly more powerful than the GC hardware and given the fact that the GC hardware is 5 years old it means it will be cheap. Nintendo make profitable hardware, inspite of poor sales of their last two home systems they've still made a profit. A £99.99 price tag would not surprise me one bit.

[DCK]

Despite the fact that it will be significantly more powerful (come on, you have seen Mario Galaxy, right) and features far more new technology than you think, you musn't forget the Wii has motion sensing, wireless hardware, a bigger disc player and more stuff to take care off. Anything below a hundred pounds seems out of the question to me, unless Nintendo is willing to take a loss.

[Shyguy]

the thing people misunderstand is that Nintendo will buy in bulk, and get a discound, its amazing what buying 6 Million of 1 componant will give a discount on, and at £99.99 the gamecube still makes cash, unlike PS2/PSP which are sold at a major loss (PSP mostly)

[Cubechris]

£170 I say.

 

So except an attractive £169.99 price point.

[DiemetriX]

What about?

 

Sensor $15

Disc player $15

Wifi/Bluetooth $10

Flash memory $10

Controller + nunchuck $20

Inner hardware $110

Casing/packaging $10

Total $199.99

 

 

No loss. no proffit.

 

360s are sold with loss. And I bet the PS3 will also be sold with loss.

[Phube]

What about?

 

Sensor $15

Disc player $15

Wifi/Bluetooth $10

Flash memory $10

Controller + nunchuck $20

Inner hardware $110

Casing/packaging $10

Total $199.99

 

No loss. no proffit.

 

360s are sold with loss. And I bet the PS3 will also be sold with loss.

 

Because Nintendo are a real company that surprisingly likes to make a profit, unlike MS or Sony who are trying to be a brand in gaming (i.e. they make all their money elsewhere!!)

[DiemetriX]

But maybe Nintendo want's to do things differently this time.

Nintendo will make loads of money of the VC and their games anyway.

 

The lower the price is. The more likely Nintendo is to sell a Wii to every gamer.

[DCK]

It really depends. I sort of expect Nintendo to go for it at launch and just sell it without making profit. They really have no other option if Microsoft is willing to make heavy losses over selling their 360s. On the other hand, Nintendo could be ignorant and just go for the profit despite selling less Wii. It's better to do that in the short term, but over a long run I think making a killer launch is better.

 

If Microsoft lowers their prices, the Wii is bound to go for lower than $200 anyway, so no worries here.

[JimmyPage]

Nintendo have always made a profit on consoles, this should be no different because they havn't bothered matching the others spec-wise. They will be able to charge under £200 for a profit, and that is a very important price point. However it will sell cheaper than that, Cube was going to retail at £169, then was dropped to £129, so i'm expecting anything between £149 and £169, that is, if they don't screw us over... hah!