If 3DS Needed a Price Cut, Wii U Can’t Survive Without One

GenGAME writes: "Bad news all around for Nintendo’s Wii U today: in the last three months, the system only managed to ship 160,000 units, which indicates that stock from previous months is still sitting on store shelves, and retailers everywhere have dropped the Wii U Basic Set entirely. It’s in significantly worse shape than Nintendo’s last new piece of hardware, the Nintendo 3DS, which by this point in its life had already seen a 32% price cut from $250 to $170.

"Of course, 3DS has since turned around, but we can’t ignore the role that price cut must have played in its resurgence. No matter how you spin it, a $170 system is going to sell more units than a $250 system, regardless of the games it comes with. I don’t think we can simply say “3DS sold because of software, so Wii U will, too.” It’s not that simple."

[legendoflex]

3DS had sold more units in two quarters than Wii U has in three... including one holiday quarter. If it needed a price cut, Wii U is drastically overdue.

[gamer42]

I'll say $50 off both bundles is good it sets the deluxe bundle $100 lower than PS4 and basic bundle $150. If they do this by the holidays along with Mario 3D, Sonic, DKC, and WWHD we'll see WiiU sales skyrocket from where they are now and maybe we'll see an ambassador program for early adopters. It's a win- win for everyone!.

[PopRocks359]

My thought is they are trying to weed out the Basic model first. I feel like once those are out of stock Nintendo's going to just make black and white Deluxe models and slash the price by at least $50.

[MasterCornholio]

I agree with you that Nintendo has to undercut the PS4 by at least 100€ if they want to remain competitive.

Edit: Nintendo in my opinion should have went with a standard Wii U with 32GBs of internal memory available in either black or white and it should have been priced at 299€ since the very beginning.

Sorry for criticizing Nintendo but i feel that they made a lot of mistakes and for their fans sake they have to correct them.

[konnerbllb]

At this point I wouldn't buy it for $299 with the new consoles on the horizon. $250 is the magic number, after all it lured me into buying the Wii.

[BOWZER35]

I was gonna wait until the price cut, but then I said screw it haha and just went ahead and got one. The idea of waiting another two months just made me obsessed with reading articles about it and looking them up on Ebay. I'm sure the same will happen with a bunch of people waiting on the x1 and ps4. We say we'll wait until the price drops we'll buy one, but we all know that's not gonna happen. There's nothing like buying a new console, and I can tell you that if your debating on waiting for the Wii U price drop, it's still worth it right now.

[ape007]

indeed, the system really does need a price cut, make the price cut shortly before holidays, promote the HELL out of your upcoming exclusives and just watch the wiiu sales ROAR

[Kydawg]

I have to say the most compelling factor of anything a consumer can buy is price, and if they could cut the price down a few notches it indeed would sell more units.

[That_Ninja_Gray_Fox]

Pssh,,This notion that Nintendo will fail and exit the hardware business is proposturous. They have such a huge fortune amased over more than 25 years in the gaming industry.Some 5,038,000,000$ i believe. Even if WiiU tanks it wont mean they do what Sega did and turn into a software company. They will fetch out newer ideas and remake another console if they so choose. Even though they are operating at a loss the can still do business. As does Sony and microsoft.

[Kydawg]

They better start soon with the next gen console, or come out with a non remake of Zelda before its too late.

[That_Ninja_Gray_Fox]

If its too late Sony would pick Nintendo up and keep those legendary titles alive like Zelda and Mario. Sh!t just look at Sonic. And he don't have nothing on Zelda and Mario.

[Kydawg]

That would be awesome! Imagine Mario and Zelda games on PS4 or PS5!

[DarkBlood]

nintendo would sooner detonate themselves then allow thier ips be on anything else. you know its true

[plmkoh]

-edit, you're right

[That_Ninja_Gray_Fox]

Thats 5 billion. Sure you dont mean 5 Trillion?

[plmkoh]

Ah don't worry, I'm seeing things.

