What is Digg?101 Comments
- Jaq524, on 10/12/2007, -10/+122Hey, Xbox 360 for free? Playstation 3 to relaunch at $4000? Flying spaghetti monster a reality?
See? I can use question marks to say whatever the ***** I want, as long as I say my friend at Toys-R-Us told me so! - intent, on 10/12/2007, -3/+56My theory:
They didn't want to introduce the colours at launch because it may put off customers who had their favourite colour sold out. - sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -2/+53I'm holding out for the ponies and unicorns edition.
- Shaggy3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+50Yeah I'm sure Toys-R-Us managers are right at the top of the people-to-inform-first list over at Nintendo.
- xrisnothing, on 10/12/2007, -0/+36"If the PS3 has one advantage, it's that they can do seemingly infinite number of price cuts before the end of its console life-cycle."
lol - zeldafan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+34I forget where, but I remember reading Reggie talking about releasing the console only in the white so they could push out as many as possible, and once there was a good amount in stock and available they'd start with other colors.
- deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+32Another theory here...
Let's say the U.S. gets the DVD wii version shipped, as is already confirmed for Japan. Let's say they get it around Spring 07...
Surely they don't want the Wii to cost 300 bucks for the dvd version, do they? When you start approaching the $300 mark, you'll be competing with a 360 at that point. I say so, because I would assume by Q2 of next year 360 will see a price drop... it'll be around by nearly a year and a half by then.
If they can get the Wii down to 200, then they can sell the DVD version for 250. This way, they can still appeal to the casual crowd by selling even the DVD version relatively cheap. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22its not hardware it is a DVD license that raises the cost. Wii can already read DVD's they are not authorized to decrypt dvds. I believe the license raises cost about $20. So there really is not reason why a firmware update cannot be released.
- Spire3660, on 10/12/2007, -1/+21LOL
I know I ALWAYS get my secret corporate info, with millions of dollars in the balance, from a Toys R' Us manager. I used to rely exclusively on Gamestop/EB employees. Ahhhhh foolish youth - Alphabet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17The ps3 is sold for $300 below production cost, which means sony is loosing $300 for every ps3 sold. I doubt they'll cut prices anytime soon. Maybe in 4 or 5 years.
Blame the blu-ray, that sucker is adding about $500 to the production cost. - shakin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16The Wii does have the hardware to read DVDs. That's what Wii discs are. Same with the Gamecube. What they don't have is the software key to decode DVDs nor the codec to play the MPEG. Both of those, as well as the player controls, can easily be added in a software update. There is some additional cost for the license, so maybe they can make it an online purchase upgrade.
- Pic0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15why price drop? they are selling as fast as they make them
- deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15This could explain why we haven't seen those colored Wiis at E3 yet. Surely they have them. Maybe Nintendo didn't want to throw off consumers by launching the system with a bunch of different colors? Or maybe they just wanted to hold it off to keep the buzz generating come 07.
- pidge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I would like this (price drop, not colors for people on drugs) but I am really hesitant to believe anything anyone who works for a retail store has to say. I've heard some pretty crazy stories from sales people at retail stores like Bestbuy, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, Circuit City....you name it, they said it.
- dirtyharry, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Is this terribly surprising to anyone? It's not as if Nintendo has done this in the past...
- Lumiras, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Oh.........***** come on!!!!!! Do any of you seriously believe this?
This "information" comes from a Toys R' Us manager! These people rank just about neck and neck with Gamestop managers and message board fanboys in terms of credibility.
Why would Nintendo drop $50 in pure profit less than a year after the Wii has launched? The could easily sell the Wii for $300 right now and people would still be camping out for the thing. The demand is exceeding the supply greatly at the moment, and that won't change by the spring time.
I can see the other colors coming soon, but a $200 Wii this spring? Come on, use some sense here - moofree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10I bet Nintendo unbundles wii sports and drops the wii to $200.
I hope Wii sports costs less than $50 at retail.
Colored Wiimotes will be nifty. - deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10The story has just been updated (well, as of this post anyways).
Apparently, the Wii hardware has been dissected and has been reported to value at about $158 per unit, with a $199 or so wholesale price. Theoretically, Nintendo could unbundle Wii Sports and drop the Wii down to $200 as suggested and see a profit margin for each unit relatively the same... but with assumably more units sold (which in turn would mean more games, accessories purchased).
I think that's a pretty interesting thought there. Can't go right out there and say for sure Wii Sports has a value of $50, I know it has retailed at some places for that. I'd say about $30, between bargain bin $20 and full-game $50 standard.
