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Iwata On Wii U: "We Almost Gave Up On The Idea Of The Additional Screen”

Posted on Thursday, June 14 @ 09:21:34 Eastern by Alex_Osborn
The tablet controller is hands-down the bread and butter of the Wii U, so it comes as a shock to hear Nintendo President Satoru Iwata say that at one point they seriously considered scrapping the technology altogether. Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr. Iwata confessed that high costs were a major roadblock in the process.

“Sometime during that final discussion we almost gave up on the idea of the additional screen. This was due to our concern over the expected high cost, it may not have been feasible to create this and sell it at a reasonable price point for the consumers,” he said.


So this begs the question: How much does Nintendo plan to sell the Wii U for? Apparently the tablet technology doesn't come cheap, and since the company traditionally makes money on their hardware, we may be looking at a slightly more expensive console than initially expected.

Nintendo still hasn't announced a release date or price, and I'm beginning to wonder why they're holding back this information. They must have an idea of when and for how much they want to sell the Wii U, though I'm sure dropping the bomb at E3 with an announcement that the thing will cost $400 would have put a damper in their already unimpressive press conference.
Tags:   Nintendo, Wii U


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Comments
  • Nick_Tan
    Nick_Tan

    Joined: Jul 2006
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 11:21 am
    I think that's why they're selling this almost like an upgrade for the Wii, though it's an entirely new console. At least the Wii-motes we already have are compatible. I wouldn't be surprised to see around a $250 price point, maybe a $300 price point at launch.
  • sandineyes
    sandineyes

    Joined: May 2008
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 11:51 am
    I wouldn't expect it to be that expensive. We all know that Nintendo has no qualms about putting very cheap technology in its systems to keep the prices down (not that that is necessarily a bad thing, but it limits cross-platform games viability).
    Did you guys see anything at e3 that would even suggest the hardware of the WiiU to be beyond what the PS3 or 360 is capable of?
  • LawnGnome
    LawnGnome

    Joined: Apr 2007
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
    I don't think Nintendo's Japanese shareholders are going to allow them to take a loss on Wii U sales, much to their own detriment. They basically freaked out during the 3DS price drop despite it being a smart, successful move and have since then let Nintendo know that they still expect profits on all hardware sales. Why are they so oblivious to the success of Sony & Microsoft's pricing/hardware strategy? I predict an almost shockingly large price tag on the Wii U followed by that PS3 (and maybe Vita) price drop we didn't see at E3. Meanwhile, Microsoft is rolling out their $99, $15/mo. Xbox 360 subscription plan to Best Buy & Game Stop. I see a potential fiasco for the Wii U brewing. Dear Nintendo, please get your act together & prove me wrong.
  • wildmario
    wildmario

    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
    Nintendo doesn't make anything but games so they HAVE to make a profit off the bat otherwise they are going to be in trouble. The reason why Sony and Microsoft can make a powerful console and sell it at a loss while using software to make up the difference is because the two companies do things beside make video games and if their gaming department fails, it's no big deal since they got tons of money in other departments.


    Even if Nintendo wanted to, they simply can't emulate Sony and Microsoft's strategy in how they sell stuff unless Nintendo decided to start making money outside of video games.
  • LawnGnome
    LawnGnome

    Joined: Apr 2007
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 1:09 pm
    I disagree. They can emulate those strategies if they are successful, which they have been. The loss on hardware is made up in the increased game sales, not on sales from other divisions of the company. Just look at Sony, the video game division is really the only part of that company that has been working properly, for the most part. That's why they made the former video game division-head CEO. While the argument could be made that Nintendo couldn't take the risk of experimenting with hardware losses in the past, now its success is being proven with the PS3/360 and even the 3DS. Relying on hardware profits though has now become troublesome with the Wii and has now developed a sub-standard "next-gen" console in the Wii U. They can't keep putting out cheap consoles in the name of hardware profits and compete with Sony & Microsoft.
  • wildmario
    wildmario

    Joined: Jan 2007
    Posted: Jun 14th, 2012 at 3:49 pm
    There's still one other problem. 3rd parties. Those are the deal makers and if Nintendo can't attract enough of them and Nintendo tried selling at a loss, they would be out of the game very soon afterwards. The Gamecube and Wii had very weak 3rd party lineups and if it wasn't for NIntendo making guaranteed 1st party sellers, Nintendo would have become another Sega. As I said in another article posted here, Nintendo simply can't compete against Sony and Microsoft for 3rd party exclusivity because Sony and Microsoft simply have way more money than Nintendo and can easily buy out any 3rd party.

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