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

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.