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Bomba - Wii U Basic with Nintendoland for $300 at Best Buy
- Thread starter Wario64
- Start date
BruceLeeRoy
Banned
It's the most brilliant move. It seems so smart to me I can't imagine they won't utilize it. $100-150 yearly subscription that comes with PS+/Live and a launch game. Automatically puts them at a mass market price.
GameplayWhore
Member
Yeah, CoD has tremendous casual appeal, especially among children. My overly anecdotal and utterly trivial in sample size story is this: At my last party, the kid who was set aside to play video games (so the rest of us could get drunk in peace) basically played the crap out of Minecraft, Mario, and any World War II shooter he could find.
You pointed to features like blue ray and, well nothing else really. My point was that if you're banking on services to sell a $450 box, why wouldn't they just buy a cheaper alternative?
Call of Duty sales are down.
Will the mass market be willing to spend $450 to migrate to a new console for COD, especially if their friends are playing on PS3/360?
Neither console did incredibly well in its first year.
Not at all! Microsoft has seen most of their recent success at $300 and below models.
Err..yes. I thought we were discussing launch sales?
The question was: will people buy them at $450. My guess is that yes, a solid number of people will do so because of the increased power and complimentary media features. I think they'll both fare better at launch than the U, even at those price points.
Huh. I really disagree. At least in the U.S and Japan Wii U first month sales are better than PS360.
Steve Youngblood
Member
Personally, I think the market can support such a SKU. The question of will it depends on the games and the features. We're discussing next-gen Call of Duty, for instance. Will people pay $450 for that? Well, what are we talking about? Are they exclusively targeting next-gen systems, or is this just a quick port with a few upgrades? If it's the latter, then I doubt it. If it's the former (though I find this scenario unlikely), then we're talking!
But all in all, though I think $450 is a little steep and would like to see an accompanying cheaper SKU, I don't agree that in and of itself it's unsustainable.
Lets loop back in 3 years and compare the first years of the next gens.
Agree to disagree.
My argument is that the console market, driven by big AAA experiences, has been in a steady decline. The features you think will sell systems can be found on other popular devices. I don't think a $450 MSRP breaks through to the mass market.
It's going to be fascinating to see what the platform holders do in 2013. They are all competing against so many devices and entertainment options.
KingJ2002
Member
Honestly... the multiple SKU is a disaster. If nintendo wants to make the system affordable... they should subsidize it or allow payment plans to pay for the bundle of an extended period of time.
They should drop the basic and roll with a standard model and ship different colors.
They should drop the basic and roll with a standard model and ship different colors.
The AAA market has not been in decline at all. It is the middle market that has pretty much stopped existing which is why so many studios are going out of business.
Games like Skyrim and COD still routinely sell a ridiculous number of copies. The fact that COD has sold less has more to do with Battlefield than the market for shooters going down.
In fact, if your game isn't indie than big budget games are pretty much the only other option.
outunderthestars
Banned
Price is not the issue. The massive sales numbers of the iPad show that consumers are willing to spend large amounts of money for toys if they want them.
If MS and Sony create compelling content that drives demand, consumers will move to a new platform. Mass market will follow in 12-24 months as software and multiplayer communities shift to the new platform as well.
And I am confident that subscription pricing models will allow for lower entry prices as well.
Nintendo's launch problems have nothing to do with price, and everything to do with value. They launched with a rather anemic lineup and alot of negative first impressions of buggy hardware, slow UI, poor controller battery life, etc that dampened enthusiasm among hardcore gamers.
Having a major retailer have to discount your system less than six weeks after launch is not a good sign.
Well the even stranger thing is the choice of game. Why not include Black Ops 2 or ZombiU? Nintendo Land is fun, but you would think that's a game for the "Basic" crowd. They would have been foolish to include NSMB U, because that was always going to be their best selling software, so why not of the "core" third party games for the Deluxe buyers?
Steve Youngblood
Member
I really don't understand this analysis. Though I agree that they may have been better off just going with the Deluxe, I don't think the multiple SKUs have proven disastrous or anything. We'll have to wait for hard numbers, but I haven't really observed anything to suggest that Deluxes are flying off the shelves while Basics are buckling store shelves and about to be buried in a desert with copies of E.T. for the Atari. I bought a Basic because that's what the store I went to on launch day had, and I didn't see that big of a deal.
It's really not that confusing.
outunderthestars
Banned
Gucci Messiah
Banned
Still $50 too expensive
Agent Unknown
Member
Yes, Nintendo should be first in line to make cell phone plan style forced subscriptions and contract rackets a market standard. What a brilliant idea that wouldn't end up costing the consumer a ton more money in the long run. Excellent way to make systems "more affordable" there, uh huh.
