Slashed! What the Wii price drop means for Aussie gamers

After three-and-a-half years, the Wii has had its first price cut and at $100, its a huge discount. What does this hold for us and can we read into Nintendos long term plans?

When the Wii launched in December 2006, it was cheap and it was profitable. At $399, it cemented itself as the cheapest option against the then-still $600 Xbox 360 and it would be three months before the crazy expensive Playstation 3 launched. Nintendo had many angles the competition just couldn’t cover – the Wii had a sensational new control scheme and it could be picked up at an insane price. Not only that, but the hardware was cheap and profitable for Nintendo to produce, and supply was soon outstripped by demand with many Australian retailers selling out of the console very quickly.

However, Nintendo’s advantage was slowly stripped away over time. In the last 3 years, both competitors’ consoles have undergone several price drops as well as hardware revisions and increased memory storage. For the last 12 months, smart shoppers could pick up Microsoft’s console for less than the price of a Wii with almost as much as half a dozen games thrown in for good measure. Overseas, our American and British cohorts enjoyed a $50 price drop and a bonus Wii Sports Resort bundle respectively mid-last year. Australians however, were left waiting in the parking lot.

Let’s face it, despite the profit-making benefit to Nintendo, this price cut is overdue.

Even though the RRP stood at $399 for years, most major retailers took it upon themselves to offer customers their own bundles – usually three or four games and maybe an extra set of controls thrown in for under four hundred bucks. Pick up a Big W or JB Hi-Fi catalogue and you’ll still see major non-gaming specialist stores trying their bloody hardest to sell you a Wii. The latest price drop undercuts the retailers’ special offers and we anticipate a fresh round of new bundles as the big stores fight for your bucks. Expect in coming months to be able to pick up a Wii with a bonus third-party game for the asking price of $300-350. Any bundles from Nintendo beyond the already packed-in Wii Sports are probably out of the question, and we doubt we’ll see any official bundles for the rest of the Wii’s sales life.

Alas, today’s news that Nintendo Australia is cutting a quarter of its launch price tag tomorrow is welcome indeed. The new price is across the board too – the hot new black Wii also enjoys the discount. Will gamers and families snatch up the tasty new offer? After three years, it’s easy to say the Nintendo faithful have had their consoles for a while, and the Wii is a huge hit with families and non-traditional gaming audiences. The customers most likely to pick one up tomorrow include those sitting on the fence about the purchase, or owners of other consoles looking to upgrade their living rooms with a second console. The Wii is a winner at parties, so even the most defiant detractors of the console are likely to see merit in having their own Wii hooked up to the TV at home. Of course, there are geeks like myself who see the new price as a perfect justification to get a second Wii console for their household – and now that we have access to the svelte new black Wii, that kind of self-indulgent luxury is an even more appealing idea.

But here’s the kicker. Whilst a price cut is fantastic for gamers, it isn’t exactly a necessary move for Nintendo to stay in the market. Could the price cut be an indication of things afoot for Nintendo’s long term strategy? After 3 years, the Wii isn’t exactly new and at this stage in any console’s lifecycle, we start to look towards new progressions in hardware. Many gamers are still speculating on a successor to the console, either a ’Wii 2’ or an upgraded ’Wii HD’ with improved graphic output capabilities. If Nintendo was to announce a new console in the next few months, then a price cut now would bring Australia into line with other countries where the console is already discounted, and be the first step in whittling down stocks held of the Wii console. It’s best not to speculate, but with the E3 conference in the US just two months away, a price drop now would fit the pattern of an upcoming major announcement.

New console or not, we’re still plenty happy with the Wii just as it is, and hope that any gamers holding out on the little beauty are compelled to pick one up.