Also, believe it or not the Wii already sells for $50 less in Japan (makes sense, I guess). - Spire3660, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The reason a DVD version would cost more is because Nintendo would have to pay a licensing fee for every DVD-Wii sold to the DVD consortium to be able to include that functionality. This is exactly why on the original XBOX, you had to buy the dongle to play DVDs on it, instead of it playing them right out of the box.
- aliengoods, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I want to put on my tinfoil hat for a minute. Wouldn't it be in Sony's best interest to release this kind of rumor? If I thought I could get a blue or black dvd Wii in 3 months, I may just wait. That doesn't benefit Nintendo, but you know Sony has to be dreading every trade journal they read which is saying how fun the Wii is and how many they've sold, all for a profit. This would be similar to Sony saying it was going to lauch the PS3 in March of last year, just to stifle XBox 360 sales(don't believe for a second they actually thought they were going to ship them that early), except with the PS3 out, they have to make up lies about their competitor's products.
I do buy the price cut in 3 months. Originally, Nintendo wanted a sub-$100 system. If they drop the price they're still making a small profit, and they're putting even more pressure on MS and Sony. - Alphateam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9Wow sounds like Apple. Re-release with new colors and features and fanboys have to buy them up....damn..guess this means I'll have to buy another Wii.
- phort99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'm not sure whether I should bury your spam or your article... *Looks at photo in article.* GAAH! I'll just bury both.
- unclefrank, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'm sure the reason Nintendo launched mono color was 2 purpose.
1. It's probably easier to pump out as many units as possible when they are all 1 color.
2. To make bank later on for the suckers who MUST have the color they want. - 13tongimp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I worked at TRU as an 'R Zone manager and let me tell you that the reps give you absolutely no useful information about upcoming system releases and the like. This smells like total BS to me.
- fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6The Marketing rep for Nintendo already said they wanted to keep it simple by just offering the white unit at launch. My guess they wanted to offer the machine at $200 originally but the manufacturing costs were alittle higher than normal so they set it to $250 and stuck in a free Wii Sports disc. (which serves two functions, 1. to get the whole family playing right out of the box and 2. to get the cost of the system to $250. ) I am sure that it helped nintendo out alot and since people were willing to pay $50 for a game and $200 for a system nintendo felt it was better just to combine them.
My guess is when the colors come out they will drop wii sports as a pack in and drop the system to $200, but this would be sometime in june or july... - GoldieTheMack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6 The Gamecube was great and all but it can't compete with the Wii at any price.
- shoop008, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Nintendo has been releasing multiple colors since the GameBoy Color.
- SteveMax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Right before the holiday season kicks in, someone says "wait, don't buy a Wii, it will be cheaper and will come in colours in just a few weeks!". Sounds like a good deal of FUD from the competition...
- nekaidesigns, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The big N has been saying "works for apple, it'll work for us" quite a bit lately - not too surprising, it's working quite well.
- rampy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5hehehe ... just like this webcomic
http://www.myextralife.com/archive.php?date=2006-11-13 - wyrdness, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Why would they unbundle Wii Sports? It costs them almost nothing to bundle it, it adds perceived value to the package, it's a good tutorial on using the Wiimote and it serves as a good sales tool to persuade friends and family that they too should buy a Wii.
I think that a black Wii will be forthcoming soon in the New Year. Not sure about other colours. Isn't the DS Lite black or white only? - aphex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Expect the price drop late next year (late fall). No need to drop the price when the system is still in high demand.
DVD play compatibility will be a purchasable item from WiiWare early next year (just like the web browser). - deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3It could definitely benefit Sony in the sense that it could potentially (albeit slightly) hurt Wii Holiday sales. But at this point the Wii has already succeeded in that area, and any damage wouldn't override the hype they've created for their competitor.
- MrObjectional, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5@delight-
He's talking about wear and tear on the disc reading mechanism from the intensive and constant reading from disc that occurs during movie playback. In a game, you load an area or level or whatever, and then the disc can stop being read. A movie is read more or less constantly. Hence, the DVD playback might be more worn towards the end of its life if it plays a lot of DVDs. - Dominatus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I wish I could realistically make you look like an idiot in the year 2010 when the PS3 is no where near 500/600 bucks, but alas, I will probably forget about this comment by then.
- Chode2235, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2My guess is that they wanted to make as many as humanly possible to sell at launch. Having multiple colors would reduce manufacturing efficiency. Once supply can exceed actual demand I expect them to introduce other colors etc.
P.s. I really hope the DVD functionality can be bought onlilne, and I dont need new hardware. I would be upset if Nintendo slighted us early adopters and fanboys. - deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I said this above, I just wanted to say it again here to you too! :)
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The story has just been updated (well, as of this post anyways).
