Nintendo Officially Cuts Wii Price in US / UK on May 15 / May 20
by Jacob Mazel, posted on 04 May 2011 / 4,152 Views
Nintendo has just announced that the Wii is getting a price cut to $150 in the USA on May 15. A new bundle, in black and white, that includes Mario Kart Wii and a racing wheel, will be sold for $150 down 25% from the $200 price point Wii officially has (although some retailers have sold Wii for $170 in recent weeks). Nintendo's full press-release is below, and VGChartz will have a look at the potential impact of the price cut shortly. The move follows the introduction of a line up of discounted software and countless Project Cafe / Wii 2 rumors. As of yet, there is no word on whether Wii will be getting a price cut outside the USA & UK although with the USA as the best Wii market, it is hard to imagine a global price cut will be far behind, particularly once Golden Week is over.
The drop to $150 marks only the second official price cut since Wii has launched in 2006, although the system has sporadically been available for $170, $150, and $125 to draw in crowds over critical holiday periods for retailers and to help Nintendo meet its fiscal year forecasts. Nintendo last cut the Wii price in the USA on September 27, 2009 from $250 to $200, roughly 18 months ago. Wii sales jumped from 140,000 units per week to 370,000 per week in the wake of the 2009 price cut, with a similar spike on a percentage basis in the USA.
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REDMOND, Wash., May 4, 2011 - Nintendo is dropping the suggested retail price of its Wii™ system to $149.99 and including a Mario™ game with the Wii hardware. Starting May 15, the newly priced Wii system will come in either black or white with the Mario Kart™ Wii game and a matching colored Wii Wheel™ accessory, replacing the previously included Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™ games.
Also on May 15, Nintendo launches the new Nintendo® Selects collection of Wii games, a set of popular games that millions of people have already experienced, at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The four must-own games in this collection are The Legend of Zelda™: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing™: City Folk, Mario™ Super Sluggers and Wii Sports, which is available for the first time as a separate software purchase. Parents and video game fans can now easily expand their library of fun, family-friendly Wii games.
"From the day it launched, Wii has let players of all ages and experience levels have fun with one another," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "The new suggested retail pricing for both the hardware and select games will help create more of these magical moments for even greater numbers of people."
With Mario Kart Wii now included with the Wii hardware, players will be able to enjoy fun go-kart racing with Mario and all his Mushroom Kingdom pals right out of the box. The Wii Remote™ Plus controller, Nunchuk™ controller and Wii Wheel included in the package will all match the hardware, meaning they will be either black or white. The new black Wii Wheel will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $9.99.
Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://wii.com.
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Reports out of Europe also suggest Nintendo will cut the Wii price to 129 Pounds in the UK on May 20. The Mario Kart bundle is also to be sold that day, along with the new budget line of software. Wii previously sold for 179 Pounds in the UK, making the drop sharper on a percentage basis than the USA price cut, although 129 Pounds is about $213 still. New reports also indicate some kind of price cut is likely throughout Europe, but EU law prevents Nintendo from setting an MSRP officially.
The question now is when / if Microsoft and Sony will cut the prices on their systems. Keep your eyes on E3!
Contact VGChartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
