The Wii U Is Not Expensive, Lets Break Down The Prices Against The PS3 & 360

Since the Wii U Press Conference wrapped up last Thursday, I have heard some complaints across the internet by gamers and journalists that the Wii U is too expensive. We here at Playeressence.com could not disagree more. We actually think the price is just right for what you get.

[cyclonus007]

"Not expensive"?

There's a $150 Wii U controller that says otherwise.

[Hatsune-Miku]

The Wii u is rubbish and obsolete. It doesn't play DVDs or blu ray. The console is too expensive and it would be a better deal to get a ps3 or vita.its barely more powerful than a 7 year old console the xbox 360 and it has a control pad with a 10 year tech screen so the asking price for it is ridiculously too high.

The console is weak so one would expect there to be amazing software to back it up but it barely has any coming on release and a few months after. The older ps3 has more exclusive and unique games on the horizon due to be release more than the Wii u next year

[Gazondaily]

What are you on about? Have you seen the launch line-up for the Wii U?

Furthermore, focusing just on the raw specs of the console is missing the point. Nintendo could deliver some amazing gaming experiences and really utilise the unique controller. I for one, am actually quite excited. Even the prospect of taking the game off-screen and playing on my controller sounds brilliant.

Your view is cearly short-sighted. There is a lot of potential for the Wii U to deliver and whilst it, most likely, won't be comparable to the PS4/Nextbox in terms of specs, it may benefit from some amazing gaming experiences.

Don't be so quick to judge.

[ALLWRONG]

Worried much Hatsune-Miku?

You should be. 3 times the power of 360/PS3 and for the same price.

[gaffyh]

@ALLWRONG - You're all wrong.

[Knushwood Butt]

@ Septic

Yes, and it's meh.

Ports of PS360 games long after they have already been launched on other platforms.

Oh yeah, Zombi U and another Mario game.

[AO1JMM]

Your opinion is rubbish. The PS3 is last gen and is "obsolete" by your definition.

-1 for trolling.

[fermcr]

Wii U is not expensive. It's the dam games that are expensive. WiiU, PS3 and X360 games are way to expensive.

[AsheXII]

That controller is actually a tablet that you get along with a console.

[cyclonus007]

Can that tablet be used for anything other than playing WiiU games?

If so, thats's great.

If not, all MS & Sony have to do to overshadow the Wii U is offer iPad & Android tablet support to their new systems. Something they are both already working on.

[Sanquine90]

I think the wii U will flourish. I already pre-ordered and i hope that many gamers will follow. It is a shame that the wii U is doing so well and another device which is love is struggeling ( the vita)

[bothebo]

The Wii U is doing well? Where are you getting this from?

[Urbz7870]

Wii u sold out within 48HRs @gamestop and there sold out at most online stores too. .

Wii u sold out online.
http://www.joystiq.com/2012...

Wii u sells out in 48hrs link
http://n4g.com/news/1082835...

[bothebo]

Okay. However, you don't know how many consoles were actually sold. If I recall correctly the Vita sold out in America.

http://www.playstationlifes...

So again, I'll ask the question. Is the Wii U doing well? You're answer: wait about a year.

[Sanquine90]

From the Shops who are stating the wii U is sold out. Thats all. But we will see:) I hope all consoles will flourish. Also my shiny vita:D If you are a gamer you want all consoles to become strong and sell a lot. War against mobile gaming ! ( handheld gaming is diffirent)

[Father__Merrin]

the vita is struggling like the 3ds was before price cut, once vitas price is cut along with cheaper memory options its sales will increase, not 3ds levels but will increase never the less

[metroid32]

I agree the wiiu is a DX11/opengl 4.1 capable console with a GPGPU has EDRAM shared across the gpu/cpu and supports compute shader 11 enough said i think.

And a tablet controller that is just amazing for off screen web browsing or gaming wow.

U can use 1 of 3 storage mediums all 3rd party so no need to worry about getting cheap high performance storage as thats all their i'm very pleased with wiiu its a next gen console with the best of everything.

[sarlucic]

dx11? xD

[ninjabake]

Yeah its more like 10.1 equivalent but either way they can't use Microsoft's API so there is no directX compatibility technically.

[doogiebear]

The touch screen on the wii u pad isn't even multitouch. Just saying.

[metroid32]

Multi touch is invented for gaming on phones and ipads ect no dedicated buttons thats why its needed when you have joysticks and buttons multi touch is not ever going to be used ???? Hmmmm u can still touch and drag with single touch and its super sensitive on 3ds it never fails to pick up even the slightest touch due to nintendo tweaking hardware as always.