[LOL_WUT]

The Wii U needs a price cut badly ;)

[Tewi-Inaba]

What it needs is games.
Only thing more dead than Vita is Wii U
and I guess the only thing more dead than that is OUYA

only thing more dead than that is Fez 2

[brewin]

yea they most definitely need to cut the price. it should have happened this week with pikmin coming out but they will probably wait til september or early october. and they needa deep discount, like $80-100 off. this also needs to coincide with some kind of ambassador program as well like they did with the 3ds. i for one will be pissd if they dont hook me up for sticking this ridiculous spell out. this is a time where it helps being a multi console owner. i feel bad for anyone that only has a wii u to game with.

[Pillsbury1]

When they bring it down to 199$ it will definitely sell.

[worldwidegaming]

A price drop would be effective! It would turn heads that might be willing to buy if they can get a console and some games for less than what the others are offering.

[HalfNerdHalfAmazing]

N4G got a 1001 reasons why the Wii U will fail these stories never seem to get old

[Kamuymintar]

Mr. Iwata promised to investors that Nintendo would earn one hundred billion yen in operative profit in FY2013.
A price drop prevents the practice of that commitment.
Moreover, he remembers when he dropped the price of Gamecube in Japan.
That price drop did not boost the sales at all.

[Realplaya]

People forget the 3ds didn't move without new games coming out. Everyone says price cut price cut. Why can a car dealer like Audi sale millions of cars ?
The audi is one of the most expensive vehicles on the road so surely it would not sale. Nope it's because with all the bells and whistles and other features people don't care about spending that money.

If Nintendo who just turned a profit they have to do a few things and they can't miss the boat.

1. Release their own IP's and not depend on others for help ( Third Parties)

2. Stop delaying games.

3. Release games or apps that utilize the Dual Screen.

4. Aggressively market the product. They need to get onto TV shows commercials and anything else.

Proof that price is not an issue and software is. There are millions of smartphones sold a year the reason this happens is people see the value in upgrading to a iphone 5 , galaxy 4 because the simple fact suggestive selling tells them they need it.

Sales 101 don't give the product away for free but instead educate and make aware the value of the product. If you made it something that you can't live without then it because needed value.

[legendoflex]

Pricing 101: sell at the price your market is willing to pay for the value offered.

"People forget the 3ds didn't move without new games coming out."

Even then, the 3DS is still sluggish in North America even after the 32% price drop. Do you really think it would have been better (or the same, even) if 3DS was still sitting at $250 in holiday 2011 and beyond?

[legendoflex]

What Nintendo should do: Drop the Deluxe price $100 to $250

Sure, they'd eat awful losses that would get in the way of meeting their profit commitments, but let's be honest: they're not going to make it there anyway. They're already pulling an operating loss in their first quarter.

What Nintendo might do: Drop the Deluxe price $50 to $300

This is the price everybody expected Wii U to debut at in the first place. I think it could do at least somewhat better at this price if it were marketed well.

What Nintendo likely will do: No price cut until 2014

They believe the sole factor in 3DS's improvement is its software, not getting rid of the premium on features the market didn't accept as offering significant value (3D, on-board software, etc.). I'm sure they believe this about Wii U, too. It's going to be a hard truth for them to accept.

[Realplaya]

It's still not about the price. It's about what's offered. What phone is better the galaxy s4 or the Iphone?

They both sale at around the same price so what would make a consumer pick one over the other?

It's all about what's in the box Me as a owner of the Wii U for one I don't regret my purchase but for those who haven't bought one there either A not going to buy one or B on the fence. How do you talk a person off the ledge or fence. Give them the benefit. If I was a consumer the first thing I look for is value. I don't go buy a laptop because it's powerful I buy one out of need and what it can offer.

I sold lawn care and we would basically get the it's to expensive argument then I never talked about price I told the customers what they wanted to hear I found out what drove them to want to buy and I pushed the product in terms of value over price. By the time I was done it wasn't can I come fertilize your yard for 10 dollars of what it cost but can I buy additional services.

[Darkfist]

it needs to be $99