Wii Price Cut Imminent?

It’s getting to that slightly crazy time of year when what feels like hundreds of quality games arrive to tempt us in the run-up to Christmas, and the three platform holders find new ways of enticing us to purchase their goods. This week, it’s the turn of Nintendo’s Wii, with rumors of an imminent price cut.

On September 11, Kotaku stated that they had been forwarded advance retail listings from Wal-Mart indicating that the Wii will be having its first price drop in early October, although the ad failed to specify the price. Shortly afterwards, an alleged upcoming Toys ’R’ Us ad emerged, stating that the price cut would bring the Wii down to $199, a significant drop of $50. The advert also stated that this would come into effect from the end of September, earlier than initially suggested by Wal-Mart. If this is true, it suggests that an announcement could come from Nintendo during the Tokyo Game Show in a couple of weeks time. Nintendo aren’t officially at TGS this year, but they will be present at the Kyoto Cross Media Experience at the same time and would no doubt love to get the news out during the TGS buzz.

This would go against a statement made in August by Nintendo President Satoru Iwata that said that there were no plans on announcing a price drop. Nonetheless, a lot can change between early August and October, so it’s certainly a possibility - especially when you look at the recent price drops from Microsoft and Sony. Michael Pachter, the infamous industry analyst, only this week predicted that Wii sales are likely to continue declining, while Microsoft and Sony will benefit from their price cuts. With the PS3 Slim, and its attractive Blu-ray capability, priced at a competitive $299, and the Xbox 360 Elite system priced the same, the Wii is currently only $50 less than its rivals’ leadings SKUs, while offering relatively fewer features. An extra $50 drop would certainly make the system look more attractive to the average consumer, especially to those who are just after a games system rather than a media system.

With Christmas fast approaching, it would make sense for Nintendo to give the Wii a price drop, and ensure that sales would hopefully pick up for the system. Currently Wii sales have been declining with sales down 39% in August compared to the previous year, amid suggestions that this will continue for September. The Wii may have sold phenomenal amounts in the past, but it does look like a change is needed to attract new customers. As it stand, the Wii just doesn’t look as attractive an option when compared to its rivals, price-wise. In which case, I think it looks extremely likely that the Wii will be receiving a price drop very soon - certainly in time for the Christmas rush - and a well-deserved price cut at that. It should make the Christmas console wars an interesting time, thanks to some extremely competitive prices for three decent systems.

TGR says: True