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Posted: Apr 14 2011 09:08 pm

i think theres already a thread on this, but whatev.

Quote:

Nintendo will reportedly drop the price of its Wii console by $50 ahead of this year's E3 press conference.
According to Engadget, a "trusted source" has indicated that the Wii will begin retailing for $150 on May 15. That will give the system a $50 edge over the cheapest competition, the 4GB Xbox 360 system, which, like the Wii, currently retails for $199.99. The cheapest PlayStation 3, by contrast, costs $299.99. With this new price, the Wii would also be a full $100 cheaper than the recently launched 3DS handheld.

The last time Nintendo cut the Wii's price was back in September 2009, when it went from $249.99 to $199.99. Reggie Fils-Aime recently acknowledged that dropping the price was an option that Nintendo has on the table; he told Gamasutra, "The Wii has a long life in front of it. We're still sitting at $199. There are a variety of marketing tools at our disposal."

Reinforcing that Engadget's source is correct, GoNintendo has posted what is purportedly an internal price sheet from Kmart showing a $50 price cut for several Wii SKUs. That could prove to be spurious, but prior to the last price drop, there was more than one indication that it was coming.

http://www.1up.com/news/wii-price-dropping-15-may

Quote:

Yesterday's rumor that Nintendo will drop the price of the Wii in May sparked speculation that the Mario maker will follow that move by announcing a new console at E3 in June. According to a new report, that's precisely the case.
Game Informer claims to have confirmed with multiple sources the impending announcement of a successor to the Wii. The new system will be revealed at E3 in June and will be capable of high-definition resolutions, although just how it stacks up compared to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hardware-wise is unknown; some sources indicated it would be more powerful, while others said less. [Update: Kotaku claims it's heard it will be "more powerful than current-gen systems."] It's also unclear if it will be backwards compatible with the Wii and GameCube or if it will still carry the Wii name.

A source told GI, "Nintendo is doing this one right," also adding that the system is "not a gimmick like the Wii." With that comment in mind, it seems safe to assume that this isn't simply a Wii with a few more GameCubes duct-taped on for additional horsepower, so to speak. What the new selling point of the system is we don't know, but Nintendo is reportedly already showing it to publishers to get them on board early.

Its release date is said to be "late 2012," which provides plenty of breathing room between it and the recently-launched 3DS.

E3 is scheduled to kick off on June 7. Nintendo (like Sony and Microsoft) always holds a press conference before the event begins, which is where the announcement would likely come. That means we've got less than two months of waiting before finding out just what Nintendo has up its sleeve.

http://www.1up.com/news/wii-2-nintendo-announce-new-console-june

so, the first bit of news: the wii might have a price drop, and w/that the announcement of the wii 2, or whatever they decide to call it.

the first rumor is from 'a reliable source' & the second one is from Game Informer. so, take that as you will.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 09:58 pm

I read some of these articles earlier today. Seems like a bit of speculation at the moment, but it's certainly possible.

I am mostly curious as to what the eventual Wii Double will specialize in. My guess is that Nintendo has some innovative new idea for a future console, but I also think that some features seen in other consoles - such as some sort of online infrastructure (at least for game patching) - would be too dangerous to leave out. I don't expect the console to simply emulate the PS3 and Xbox 360's success points, though, so something amazing is probably behind the curtain.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 10:17 pm

Damnit, Username, I was making a thread just for this, and when I posted it was like 5 minutes after this one so I just deleted it.

Anyways, it's about time.

Also, there is nothing really speculative about it, based on all the signs this /is/ happening.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 10:40 pm

my concern is the processing power. more powerful than current gen systems. that might mean pricier hardware which means pricier software as well. which goes against the whole mantra of having affordable game consoles. which is obvious since the 3DS debuted @ US$250. damn.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 10:49 pm

First off, the new system will HAVE to be backwards compatible with the Wii, so don't expect it to be gimmick free, especially when MS and Sony just entered the motion market. Secondly, a new Nintendo console should launch by March 2012 AT THE ABSOLUTE LATEST. Ideally, a new Nintendo console should be on shelves by Christmas 2011.

