As global as Nintendo is, there are still a number of untapped markets around the world. One of them includes Brazil.
Only recently did Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime single out Brazil as an important area of growth for Nintendo’s business future — explaining that the country had huge potential if particular hurdles could be overcome.
Now, Nintendoworld Brazil is reporting the Wii U will release in the South American nation on 26th November this year.
According to the report, the Deluxe version of the console will be bundled with New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Luigi U for the price of 1,899 Brazilian reais.
Previously, Nintendo has cited the country’s high import fees as a barrier, along with its own concerns about piracy. In submission with the U.S. Trade Representative, Nintendo listed Brazil as a country to watch for counterfeit goods. If the report is true, maybe Nintendo has found a solution to these problems.
If the Wii U is released in Brazil this November, how do you think it will cope? Will the system get by on classic Nintendo titles alone, or do you think it could use with some third-party support from EA and key franchises such as FIFA – especially leading into the 2014 Brazil World Cup? Tell us below.
[source polygon.com]
Comments 26
EA are too much of a**holes to publish for Nintendo. It's not gonna happen. Though poor Brazilians would not even be able to afford Wii U at such a high price (around £512). Bloody mad!!!
@DarkAngel_17
If you think that pricing is mad, you should see how much PS4 is going to cost in Brazil.
@DarkAngel_17 actually, there are many people who are going to buy it in spite of the price (you can include me once Bayonetta 2 has been released). When you compare WiiU's price to the PS4's (4000 reais, which mean £1078), it is quite "cheap". But yes, the import fees are terrible around here, which "justifies" the high price. The main problem is that brazilians accept to pay for import goods even when their price far exceeds the one that you would pay by buying one from Amazon, for example (which is not the case of the WiiU)
I'm from Brazil and I can say it's not a rumour. Some online retailers are already making reservations and pre-sales for the Wii U. The official prize is high, but it's less than PS4 or XBONE, and the Nintendo already said that is bringing games too, the price will be R$179~R$199 ($90~$100), and seriously it's a good price. PS3 games and X360 games costs R$150 ($75). I particularly always import mine from PlayAsia, but I cant wait 3 weeks to get the games like Super Mario 3D World from China, so I will get mine for R$179 ($90).
Well, it's not all the brazilians that can't affor that price, when I bought my PS3 (5 years ago), I paid R$1500 ($750). About the Wii U, I already have mine. I bought mine 6 months ago in Paraguay (neighbor country) for $380.
The biggest problem here, is that most people don't wanna play Nintendo anymore. There's a strong culture that Nintendo games is for children. Well, I'm 24 and I still loves NIntendo.
PS: Another problem here is that "grey market" (original products that are ilegally imported, most from Paraguay) is very strong, but it's because it's cheaper. Zelda bundle can be found here for R$1300 ($650). Pre-sales for PS4 is about half of the official price.
@cookiex Not high taxes regarding PS4. Sony decided this price because many of us brazilians accept paying it =P
Brazil are still in a love affair with the Sega Master System, and who can blame them
As a Brazilian living abroad, I can say that there's no single solution for piracy there, but one of the most effective measures would be to truly invest on Brazil as a booming market not only for consoles, but for electronics in general. Sadly, companies such as Sony and Nintendo still see Brazil as a second-rate market plagued by piracy issues, when Brazilians are more than eager to pay fair prices for original products.
Back in the 8/16-bit era, SEGA saw this opportunity and through a partnership with TecToy basically ruled the console market with the Master System and the Mega Drive. The NES never really entered the Brazilian market (except through clones, the best of them being the Phantom System — which was way cooler than the original NES — and VERY late with a licenced NES manufactured by Playtronic when the SNES was already in the market). The Super Nintendo had to be imported until 1993, when it was again licenced to Playtronic, but the Brazilian SNES was quickly smothered by the first Playstation.
Right now, the only company that's really taking the Brazilian market seriously is MS. They are manufacturing the X1 on Brazilian soil and will sell it at a competitive price. Sony wants to keep selling the PS3 there for some years, since they only managed to really enter the Brazilian market with it on the final years of it's cycle due to very stupid pricing and marketing, which they are repeating with the PS4.
Nintendo apparently doesn't really care, since Reggie stated that "Brazil's manufacturing industry lacks the technical capabilities to produce a Nintendo game system". Which is insulting to say the least, since Microsoft, Intel and even Apple manufacture their products there.
@danbatalha Exactly, those prices are quite reasonable, but it won't sell much because the players around here preffer playing a generic FPS or some sports-related game =P
@Edge_Diest You're right. In BGS they presented the most selling games in Brazil this year:
1 – FIFA 13
2 – Pro Evolution Soccer 2013
3 – Gran Theft Auto V
4 – God of War: Ascension
5 – The Last of Us
6 – Call of Duty: Black Ops I
7 – Just Dance 4
8 – Assassin’s Creed III
9 – Grand Theft Auto IV
10 – Assasin’s Creed II
@KevTastic84
Seriously, nobody buys it anymore.
@fchinaski That was very informative. Thank you.
@Nareva My pleasure
Most international couriers don't even offer insurance to Brazilian customers, due to the high volume of "lost" packages and claims, so yes, there are definite marketing hurdles. The country, perhaps unfairly, has sort of earned a reputation for being high risk for piracy and fraudulence.
