Price Cut for PS3; Xbox 360 Ported to Wii
by John Paczkowski
Posted on September 24, 2009 at 5:01 AM PT
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata likes to say that game console price cuts aren’t the cure-alls many believe them to be. “People often talk about the price cut as if it’s an almighty weapon,” he said this past summer. “The fact of the matter is what a price cut can do is rather limited….At the time of the price cut, we see a momentary spike in sales, but usually that cannot sustain its momentum and [sales] come down to below the price cut level.”
That said, Nintendo is cutting the price of its Wii videogame system by $50 in hopes of growing the market for the popular device as we head into the winter holidays. On Sunday, the company will begin peddling the Wii at a suggested retail price of $199.99.
The new price is the first reduction since the console launched in November 2006 and follows similar price cuts by two rivals, Sony’s (SNE) PS3 and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Xbox 360.
All three are hoping they’ll attract recession-addled gamers into the market, and according to Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, they’ve got decent shot at it. “Our data shows in the U.S. alone there are 50 million consumers who are interested in playing videogames but they haven’t yet done so,” Fils-Aime told The Wall Street Journal. “They are waiting for product innovation or a slightly better value.”