[KonaBro]

So much damage control. Yes, for a "next-gen" that has 2005-2006 tech in it, $300 is expensive.

[Shok]

Didn't know 2 gigs of RAM and a GPGPU was 2005-06 tech xD

[vortis]

Yeah, it is.

Except, the GPU is more like 2008.

[metroid32]

Its 2011/2012 and future tech all in 1 that's the truth.

2011 is the Graphics tech/2012 is the CPU tech and future tech is the whole concept in 1 package.

£350 is what the console is worth end of with the specs and ram and games out on release i've pre-ordered mine.

[ALLWRONG]

If $300 is too expensive for what you say is "old tech" then what do you say about the prices of the tech that actually from 2005-2006?

Why does a PS3 cost the same as a Wii U when it would take 3 PS3's to match a Wii U?

[Kingnichendrix]

are you out of your mind, do you realise how powerful the cell processor is? at 3.22ghz 7 spu's and 1 reserved for the os each running at 3.2ghz you must be out of your mind thinking the wii u is 3 times more powerful, graphically the wiiu is superior in every way it does have more ram also but to say its it would take 3 ps3's to match a wii u? really... smh

[bahabeast]

i actualli want a wii u its first time i ever wanted a nintendo console from launch.

[TheKayle]

50 euro more of a ps3 for a system that have 4x the power of the ps3....yeah is cheap...who would buy a ps3 with nintendo givin all the third party games plus their exclusives?

[Gamer1982]

4X the power? Where you get his crap? Theres been countless articles on here proving it doesnt have that kind of power. Stop talking crap. Plus you gotta pay for a new console to play games you can already play on your 360/ps3. So in reality your only paying for exclusives. $299 for a few ninty exclusives is expensive. 360 launching early hurt the ps3 imagine how launching this lates gonna hurt the wiiU? remember how powerful Sony were coming into this war? The PS2 was the BIGGEST selling console of all time. Now the wii is.. This is PS2 V2 but worse..

[PirateThom]

It's OK, I asked the question above.

Apparenly 512kb vs 2GB RAM is the answer, ignoring how that RAM is being used.

Nintendo fans have been left out in the cold for a while when it comes to specs, need to give them a chance to catch up.

[WiiUalpha]

Seems you need to learn a thing or two about specs yourself.

PS3 and 360 have 512MB of RAM, not 512kb.

Also no details about specs have been released to show one way or the other how powerful it is. We just know from IBM's statement and others that it uses tech clearly more powerful than what was around in 2004 or so when they made the Cell chip.

It's also been explained many times that it would cost Nintendo more money to use tech inferior to whats in 360/PS3 at this point.

[ALLWRONG]

PS3 = 256/256 split

360 = 512

Wii U = 1gb/1gb split

3-4 times the resources = 3-4 times the power.

When people say the "Wii U is 3-4 times more power than a PS3" That's because it is.

It's obvious the MS and Sony are overcharging. The PS3/360 should be $99 based on the tech.

[Kingnichendrix]

@Allwrong again are you out of your mind do you really think more ram means a more powerful system smh you are a fool, and obviously know nothing about hardware. baka!

[superrey19]

@allwrong
Sorry but hardware does not scale that way at all. Also, ram doesn't have much to do with graphical performance. This is why consoles like the 360 and ps3 can get by with such small amounts of ram compared to, let's say, a pc which usually has 4-8gb these days. PC's need more cuz they have to run other programs and a bigger OS in the background.

[_LarZen_]

People are to focused on the hardware compared to the PS3/X360 and forgetting the new gameplay elements.

That is the reason im buying a Wii U anyways. Sure the Nintendo exclusives wil be nice but im mainly gonna get it for the new fetures it wil give me while playing games.

I bought Batman Arham City for the PS3 a while ago, but after I watched the video showing how the Wii U controller is used in that game I was sold. The game has been in my shelf since then and im probably gonna sell it.

I have been playing games since I was 8 years old, im now 34 years old and I have been around since we controlled some pixels to the glory of gfx today.

I have a high-end pc,ps3 and a x360. And yeah I like the evolution on the gfx department. But what im craving is new ways to play....becaus it has more or less been the same as I started as a child all these years ago.

So I cant wait to get my nerdy hands on the Wii U :)

[CBaoth]

Sure Nintendo fans and core gamers are looking into buying one, but it wasn't just the "Nintendo" logo that sold 50 million Wiis to soccer moms and grandmas.

It was the price and its family friendliness.