When you look at the Wii, there is NOTHING on the horizon outside of Conduit 2 next week and Skyward Sword "at some point". Nintendo's latest reveal for the system was Wii Play 2. See? Even they're out of ideas.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 10:53 pm

Nintendo could easily be more powerful than Sony and Microsoft with out a real pricer increase. Those systems came out 6 years ago and this one won't be out til the end of 2012. I bet Nintendo will keep it under $300 aka $299.99 and it will be slighty better than Xbox and PS3 graphics wise. We are coming into an age where there are very little improvements they can make to systems aside from making the graphics damn near real world quality. After this next wave of systems you can almost bank on there being a good 10 years before a new one is released.

Posted: Apr 14 2011 10:56 pm

Yeah... that's gonna get old.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 12:32 am

The new console is going to be called the Yuu. It'll still be motion control but with voice control added. The remote won't have any buttons. Instead, they'll be replaced with the voice control. So basically if you want mario to run, you hold the romote on the right side of the screen and yell "JUMP" when you want him to jump. My uncle works for Nintendo, he showed me pictures. Oh, and it's also backwards compatible with every Nintendo console ever made.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 04:29 am

The fuck is up with Wii game pricing? My girlfriend has one but we only have a few games, (NSMBW and DKC and a boat load of Lego Games cause she likes those, and some random shit like that surgery game) and I've been trying to build our Wii library since it's kind of stupid to have more GC games you play on a Wii than Wii games.

Anyways, why the fuck is Mario Galaxy 1 stil 50 bucks at Best Buy? Wasn't that a fucking launch title? I can't find any decent used Wii games in my area, all the used stuff is fucking shovel ware. Mad

Oh and A Boy And His Blob is fucking nonexistent in either form, new used nadda!

All in all, you're just another brick in the wall.

All I've seen that is interesting and new is Goldeneye and Flingsmash, and those aren't really new are they?

Posted: Apr 15 2011 05:05 am

Those are from November and August, which is newish. Galaxy was not a launch title.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 05:12 am

But should it still be $49.99 new? I've seen it for like $39.99 used at Gamestop but besides it and a few other notable games (new Kirby and new Goldeneye) I see a plethora of shovelware shit... I want to play Nintendo games, I really do, but damn it's expensive!

Posted: Apr 15 2011 06:17 am

Ebay is your friend. If you do a bit of browsing, it's fairly simple to get yourself a used Wii game that might as well be brand new. The days of used meaning "a scratched up disc without a case" are largely gone.

I get almost all of my games from Ebay nowadays and very rarely buy new (only when they are on sale on Amazon or whatever) and you couldn't tell the difference from looking at them.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 06:30 am

Yeah, those games should be Platinum Hits or Best Sellers or whatever by now and down to the $20-30 range.

Also, Pandajuice is right. eBay is a great place to get games. Sellers are required to provide accurate descriptions of their games and since eBay owns PayPal, they can forcibly get you your money back if someone reason the seller tries to be a dick to you.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 09:32 am

i use amazon.com for my games. and have them text me their daily video game deal.

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Mario-Galaxy-Nintendo-Wii/dp/B000FQ9QVI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302874314&sr=8-1

$40.54 w/free s/h

and if you look at used games, its cheaper.

EDIT: looks like the UK already has a price cut: http://www.itproportal.com/2011/04/15/nintendo-wii-console-now-available-9998/?

Joined: Sep 25 2009 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 395

I echo the ebay-praise, as I get almost all my games from there. Also, Wii 2 looks interesting, but I doubt they will be able to replicate the success of the original Wii. They will not get the teens playing the PS360 if it is only a minor graphical upgrade, and the casual market is probably not a very loyal one (as it migrated en masse from PS2 to Wii), so they need to get a new hook if they are to sell gangbusters again. Will be a very interesting E3!

Posted: Apr 15 2011 12:47 pm

The PS2 was for the casual market? Please go on.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 01:10 pm

The PS2, as the best selling console of all-time, was able to cater to casual markets that other systems couldn't.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 01:58 pm

I understand the PS2 was/is wildly successful.

