Nintendo Wii - under £150 (pissibly)

[Mad Gerald]

Nintendo Japan has revealed that Wii ‘will not exceed Y25,000’ – meaning a possible sub-£150 price point when the console arrives in the UK.
A straight Yen to Sterling conversion puts the quoted price at around £120, but the console could see a higher price point in Europe.

The platform holder’s financials also revealed a Wii sales target of eight million by March, and 17 million software units in the same period.

Nintendo’s net profit for the year up to March 2006 rose 12.5 per cent, thanks to strong worldwide DS sales, with a similar increase in net profit to Y98.4bn. The firm also boasted of 16m DS and DS Lite units sold worldwide.

- Source: MCVUK.com

[revgiblet]

Well, I'd be very surprised if they just do a straight Yen to Sterling conversion. We normally get shafted when it comes to console prices. I'd reckon that if it stays at is we'll be looking at somewhere between £170-£200 which would still make it the cheapest next gen console on the market.

I'm sure there's a stupid mentality in the UK which says "That games console is half the price of the other one, therefore it must only be half as good".

If the Wii is released at only £120 then even I might be tempted to invest on launch day.

[preownedgames.co.uk]

If we're having a sweepstake i'm going for £149.99

[CraigGrannell]

Nintendo Japan has revealed that Wii ‘will not exceed Y25,000’ – meaning a possible sub-£150 price point when the console arrives in the UK.

Are taxes added to Japanese prices? I know some people have been talking about $249, which would probably end up as £179 in the UK, once you take into account VAT and currency cushioning. Personally, I reckon they should aim for £149 and make the console an impulse buy.

I'm sure there's a stupid mentality in the UK which says "That games console is half the price of the other one, therefore it must only be half as good".

There's also the mentality that games machines shouldn't just play games. I remember a terribly depressing incident in GAME where two blokes bullied their teenage friend out of buying an NDS, because it was a "toy" (said potential purchaser said "but the games look great—I used to love Super Mario Kart"), and suggested he should get a PSP, because it's cool and because (and I quote) "you can play DVDs on it". It's pretty shocking listening to GAME staff selling PSPs to potential customers in the local branches, too. They've never once mentioned the games.

[Mad Gerald]

Are taxes added to Japanese prices? I know some people have been talking about $249, which would probably end up as £179 in the UK, once you take into account VAT and currency cushioning. Personally, I reckon they should aim for £149 and make the console an impulse buy.

I have no effing idea matey LOL - I just copied it from the MCV site. £179 does sound more possible - £149 Chrimbo 2007??

£179 is still a good price. Perhaps £179 with a demo disc of Wiimote control mini games.

[preownedgames.co.uk]

I'm sure there's a stupid mentality in the UK which says "That games console is half the price of the other one, therefore it must only be half as good".

There's also the mentality that games machines shouldn't just play games.

And that polygon counts make good games!

[Mad Gerald]

And that polygon counts make good games!

I think that only applies to gamer geeks.. I bet if you ask General Public and Major Ity they'd have no idea WTF you were talking about.

All they care about is - How many games are on the shelves. The more games for a console, the better the console*

*See Sony

[retro mania]

I'll be getting a wii on launch day just because its so different. Then I'll either get a 360 or a hd tele.

[Antiriad2097]

I reckon the Rev will come in at around £200 no matter how much I'd like it to be sub £150.

Have you ever known a console company not to rip off early adopters here?

[C4]

Are taxes added to Japanese prices?

Yes, but only since 2004.

I'm hoping Wii will launch in the UK at £130, the same price as the GameCube had for its UK release.

[Dudley]

Generally (and it's true with both 360 and PS3), the UK price is a third more than the US price.

$250 (the "will not exceed" price for the US) is almost exactly £175 under that conversion. The Japanese one comes to £150 if you add 33%.

Have you ever known a console company not to rip off early adopters here?

Ninty with the cube? That said, the DS-Lite has the biggest markup of any current machine at 47% above US.

[mel the bell]

im a late adopter anyway
i always wait for console prices to drop

by the way, nice typo in the title...........both wii and PISSably

[paranoid marvin]

It'll almost certainly be £199.99

still cheap for next-gen gaming

[Lindopski]

£120 notes and ill have one

[Antiriad2097]

im a late adopter anyway
i always wait for console prices to drop

Me too, but if the UK prices weren't OTT in the first place I might not...