This Xmas it by far won't be the cheapest console on the market. I see MS offering the Arcade model for $149 and the PS3 slim to hit the $199 pricepoint. That's a tough sell to the casuals. No way are they going to shell out $350-400 for a WiiU and a copy of Super Mario Bros.

Ironically, while you, me, and the rest of N4G appreciate the launch library it doesn't do any favors for the parents who associate Nintendo as a "safe bet".

If Nintendo can do what MS has essentially done; attract 3rd parties to flesh out core experiences but primarily focus on family entertainment themselves, they'll do great this gen. Give Zelda and Metroid a core focus, and let their other IPs retain that family friendliness they've cultivated the past 20 years.

[Gamer1982]

Them 360 and ps3 prices are inflated on that site to try prove a point Xbox 4gb is 185 on Amazon and PS3 160 is 239.

[r21]

Looks like its the wii u's turn to be under scrutiny. Last it was 3DS then vita now wii u.

[VverdugovV]

The doom articles are gonna be here for a while. Wait until the PS4 gets announced.

[r21]

Ah doom articles, they'll never stop coming up, will they?

[JAM_brz]

What I think its Nintendo always have the balls to try inovate. And you purchase a console not just for specs, but for fun too... and for what U is offering, I think its not expensive.

[paulandy]

What I want to know is, what are the costs if this is to be a family console? I have two kids, they will need a controller as well as me, how much will that cost?

[paulandy]

How can someone disagree with a question?

[Gazondaily]

How can someone disagree with a question asking how someone can disagree with a question? FML

[WiiUalpha]

I'd say the disgrees are from people who know how easy it is to find the price of Wii remotes. Just look at gamestops site or any other place that sales games. Wii remotes if you do not already own any from Wii are around 39.99 new.

[PirateThom]

I have no doubt once the new Microsoft and Sony consoles release, it will no longer be about specs from Nintendo fans but "fun", ignoring this sort of nonsense that has been going on when games only look marginally better than the PS3/360 versions.

[WiiUalpha]

The only people talking about specs are guys like you. Sony fans seem to be the only ones overly concerned with specs.

They seem desperate to do some damage control and try to prove to everyone and themselves that PS3 is still relevant some how even though it being the most powerful was the reason quoted time and time again for owning on.

Now that we know it isnt any more you guys are falling all over yourselves to say it doesnt matter and that Nintendo fans are now suddenly concerned with them. Yet its only in defense of people like you trying to claim that a GPGPU is from 2005 or 2gigs of RAM is 2005 when your console of choice has to split 512MB between CPU,GPU, and OS.

Just last week most Sony fans on this site were saying that the PS3 still has a few years left yet when Wii U gets announced its already outdated. It's not Nintendo fans that seem to be the only one having issues understanding specs

[Knushwood Butt]

Actually, most of the loyal Nintendo fans are talking about the specs.

Oddly enough, they seem to have gone quite about NFC all of a sudden since it became apparent that there's little support for it.

[THC CELL]

I will continue to save for ps4
The Wii u looks good but tbh the vita and ps3 still is too good to give up right now

[ninjabake]

Current Gen price for a next-gen system. That point alone proves it isn't overpriced.

[ipe]

Yes it is, deluxe model that is only worth it, shouldnt be more than 300.
Ancient 3 core cpu, mid range gpu, 1gb ram for games, 30gb storage , no blu ray is not worth 350. Whine all u want but when ps4 720 destroy it in specs under 400 u ll sing different song. 360 started at 299.
Consoles re not about specs??

Yes ey re , there re tens of million of people who prefer mid range solution(thats not pc) for exclusives and multiplats till cc 2018.

[dcortz2027]

The Wii U is overpriced current gen technology. I wouldn't even pay $200 for the console that will be obsolete once the PS4 and the Xbox 3 launch.

[ChunkyLover53]

Wii U is powerful and $299-$349 at launch for a new console is pretty damn good. Nintendo has some of the best exclusives around and they have some intense fans. Its the core gamer's that are the early adopters. When I heard of the Wii U and people were speculating the price, I said it'd need a $299-$350 price point and we got both of those.

I suspect they'll drop the price $50 across the board when the next Microsoft and Sony consoles launch, those launches will come just in time for Nintendo's big hitters like Smash Brothers, Metroid and Zelda.