Honestly, I don't think the casual market was fully realized or even truly established until Nintendo came along with the Wii.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 03:41 pm

Stuff like DDR and Guitar Hero first got big on PS2. And those are the most famous casual franchises ever.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 07:05 pm

the PS2 had a huge install base, but most of it was for 'hardcore' games, or even risky/artsy games. guitar hero & ddr are considered casual games, but that was a very small market.

i dont have the numbers to back it up, but i disagree on the casual label for the PS2.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 08:21 pm

The PS2 was not a casual console, but it's huge install base fostered a casual market. People bought PS2s because it was the cool thing to do.

Also, PS2 didn't have many "hardcore" games. Sure it had GTA and God of War, but it didn't have Teh Haloz, which is the hardest hardcore game ever. Also, God of War came pretty late in its life.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 08:36 pm

Syd Lexia wrote:

The PS2 was not a casual console, but it's huge install base fostered a casual market. People bought PS2s because it was the cool thing to do.

Also, PS2 didn't have many "hardcore" games. Sure it had GTA and God of War, but it didn't have Teh Haloz, which is the hardest hardcore game ever. Also, God of War came pretty late in its life.

lol ill agree w/you on that end. and it also had a free DVD player, so you can have both a game system w/a ton of games (since it was backwards compatible) and one of those fancy new fangled DVD players.

Posted: Apr 15 2011 08:37 pm

And you could have sex with it.

Joined: Sep 25 2009 Location: Bergen, Norway Posts: 395

PS2 might not have been a casual console in the way that the Wii have been, but it definitely sold to a lot of the same audience that later bought the Wii. The PS2 had a DVD-player, it had Guitar Hero, Buzz! and it had Singstar which is huge here in Europe, and as a consequence I know a ton of people who are not into gaming AT ALL that owns a PS2. It is simply revisionist history to say that there was not a huge casual market on the PS2, because it definitely was, and it would never have sold 150 millions without it. The main difference is however that the PS2 also was a heaven for "hardcore" games, which make us remember it as a gamers console more than anything.

On a personal level, I lived with a girl who had never owned a video game in her life, but owned a PS2 for DVD's and Singstar - and I know a lot of other girls like her as it was a very common things to see at parties etc. Fascinatingly, the only color they still sell PS2's in here is now pink - and its bundled with Singstar.

Edit: Also Singstar has sold more than 20 million, of all the Sony-franchises, only GT is in that league (and that is a typical bridge title like Mario Kart who is bought by both hardcore and casuals a like.)

Posted: Apr 15 2011 09:03 pm

and the rumor mill continues:

Quote:

Following yesterday's report that Nintendo is set to announce a new console at E3 in June, a wave of rumors building on it have since come out. CVG claimed that the "all-new controller" would have a built-in HD screen that sounded similar to the Dreamcast's VMU. A report by French website 01net (which had details on the NGP ahead of its reveal) has additional information and claims the new system's controller will have a screen, but it will not be in HD.
Call it Wii 2, Wii HD, or whatever else you'd like; 01net says the new system's code name is actually "Project Café." The new controller will feature a six-inch, standard-definition touchscreen, according to a translation by NeoGAF member NaviLink. (Although no size was mentioned, IGN also suggested that the controller will come equipped with a touchscreen.) It'll have a front-facing camera and fairly standard buttons: a d-pad, two bumpers, two triggers, and maybe more.

Other details from 01net's report corroborate Game Informer's suggestion that the system will be announced at E3. It'll support all Wii accessories and be backwards compatible with both Wii and GameCube games. It's also said to be slightly faster than an Xbox 360, with a similar architecture that would make 360 ports easy.

Expect to continue hearing more in the way of rumored features until Nintendo makes a formal announcement.

http://www.1up.com/news/wii-successor-controller-rumored-touchscreen-camera

touchscreen & camera on the controller itself.... interesting. which also might mean a more expensive price point. unless they keep using cheap cameras.