Oh I'm sure, I meant the two bundles in general. Not this BB promo. Should have clarified that.
BigDaddyFatSack
Banned
It sold that badly this holiday season?
The Basic set did probably.
Steve Youngblood
Member
I think the assumption would be that both would be an option. I'm not sure why you felt that degree of snark was necessary, as the subscription model has been widely thrown out there as a viable option to mitigate the chances of people balking at high up front costs with a long term option that seems more affordable even if it costs more. The assumption would be that the ability to purchase outright would still be an option.
Doesn't Microsoft already do this with the 360 at certain stores?
Just from my own observations, I saw Basic sets in stores pretty regularly, and Target usually had a few Deluxe ones too. This was just days before Christmas.
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
The PS3s were likely put out alot earlier as the probably restock in alphabetical order:
...Kindles, Lionel Richie CDs, Macs, Norton Anti-Virus Software, Olympus Cameras, PlayStations, Quickbooks, Roombas, Sennheiser Headphones, Thermador Refridgerators, Ultrabooks, VTech V.Readers, Wii Us, XM Car Radios, Zune MP3 Players.
outunderthestars
Banned
Yes. MS has been test marketing the program, and recently expanded it. I am fairly certain we will see it again next generation. It's really not a bad option for people who lack the means to otherwise afford a system.
LiveFromKyoto
Member
I don't think bundling their systems with Mario is something Nintendo does anymore until the generation's done. Those long tail full-price Mario sales are their bread & butter.
polyh3dron
Banned
Are you really being serious with this argument?
Wii U is a console with graphical power equivalent to that of a console that released 7 years ago. The competing consoles that offer roughly the same graphical power sell for much cheaper.
The next Sony and Microsoft consoles are going to be significantly more powerful which is why they will be worth a higher price whereas the Wii U isn't.
well, if we change this thread title to "Iwata latest goof, Iwata must go" then at least the triforce will be complete.
how exactly will these improved graphics make the popular games of our current generation a better value exactly? or do you expect new hardware to throw crazy new game mechanics at you for all sorts of genres? i'm asking a legitimate question. what do you expect from FPS games, 3rd person action games etc beyond better shadows, particles, and framerate (if you're lucky)?
sure, they will look better. but beyond looks, how will new hardware add value to the next generation of games? or will games like arkham city, gears of war, halo, uncharted, assassin's creed just look prettier for the 9th iteration?
how exactly will these improved graphics make the popular games of our current generation a better value exactly? or do you expect new hardware to throw crazy new game mechanics at you for all sorts of genres? i'm asking a legitimate question. what do you expect from FPS games, 3rd person action games etc beyond better shadows, particles, and framerate (if you're lucky)?
sure, they will look better. but beyond looks, how will new hardware add value to the next generation of games? or will games like arkham city, gears of war, halo, uncharted, assassin's creed just look prettier for the 9th iteration?
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
That's not true.
Gucci Messiah
Banned
how is that not true
Steve Youngblood
Member
Honestly, I do understand the argument. I'm not at all concerned as to whether the tech itself will justify an increased cost, as I'm sure it will. However, it remains to be seen as to whether or not compelling software or features will lure people in. We're 11 months away from the 2013 holiday season, and we have no idea what we should be expecting from the PS4/next Xbox. The marketplace is a bit different than when the PS3/360 launched, and the PS3 already demonstrated that there is such a thing as "too expensive." Now, I don't necessarily think that $450 is in and of itself priced out of being a mass consumer product, but it's going to take more than just the promise of better graphics to get units flying off the shelf.
People have a ton of different devices today with a lot of overlap. As a media device, what can a new video game console bring to the table that other devices aren't already doing? As a games machine, I agree that there's room for improvement and that graphical advancements may dazzle the consumer, but it remains to be seen what will be ready for launch if we are indeed going to see new machines on store shelves by 2013's end.
ElectricBlanketFire
Member
Speaking as a huge Nintendo fan...it's pretty much true.
outunderthestars
Banned
Power goes beyond graphics. Larger, more comelling open world games can be created. Imagine next generation Fallout without the need to break up areas of the world behind loading screen gimmicks like gates and metro tunnels.
The worlds can be filled with more NPC's, enemies, and content. A.I. routines can become more detailed, etc etc etc
Gahiggidy
My aunt & uncle run a Mom & Pop store, "The Gamecube Hut", and sold 80k WiiU within minutes of opening.
Iwata testified to that extent at an investors meeting during E3.
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