What will/should the WiiU cost at launch and why?

[El Duderino]

So Nintendo is dropping the 3DS price very early due to a disappointing launch... they had to few good games... the price was quite high... and many people might still be happy with their DS (and maybe they made to many versions of that so people who just upgrades within the last year or so don't want to dish out more money).

Will this effect Nintendos decision on pricing the WiiU? Will they think people will buy it at a high price and without a killerapp (Wiisports) just cause its new and shiny and the Wii did so well? Will people really accept this as a next gen console that is worth more money or see it as a upgraded Wii (which the name sorta implies) that is equal to a 360 with kinect or a PS3 with move?

I personally think 400$ is the absolute max and by the time it comes out you will be able to get a new 360 with kinect and maybe a game for 250$... so Nintendo could have a hard time... 250$ is the lowest they can possibly go and they would do really great with that price... but thats very unlikely... my guess is 300$-350$... 300$ being the better option for them... whats just as important (probably more important) is weather they have a killer game that gets everyone excited like Wii Sports where everyone who plays it with their friends has a great time and wants their own... I bet lots of people who only played Wii with friends for Sports, Kart and Brawl will wait and see for quite some time anyway, so if people perceive it as just a Wii1.5 (like the 3DS currently looks like a DS1.5) they might have problems...

[Luinil]

the console itself is not what will be expensive, it will launch at 250. the controllers will be the big price... if you can use 4 of them, then you will possibly need 3 more of them... and that means 60-90 per extra controller...

[Mako]

Nintendo has learned from their mistakes with the 3DS. They will most likely sell the WiiU at a loss from the start to get it into more people's houses. They have enough money from the DS/ Wii to last them a long time. They can afford to sell consuls at a loss now and make up the profits from their great software. This way they will be more competitive against Sony and Microsofts current consoles until they release their next console and Nintendo is left behind again... I'm going to say $250...

[skeezer]

I believe Nintendo already confirmed that one WiiU can only support one tablet. But the tablet itself will be expensive, so I believe it definitely wont be the same price at launch as the Wii. I expect 299-399 price and I honestly believe Nintendo wont sell this at a loss.

A 299 price would be fine, 349 would be ok, 399 would be too high.

[El Duderino]

@ Lui: yeah I think skeet is right and Nintendo has already stated that it will run with only one tablet and 3 or 4 wiimotes depending on the game...

still the tablet won't be that cheap... another question is will it have a harddrive?... perhaps they will have a premium version with a HDD and a standard version without... but even the standard version should at least have 4gig inside... else they can't properly commit to making a decent online service... which they really need to catch up to...

can't believe people here think Nintendo will sell it at a loss... they where especially proud of that with the Wii... if they started the 3DS at 250$ and can still sell it at a profit (at least I strongly assume that) at 180$ I see little to no chance it will sell at 250$... 300$ is the lowest I see them going... and the closer they go to 400$ the harder it will be for them to make it as popular as the Wii...

[skeezer]

@ Lui: yeah I think skeet is right and Nintendo has already stated that it will run with only one tablet and 3 or 4 wiimotes depending on the game...

still the tablet won't be that cheap... another question is will it have a harddrive?... perhaps they will have a premium version with a HDD and a standard version without... but even the standard version should at least have 4gig inside... else they can't properly commit to making a decent online service... which they really need to catch up to...

can't believe people here think Nintendo will sell it at a loss... they where especially proud of that with the Wii... if they started the 3DS at 250$ and can still sell it at a profit (at least I strongly assume that) at 180$ I see little to no chance it will sell at 250$... 300$ is the lowest I see them going... and the closer they go to 400$ the harder it will be for them to make it as popular as the Wii...

I also believe that it has been confirmed that the WiiU will not have a HDD.

[El Duderino]

^^ Yeah that's what I was thinking... guess they are going to half-ass their online again... greedy bastards...

[Saki]

It won't come with an HDD but it supports External HDD. The online sounds like it's gonna be shit and it's confirmed that it CAN support TWO tablets. If it will is a whole other story.

Anyways, you've all made good points I agree with most. I think $250 would be awesome but not likely. $300-$400 is what I see happening but $400 is too damn much. I will assume they're learning a lot with 3DS. Spring is a dumbass time to launch a system so WiiU SHOULD not come out until the holiday 2012. They can take this time to add some features to that tablet like multitouch and shit. Porting over some of those iOS games would benefit it a lot.

[El Duderino]

^^ Supporting two tablet controllers is news to me... should allow for additional developer creativity... BUT... we all know that a second one will be quite pricey so (at least initially) developers can't be sure if they are reaching enough WiiU owners or if its better to build around tablet and Wiimote multiplayer...
if it does become standard to own two that would drive up the price for the full WiiU experience though... but it shouldn't hurt Nintendo that much since customers usually only see the initial price if later upgrades are a one time thing and not way to overpriced (looks at Wiimotes plus nunchucks plus plus addons)... ok maybe Nintendo is just being greedy and trying to sell peripherals again...

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