Though I firmly believe that the best way to combat piracy is to offer a superior product at an attractive price point. Brazil, though a booming and emerging market, still doesn't have a lot of attractive legitimate options for high end electronics. If Nintendo sets up shop and manufactures all Brazilian consoles in Brazil, they would support the local economy, be in a position to maintain competitive pricing, and discourage ne'er-do-wells from illegitimate importing and trading.
No need to gouge honest Brazilian customers with ridiculous import fees. The country has the infrastructure to make their own electronics. Use it, and forget about import fees.
I'm also from Brazil and bought my Wii U during a trip to the US last January. I think that the official price of the Wii U here is a bit steep, but at least it is in the same league as X1 (which can achieve this price as it is manufactured here) and not the absurd price Sony set for PS4.
I'm glad to see that Nintendo is finally releasing the Wii U here and bringing officially imported games and accessories. So far the only game officially released for the Wii U in Brazil had been Rayman Legends as it was localized to Portuguese.
The price for games is not that unfair. You can actually get good deals if you look around. But the price for the systems is insane, and 80% of the blame goes to our greedy government and its taxes.
We also have to take into account that, right now, if you create a Nintendo profile stating you're from Brazil, you have no access to the eShop. Hopefully that'll change once the system is actually sold here. And one can only hope that, by the time Christmas blows through, those prices will drop a bit.
By the way, I commented a few weeks ago about the supposed prices for Disney Infinity and its figures? They're confirmed. Right now, the start kit is going for 145 dollars, the play sets go for 80 dollars, the three figure set is 70 dollars (and apparently only the sidekicks one is available), each figure is 35 bucks and the power disc pack goes for 15 dollars.
That's why the government fights for a higher exchange rate. They want to help the export market and try to curb international sales, since even with the dollar rates at 2+ to 1, it's sometime cheaper to import products.
@Savino Microsoft is not recognizing anything. They have already set up shop due to their computer side of business, so it's easier for them to "lose money" with games when they can make up for it with the computer stuff. Nintendo already said they wanted to build systems here but bureaucracy and taxes pretty much killed that deal. Get your head out of the sand.
@Savino Nintendo is not necessarily being greedy. It's a different strategy, they don't want to go to the trouble of investing enough in Brazil and having to comply with our complex tax system and work regulations. It's easier to export from a short-term point of view, especially for a Japanese company. I just don't think it's wise in the long run.
The problem is the price point is too close to the Xbone, which will be manufactured in Brazil. If they had some part of their production line in the country, Nintendo could reduce the taxes on their console and then they'd be really competitive. This way, black market (illegal imports that don't pay all the taxes) will probably beat the sanctioned version of the product (it's already happening with the 3DS XL).
Yeah, it's not a rumor, it's confirmed. Nintendoworld is the official Nintendo "arm" in Brazil (it's linked at the official Nintendo website as such). Personally, I'm happy, especially since I'll be able to access the Wii U e-Shop as a Brazilian, and not as a, um, Canadian. The price is quite high, but that's to be expected if you have any knowledge of Brazilian electronic taxes. At least it's still cheaper than the Xbox One and (especially) the PS4.
The problem is that there are many, many sellers in the country who keep managing to import the console and sell it cheaper. I bought my basic edition six months ago for 999 reais (around 450 USD), while the same seller had the deluxe version with Nintendo Land for 1399 (around 750 USD). Both those prices, while high, are more competitive than the official price, and I foresee those importers continuing to use them.
And also, releasing the console in Brazil certainly doesn't mean that "Nintendo has found a solution to these problems". Every Nintendo console is released in the country eventually. It's just too big a market, especially with rising purchase power in recent years.
@fchinaski Actually @Savino is not completely wrong. It's not about profit margin, but the truth is Japanese companies do have a exaggerated, borderline racist attitude towards emerging markets in general and Brazil in particular. Being an American company, Microsoft is way more understanding of the Brazilian ways of doing business. They have made a big effort to guarantee their leadership in the console race here.
And by the way: I think Nintendo systems have HUGE potential in the country. The problem is there's virtually no effort on part of Nintendo: no advertising, no Club Nintendo rewards, nothing. If Nintendo wanted to actually invest in manufacturing its consoles here, it would have a serious opportunity to practice lower prices and potentially run away with the market.
Mario is hugely popular here; I've seen him used in posters by stores that specialize in Playstation and Xbox products, to give you an idea. The other day, I entered a big electronics store in my city which had a video gaming section, in which it sold Playstation 3 consoles/games/accessories and Nintendo... plushies. Nintendo's characters hold huge market potential, and yet remain a wasted opportunity thanks to Nintendo's insufficient effort.
I wish Nintendo took action and decided to do what SEGA did in the 90's (basically, they actually invested in the country, had a famous official representative company here, and this meant both the Master System and the Mega Drive sold in droves in the country from the early 90's well into the 2000's). Alas.
@ricklongo I agree. The Wii U is manufactured by Foxconn, same company that makes the iPad in Brazil. So their main manufacturer already has a factory in the country.
@kidicaroots Yeah, this is basically what I've been saying
Wii U will cost about same as a PS4 in Brazil and the Xbox One will be 800 big ones less. Love how the prices in the Brazilian gaming market are so upside down from the rest of the world.
@RancidVomit86 It's not only the gaming market, I'll tell you that.
The average annual income is less in Brazil compare to Canada and US, you would think that they would sell it at a discount in these countries. When I visited New Zealand and Australia two years ago, I couldn't believe the price for new games.
@RancidVomit86 Wii U won't cost the same as PS4 in Brazil, pay attention.
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