[Father__Merrin]

the wiiU isnt that much more impressive than ps360 - most of the games will be availiable on ps360 anyways. i dont think its too expensive probably average imo but it will be costly for many as its not a family friendly price point anymore

[callahan09]

@ People comparing the RAM to "mobile phone RAM" ... uh, just so we're all clear here, the newest iPad (version 3) and the iPhone 5 are both at 1 GB RAM total. Concrete data is hard to find, but it seems that over 256MB is utilized by the OS. So there is only about 3/4 of a gig available for apps. And that doesn't count anything like multitasking, if you want to go from a game you're playing on your iPad to the web browser, send a message to a friend, read an e-mail, and go to another app for a minute, that's all going to eat into the RAM, and might even cause the game to crash and require a relaunch when you go to switch back to it.

The Wii U has 1 GB RAM available to developers, because all non-gaming applications (including the OS) run off of 1 GB of dedicated system memory. So the Wii U actually has significantly more memory available for games.

[WitWolfy]

I am curious to buy a WiiU I'll admit it, but I'd rather buy this tech once the modders had they're way with it. I Would much love to see this device cracked and running XBMC.

[josephayal]

WII- U Worth every cent

[Urbz7870]

I think the wii u has potential to succeed like the wii did. I plan to pick up the Wii U Deluxe sum time in march.

[wiiu_peeu]

Put it like this its not too expensive for the ppl that dont own a ps3/or xbox but it is too expensive for the ones that do because to us its not offering any advancement in gaming that we dont already have.

[wiiu_peeu]

Some ppl on here really think that gpgpu's are some crazy super modern advanced tech ummmmm gpgpus have been in use for years and come in all shapes and forms so Nintendo saying they use a gpgpu doesnt say much. Just thought id point that out bcus i see ppl on here throwing that out as if it makes the wii u super advanced.

However the added ram sure is a good thing.

[Digimortal]

Man all these people bitching and crying about console specs. If you honestly care about specs that much, you should not be gaming on a console then. Now as for Nintendo selling the Wii U at a 300 price tag. That is NOT expensive at all. Doesn't matter on the tech that is inside the Wii U which he hardly know anything about to be honest except going off what Dev's have said or rumors that have been going around the internet. Yet when i hear people say "Oh the launch titles are already out for the PS3 and 360, why buy a Wii U?" Well how do you explain when the 360 launched, that 90% of the games on Launch day were ports that were on the xbox and ps2? So does that mean the Xbox 360 was on par with the Original xbox with HD tossed in the mix? Well god damn, yet we finally got to see just how good the 360 and PS3 could do over the years. The Wii U will be no different. After the first year or 2 is when you will start to see the system pushing that Next Gen feel.

It's like people completely forgot how Nintendo does there home consoles. It's like lets ignore the past. News flash people Nintendo will never ever change the way they create there systems. They will never release a console or handheld that has Superior tech in it. Also, they never compete with Microsoft or Sony. They do things there own way. One of the man reasons why Nintendo shines over Microsoft and Sony. Not saying Microsoft or Sony suck, god no but just saying how Nintendo can make the smart choices at times while Microsoft and Sony don't take that approach. That might come next gen but i doubt it. Yet we will have to wait and see.

Now as for Next gen from Microsoft and Sony. I lost complete interest in these companies to be honest. This generation alone was prob the most boring-est generation I've took part in. Wii U will only be the next gen console i will own. Yes you are right, i don't even know what Microsoft and Sony are doing for there next gen consoles. Yet i don't even care what they bring to the table.

[Raider69]

You fanboys prepare yourselfs for paying high price for a PS4 and the new xbox durango.Want powerful machines?Then prepare $500 to $600 for new tech by SONY and M$!The Wii U is just price right on the two existence versions,Nintendo is about fun and innovation let Sony and M$ eat them selfs for graphics power when that does not matter to have fun!If Nintendo can get out with games running smooth 30-60fps even at 720p im sold!People that are telling that the Wii U haves the same power than a 360 and PS3 are just fanboys, dont forget that the majority of the games on this systems dont even run at stable 30 fps and 720p,its always trades like better framerates for screen tearing and even so you end up getting deeps on the framerate its never a full 30fps experience on the 360 and PS3.Dont forget that this first batch of games on the wii u are ports or games developed in record times and they already achieve the same quality of the other versions on the market.When devs start building from ground up on the Wii U the diference will be very noticible.

[persona4rise]

har har har har to the haters stay in your own section

[persona4rise]

and one of the main reasons its not expensive is because even if the tech inside is only slightly more powerful than that of ps3 or 360 THEY COST MORE AT LAUNCH. so with the Wii u being MORE POWERFUL and being able to do MORE than they can AT LAUNCH and it costs less? some people are just stupid...