Opinion - Is the price of Wii justified?

by Steven Williamson on 18 September 2006, 14:59

Tags: Nintendo Wii, Nintendo (TYO:7974), Wii

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Region locked. So what? and conclusion



Region Locked. So what?
The Wii won’t be region free and will therefore ensure that most UK gamers won’t even consider importing one at a cheaper price. This is certainly no surprise, each region has different laws relating to content and this enables Nintendo to stagger release dates across the regions. When different regions are willing to pay different amounts for consoles and games surely it’s detrimental to Nintendo to have their console unlocked . Of course we all want something cheaper if the rest of the World is getting it, but we live in rip-off Britain. If we're not used to it by now it's time we all woke up and realise that we'll always be paying more than our foreign friends whether we like it or not.

The Nintendo DS isn’t region-locked so many people aren’t sure why Nintendo have took this step with Wii. The DS is a portable system and the Wi-fi connection means that Nintendo would have shot themselves in the foot if they had locked it. DS gamers can go anywhere in the world and play against any other DS player over Wi-fi, region locking wouldn’t have made this possible. The Wii is meant for playing in the home and the arguments for region-locking make perfect commercial sense.

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Conclusion

Nintendo have predominantly concentrated on two things : Bringing great games to the masses and developing a controller that will immerse us in those games.

It’s not the all singing, all dancing multimedia system that Microsoft and Sony have developed. It’s a game’s console, and from what I've seen of it so far, Ive got no doubt that they’ve developed a console that will change the way I play and think about games. For that reason I think £180 is worth the gamble.

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HEXUS Forums :: 44 Comments

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Posted by Stoo - Mon 18 Sep 2006 15:11
I think it's a mistake, especially if Nintendo really wanted to go for the jugular and be the 2nd machine in most people's homes (thus propelling them into at least 2nd place in this round of the console war), they've effectively priced themselves out of that and into the choice between the Wii, the 360 and the PS3 for the number 1 console in a home.

The other way would have been the smart solution into rebuilding market share, but now I think they've blown that, at least for the next year, by which time both the 360 and PS3 will be running at full tilt (and with the inevitable price reductions)…

To sum up: as a single console launch price it's a great price, but if they wanted people to pick up a Wii as a 2nd console It's not going to work without a major price drop.

As good as it may be, I doubt it's got the legs on it to to split the main market on it's own..
Posted by Skillian - Mon 18 Sep 2006 15:24
Justified or not, here in the UK we'll be getting the most expensive Wii in the world, and that stings.

With £45 for and additional controller and pretty expensive games, it's not really the all-inclusive party machine I originally saw it as.
Posted by kalniel - Mon 18 Sep 2006 15:28
If it's justified, why are they selling it so much cheaper elsewhere in the world? (More than just the tax difference.)

That's my real bone of contention - value is value and I'll pay what something is worth if it cost that much to manufacture etc., but what is so different about Nintendo's delivery system that causes them to raise the prices more than MS raised the X360?
Posted by Raz316 - Mon 18 Sep 2006 15:35
on first hearing the price my thoughts were “this is an outrage!” before I went outside to throw some bricks through windows. But on reading that, yeah its true, it really isnt that bad. The region locking really isnt that big of a deal for me either, I've only ever wanted to import one game (osu! tatake! ouendan!)

Good article :)
Posted by charleski - Mon 18 Sep 2006 15:36
The US price with Wii Sports but without the nunchuk comes to £156 inc VAT. Add the nunchuk and you have £170, so not too far off.

But as I said elsewhere, £150 would have been a good break point in terms of getting non-gamers to buy it.

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