Nintendo will slash the price of its Wii console by $50 on Sunday. The Wii will now cost $250. Nintendo is slashing the price to make its console more appealing to new customers. The company is also planning the release of the Wii Fit-Plus and New Super Mario Bros. games.
The Wii is the top selling gaming console in the world. Its game control senses motions in addition to buttons and levers. The new $200 Wii will ship with a remote controller, Nunchuk controller and Wii Sports software.
According to sources from Nintendo, 50 millions Americans are thinking of becoming gamers and this price-cut along with Nintendo’s new software releases will make the Wii more affordable and appealing to them.
Earlier, Sony Corp. and Microsoft slashed the prices of the consoles, raising speculations that Nintendo would follow them and cut the price of its console.
In the video game industry, price-cuts are customary after one or two years of releasing a console. This helps the console-makers to attract mass audiences who don’t want to spend more on game consoles.
In addition, the economic recession we are experiencing has also put additional strain on the video game market forcing console-makers to slash the prices. With the upcoming holiday shopping season, console-makers have to ensure that their consoles sell well. This is achieved by slashing prices. The video game industry makes most of its profits during the holiday season.
Nintendo has made the move pretty late. However, its console started off at a lower price when it was launched in 2006. With the price cut, the Wii now costs the same as Microsoft’s Xbox-360 Arcade. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Elite and Sony’s Playstation 3 now cost $300 following price cuts in the month of August.
Nintendo will launch its Wii Fit-Plus on 4th October and the New Super Mario Bros-Wii on 15th November. Nintendo is also starting a sampling tour next month. The sampling tour is expected to provide about one million gaming enthusiasts a chance to try out Nintendo’s game.
Nintendo is all set for a strong holiday season. The new Wii price, new game titles and sampling series–these three are the formula for high profits, Nintendo believes. By the end of this year, 170 third-party titles will be available for the Wii. Additionally, 150 new games will also be available for the Nintendo Ds and Dsi handheld consoles.