Nintendo on Wii U price, don't worry about Wii U's future
The following comes from a TIME interview with Nintendo V.P. of Corporate Affairs, Cindy Gordon.
T: The Wii defied early critical dismissal by crossing over to a nontraditional gaming demographic, but that demographic was able to enter at the $250 price point. Don’t you think you’d drive more sales if you eliminated the Basic model and dropped the Deluxe’s price to $300?
CG: There’s a strong value proposition in Wii U. It’s a versatile system with unique social and entertainment features and a growing and fun library of exclusive titles. Consider this: Five of the top 10 best-selling franchises in home console history – Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros., Mario Kart and Wii Fit – are all on the way soon for Wii U, and either playable or viewable here at the show. At the end of the day, people buy a video game console to play great games. By this measure, the Wii U can compete with anyone. Nintendo has everyone covered with a broad array of amazing new games on the way. We aren’t talking price at the show. We are here to showcase games.
T: What would you say to gamers who, rightly or wrongly, hear that Wii U sales are well below expectations, and worry — especially in a market this turbulent and with unprecedented competition from nontraditional game platforms — about the console’s future?
CG: There are more and more gamers enjoying a growing industry, and Nintendo is leading the charge in many ways. Our strong software lineup playable here at E3, on store shelves and what we have coming in the future means that there are a multitude of experiences you can only have on Nintendo systems, delivered by Nintendo developers. Because Nintendo develops its own hardware and software, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver experiences in games optimized for Nintendo systems. That means games that are fun, challenging and inspired. As long as we keep delivering this type of innovation we will have a strong advantage.
T: The Wii defied early critical dismissal by crossing over to a nontraditional gaming demographic, but that demographic was able to enter at the $250 price point. Don’t you think you’d drive more sales if you eliminated the Basic model and dropped the Deluxe’s price to $300?
CG: There’s a strong value proposition in Wii U. It’s a versatile system with unique social and entertainment features and a growing and fun library of exclusive titles. Consider this: Five of the top 10 best-selling franchises in home console history – Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros., Mario Kart and Wii Fit – are all on the way soon for Wii U, and either playable or viewable here at the show. At the end of the day, people buy a video game console to play great games. By this measure, the Wii U can compete with anyone. Nintendo has everyone covered with a broad array of amazing new games on the way. We aren’t talking price at the show. We are here to showcase games.
T: What would you say to gamers who, rightly or wrongly, hear that Wii U sales are well below expectations, and worry — especially in a market this turbulent and with unprecedented competition from nontraditional game platforms — about the console’s future?
CG: There are more and more gamers enjoying a growing industry, and Nintendo is leading the charge in many ways. Our strong software lineup playable here at E3, on store shelves and what we have coming in the future means that there are a multitude of experiences you can only have on Nintendo systems, delivered by Nintendo developers. Because Nintendo develops its own hardware and software, we’re uniquely positioned to deliver experiences in games optimized for Nintendo systems. That means games that are fun, challenging and inspired. As long as we keep delivering this type of innovation we will have a strong advantage.
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