being the dawn of a new console generation, i have decided to save up for a wii u. although something that still baffles me is how expensive the wii u still is. at costco (Australia) they cost $419. its been about 4 years since it has come out... i guess the gamepad is a major factor. and the fact that im getting a 32gb Mario Maker bundle compared to a standard 8gb w/ no games included.
@TwentyOneGamers it's because of the game pad and Australian tariffs. You maybe better off importing a used us one from eBay and keeping us region for the eshop. It's not backwards compatible tho but us games are cheap by comparison.
You won't be better off importing because of shipping. If you want it for cheap? Go for a used console. You can get one on gumtree with a few games for ~$300AU or so. There are likely similar deals at ebgames. But new? Yeah, there aren't many bundle/sku options.... or much competition on price....
Wait for the NX announcement. You're likely to get a good deal once people start moving on to the next thing
I am planning to pay for half of the console and pay for the rest with some money I have accumulated over the years (So I can feel the emotions of getting a new console). But I got to admit, $419 for a 32gb console AND a game worth $60 is a bloody good bargain. It's just a small annoyance.
@AlternateButtons Actually, the Wii U got a $100 price cut. The Deluxe bundles are all $250 (the Mario Kart 8 and 3D World bundles at least).
Anyway, I still remember that the GameCube retailed for $99 at one point during the end of its lifespan.. You would expect another Wii U price cut by that logic, but it looks like Nintendo has completely given up on the system and, at this point, I don't think they're even going to bother to lower the price anymore.
All bundles are still 299€ where I live. Basically, I think they have given up on selling it and probably even manufacturing too. Their 800,000 goal for the year is way modest, they just want to get rid of stock.
@AlternateButtons how is it rare when most of the consoles they put out over the last 4 generations have had a price cut?
The huge GC price dump was an attempt to gain market for a console that didn't sell well. It didn't help the sales, it only caused Nintendo to lose money. Nintendo has learned the lesson.
The price cuts on the Wii was a quite different one. The Wii sold great, and all initial manufacturing costs had been covered, and the hardware was cheap (mainly based on the GC) to make. After the initial sales success, they could cut the price, still sell with a lot of profit per unit.
I couldn't hold off having my own Wii U any longer. I was hoping in the past several months that we would see a price drop, but we didn't, so I got one last week. I mean, could I have waited until the imminent drop for Black Friday? I suppose, but I didn't want to wait any longer haha
@AlternateButtons Actually, the Wii U got a $100 price cut. The Deluxe bundles are all $250 (the Mario Kart 8 and 3D World bundles at least).
Anyway, I still remember that the GameCube retailed for $99 at one point during the end of its lifespan.. You would expect another Wii U price cut by that logic, but it looks like Nintendo has completely given up on the system and, at this point, I don't think they're even going to bother to lower the price anymore.
Nope. The Wii Launched at $299 and still costs $299. I see those bundles listed for $299 in USA. NEVER HAD A PRICE DROP
@blaisedinsd this isn't politics. You don't get to manipulate facts just so you can be right. The 32 gb edition had a price cut and that's a fact. I should know seeing as how I picked one up a month before the drop.
At this point why is this even a thread we are on the verge of the holy nx even though the reason we haven't seen it yet is most likely is the nx is too holy for us sinful mortals
@blaisedinsd this isn't politics. You don't get to manipulate facts just so you can be right. The 32 gb edition had a price cut and that's a fact. I should know seeing as how I picked one up a month before the drop.
My point is simply that the MSRP of the cheapest new bundle available has always been $299. That is the number that matters the most.
The manipulation of the facts is calling rebundling something a price drop.
If Nintendo make maximum profits off of the 50 people that buy a Wii U this holiday it equals more money than the 60 units they'd sell if they cut its price by $50/75. Most people who were interested in getting Smash bros, Mario Kart, Splatoon et all have long since done so and there's no exclusives left so no incentive for people to spend hundreds on this system, even if it got a $100 price cut. And there's no paid online subscription either to even get people hooked into that will transfer onto the next system. Basically no business reasons as far as I can see, and don't go kidding yourselves that any price cut that has ever happened was them doing people a favour or a company doing anything other than looking at the bottom line.
@Shinion Well you could argue that more Wii U's in people's homes = more people experiencing Nintendo games and more likely to get an NX. A price cut at this point won't result in any short term profits, but it may net some long term profits.
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Topic: How is the Wii U still expensive?
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