Why? This holiday season will mark three full years for the Wii being out in the market.
Three years without a price cut of any kind is pretty darn good. You can't really ask for much more than that.
Plus, Big N has turned a profit on every Wii sold. If a $50 cut gives them an additional 50,000 sales each month, it's worth it.
150,000 consoles at $250 each = $37,500,000
200,000 consoles at $200 each = $40,000,000
The Wii will never ...
For us gamers, this rocks:
Wii ($199) + 360 Arcade ($199) + PS3 Slim ($299) = $697
Original price of PS3 = $599
You can now own all three consoles for a measly $98 more than the initial price of the PS3.
That. Is. AWESOME.
This holiday season marks the Wii's third year on the market.
Three years with no price cut of any kind is pretty darn good. You can't ask for much more than that.
I wasn't sure if Nintendo would do this, but really, they have no reason NOT to. We're coming out of a recession, the holiday season will be here very soon, their competitors slashed their prices, and Big N has turned a profit on every console sold for three years running.
For consumers, thi...
You sir, deserve some bubbles.
Why the heck is MadWorld the measuring stick for "mature" titles on Wii? It's a six-hour long, old-school brawler with black & white visuals and a heavy rap soundtrack. Of COURSE it sold niche numbers. It's a niche title.
The Wii version of RE4 sold just fine. Ditto Umbrella Chronicles.
No More Heroes sold well enough to warrant a sequel.
World at War moved a million copies or so.
HotD:Overkill turned a profit and Sega is h...
If the rumors are true about Retro making the next Starfox, then it'd be for a console, not a handheld.
This holiday will mark three years on the market for the Wii.
Three years without any significant price cut is pretty darn good. Chopping $50 on to spur sales again after an economic recession is hardly the dumbest thing Big N has never done. That honor still goes to the Virtual Boy.
“Factor 5 GmbH, which has been creating games since 1988 with its headquarters in Cologne, Germany, is entirely unrelated to Factor 5, Inc. and the circumstances surrounding Factor 5 Inc’s recent challenges.”
http://www.edge-online.com/...
"Factor 5’s USA division (Factor 5 Inc.) has officially closed its doors."
The one thing Nintendo has over Sony/Microsoft is that it has an established name for "casual gamers." FPS lovers know Halo. Casual gamers know the Wii branding.
Nugan -- I hadn't read anything about SMG2 being pretty much done. Wouldn't surprise me, but as the last one was a holiday release, it makes sense for this one to be, too. Of course, they have nothing to fill in for Brawl as an early year release, too.
Other M will probably depend on just what Nintendo has in mind for Zelda. If they want to make Zelda their marquee holiday title, then they'd definitely release Metroid earlier.
But Big N doesn't rush Zelda. As muc...
It's bad research, alright. I could understand some misunderstanding with Galaxy 2 and Other M, since they'll probably at least be holiday titles (for next year, of course).
But RS2? IGN lists it for the first quarter of next year, nowhere near holiday season:
http://wii.ign.com/objects/...
Wouldn't surprise me. Nintendo has been making a profit on every Wii that they've sold. Cutting it to $199 wouldn't be a big deal for them.
People have short memories. Look just two months ago:
http://www.gamasutra.com/ph...
No, the Wii wasn't selling what it did from the previous year. But it was still selling the most consoles. The PS3 was barely outselling the PS2...and people are somehow surprised that it has a sales spike after it is FINALLY competitively priced?
Nintendo will eventually drop the p...
I'm with Product. The Wii has its own space in the market and its own strengths, and it simply is what it is. I was a PS2 guy last gen (mainly due to GTA), and I still play mine often. But I play the Wii more.
ape007 -- Don't kid yourself. Nintendo is raking in money this gen, turning a profit on every console they've sold. There's no way in hell they'd go the Sega route to just publish games after they've had so much success. And I wouldn't get too nostalgic about previous...
Spoony -- My bad. You're correct:
http://wii.ign.com/articles...
I just edited the post...thanks for the correct info.
But yeah, I'm with you. I dig 2D games (platformer or not), period, and we're in a bit of a renaissance for them -- Brawl, Muramasa, NSMB, Paper Mario, the last Warioland...heck, they'll even make a cameo in the next NMH. World of Goo was a fav of mine for months.
Because fanboys want their console to "pwn" the competition.
It's not enough to appreciate games anymore, apparently. Even editors at reputable review sites spout fanboy nonsense:
http://ps3.ign.com/articles...
"Points? Really? This is where my mind can’t seem to make the mental leap to understand the audience. Let me explain, they already have the audience in the Wii’s installed base, what I mean to say is 'who is this game actually for?' ...I am pretty sure upon reflection that this is one of the laziest and confusing releases I’ve seen in a while from Nintendo."
Really? The author can't figure this out?
Is there an audience for 2D platform games? Yes.
I...
I don't understand the outright disdain for VGC, either.
Predicting sales numbers is like forecasting the weather -- sometimes you're dead on, sometimes you're completely off, but most of the time you're within a few degrees (and if you're predicting a blizzard, it's pretty easy to see it coming on Doppler).
The PS3 is finally priced competitively, so OF COURSE it's going to move big numbers -- we all saw this blizzard coming when the slim was announced. But price c...
I'd put Galaxy at number one, honestly.
And instead of just Corruption, the whole Metroid Prime Trilogy should be put up (the graphics in the first two still stand up).
And since graphics are one of the main points of interest for the list, one other swap I'd suggest -- Cursed Mountain for Muramasa.
I'm not sure about holiday sales. I think there were/are a chunk of gamers who wanted a PS3, but could not justify the price. It's possible that Sony could do very, very well this fall/winter.
Nintendo wants to cater to the casual crowd, but they also want to hold on to core gamers (and the cheaper price helps there). Plus, the math isn't too shabby. If a $50 cut gives maybe 50,000 more sales...
150,000 consoles at $250 = $37,500,000
200,000 consoles at $20...