Apparently, the Wii hardware has been dissected and has been reported to value at about $158 per unit, with a $199 or so wholesale price. Theoretically, Nintendo could unbundle Wii Sports and drop the Wii down to $200 as suggested and see a profit margin for each unit relatively the same... but with assumably more units sold.
I think that's a pretty interesting thought there. Can't go right out there and say for sure Wii Sports has a value of $50, I know it has retailed at some places for that. I'd say about $30, between bargain bin $20 and full-game $50 standard.
Also, believe it or not the Wii already sells for $50 less in Japan (makes sense, I guess).
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Basically, I think if you look at it right it could be a good decision for Nintendo... then again, I'm usually overly optimistic! - deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You know, I didn't think of that at all moofree. Good point. That definitely seems more logical, they could unbundle Wii Sports and get the price down at least $30... making that $200 price a bit more approachable. Can't say it'd be better in my opinion though, Wii Sports seems critical to introducing new gamers to the Wii.
- deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah, I too think the price drop would be a bit weird. They've already proven they can sell out the Wii at $250, and no one seems to be complaining about the price. But, who knows, Nintendo could be extremely serious about their "appeal to more people" plan... And putting a system at a cool $200 could help do that even more so... but you also have to worry that it'd start to compete with the gamecube at that point.
But with Nintendo you honestly never know. - gnomeh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3LOL!
Toys'R'Us's manager know *****; all managers know *****. What information would they get that everyone else wouldn't get? He was just being a chatty idiot with his own opinons on what Nintendo will probably do if anyone sat down and reasoned for a few seconds. Nintendo did the same thing with their game boys and the N64. Everything gets to be a color of the rainbow when it comes to Nintendo.
Not complaining, but its the funny truth. I am the proud owner of a Wii myself.
Also a small tidbit, my girlfriend works at TRU and if you knew her store manager; you would laugh at trusting such a person in that position. - razorpit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No doubt colors are coming. Look how these Japanese eat up new DS' every time they are released. As for the price drop I don't think so. Not yet. Not unless the U.S. is getting the DVD version then look for the "base unit" to drop in price slightly. But seriously think about it. Nintendo is selling every one they make right now. If we are not getting the DVD version why on earth would they reduce their profits by $50/unit for no reason? Unless of course the XBOX 360 gets a price drop. Hmmm
- osearth, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No doubt. I could care less about colour schemes of the case..
If GameCube was any hint we'll all be replacing our cases to fit our backups properly :D - djSyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How does ***** like this reach the front page? One Toys R Us manager's wet dreams do not equal actual news.
- deLiGHT, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree, seems weird. Still, a lot of things coincidentally point in the same direction. In the very least it's something to chew on I say. Always good for the soul to have something to think on.
- MulanLang, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Agreed. I really don't see the incentive for Nintendo to drop the price so soon. Nintendo hasn't even filled the demand yet. Nintendo _knows_ it can sell a Wii for $250 so they'd just be shooting themselves in the foot by dropping the price. No matter how good they're customer service is or how "for the people" they strive to be, they are still a company and making money is the #1 goal.
- seneyr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wouldn't be surprised. There's enough precedents for colored Nintendo systems... the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, N64, Gamecube, and the DS all have/had multiple colors. I don't think they're going to stop now, especially when they had concept art of multiple colored wiis at the system's announcement.
In terms of a price drop. Duh. They already sell the system at a profit, so they're going to have one hell of a war chest built up by the time Sony and Microsoft even consider dropping their price. Nintendo can easily drop Wii Sports (as mentioned in the article) and drop it further if they so desire to the point where they are either making no profit or losing a little bit of money in the process. That doesn't include the fact that the manufacturing costs are going to go down over time. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii drops to 150-200 by the end of 2007. - Splitt3rxx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think they should wait until demand falls. up until mid next year the wii will probably keeps selling out. I don't really like the idea of them releasing a better console after just 4 months when i spent 4 hours in line to get a wii at launch for $250.
- fallenone05, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Additional colors and price reduction are a given, this will difinitely happened, but droping the price so soon? There is no reason why Nintendo will make that move, I'm willing to bet that that is not happening anytime soon. You don't have to have a degree in business to figure out that droping the price that soon would not make any sense.
- isthisnametaken, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Why does everyone want a DVD playback on their wii? Most people have 2 maybe 3 DVD players per house anyway (1 in the living room, pc, maybe one in the bedroom). All it will do is raise the price of the wii.
No thank you. - bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'd like a DVD enabled black Wii, don't care really whether the price drops or not. I've yet to play one, though. If I end up with a white one I'll just get this: http://www.decalgirl.com/browse.cfm/4,5221.htm
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