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Nintendo cuts price of Wii U video game console

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© 2013 AFP

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3D sucked, glad to see it go

0 ( +1 / -1 )

With constant marketing ploys on Xbox and PS4, these may be too little, too late.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As Long as WiiU has no good games, making it cheaper will still not help.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Nintendo has one of the strongest and most diverse video game lineups

Hahhhaha - true in a sense - one of 3 - and you're coming 3rd

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Too bad Nintendo decided to go with region locks, or I could be whipping up support with the import games I sell. Guess I'll keep promoting Sony's platforms since they don't care if some fan in the US wants to import a Japanese game or two, and keeps their systems region free.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

They haven't addressed the main problem of the Wii-U. The systems are too similar, without the game pad, and the Wii-U has less games; they need new IP that is Wii-U specific.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Region lock on 3DS is why I didnt buy it. I dont want to pay to import English language games, and I want to be able to buy games in airports for whatever mobile device I'm carrying. I also do not want to be forced to use a Japanese language online store.

Sony lets me use the US Store, a full English language OS/Store I buy the PSN credit from US Amazon (doesn't check billing address), and games from any country.

XBOX is fine for imports from HK, since the JP Console plays English languag 'Asian' editions of games, but half the UI and the entire store is in Japanese, which means I never buy through its downloads portal. Plus XBOX Gold is stupidly overpriced compared to PSN+

1 ( +2 / -1 )

According to Wired magazine the world-wide sales in total for the WiiU (since launch) were 90, 000 units. In Japan only 30 000 units were sold, the US and Europe around 25 000 units each and only 10 000 units in Asia/Pacific.

A price drop of US$50 may not be enough.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Region lock is the big reason I did not purchase. Most of the games I wish to play aren't in english.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Plus XBOX Gold is stupidly overpriced compared to PSN Plus

How much do you pay for each?

According to Wired magazine the world-wide sales in total for the WiiU (since launch) were 90, 000 units. In Japan only 30 000 units were sold, the US and Europe around 25 000 units each and only 10 000 units in Asia/Pacific.

That's just the last financial quarter, not since launch.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-08-28-wii-u-price-cut-announced

"The Wii U price cut is welcome. Nintendo shifted just 160,000 Wii U consoles worldwide - 90,000 in Japan, 60,000 in North America and 10,000 in Europe and Australia, during its last financial quarter. During that period a paltry 1.03 million Wii U games were sold. Wii U has now sold an abysmal 3.61 million units worldwide."

(Japan 1.01 Million, N. America 1.58 M, Other 1.02 M)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Wow! I bet all the 'otaku' who raced out and bought the new consol will be peeved. But, Sony did the same thing with their new console. You have to ask yourself, if these companies can afford to cut 15-30% off the price of the consoles and still maintain a profit, how much are they overcharging in the first place? Obviously, they are just ripping people off! And, how about the games? What is their mark up on games? 500%? 1,000%? No wonder cracking consoles and downloading games is so popular. These companies and their greed are their own worst enemy.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Disillusioned

Console hardware is usually sold at a loss, at least for the first few years of production.. Please Google "consoles sold at loss"

The money is made on the games and via fees levied on the media sold in the online Appstores. Later in a console's lifecycle companies can turn a profit on the consoles, but often they reduce the price at the same time. For example as manufacturing processes become more mainstream as the chips they used become 2-3 generations old. Or as consoles become simplified during later revisions (i.e. dropping unused functionality and the associated hardware (backwards compatibility via h/w) various output ports or unused expansion slots; via reducing cooling requirements by updating the chipsets, or manufacturing costs via sticking he entire console on one PCB on later editions.

As stated above, the money is usually made back via a licensing fee on every game sold, an AppStore type fee (i.e.. for XBOX marketplace, PSN purchases), or as part of the game publisher's purchase of proprietary media (e.g. cartridges) that are bought from the console manufacturer (and usually can be returned for a partial refund if units are unsold).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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