Fri, Jun 08, 2012 | 07:14 BST
Fils-Aime: Wii U launch price to “represent an ongoing great value”
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime expects you to be “pleasantly surprised” by the Wii U’s pricing.
“Nintendo believes in being a mass market product, so unlike our competitors when they’ve launched historical systems to maybe start at a really high price and work their way down, we don’t believe in that,” Fils-Aime told IGN, as reported by GamesIndustry.
“We want to launch at a price that’s going to represent an ongoing great value. How do we launch at a value that we’re going to be able to sustain for a long time? I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised, if you will, about the way we’re managing the value equation.”
The executive noted that despite Nintendo’s E3 focus on the Wii U’s innovative features, the company expects to meet core demands – but that the console’s more unique facets will prove their chops further down the track.
“What I’ve heard the fan community say is, ‘I want my Mario, I want my Zelda and I want the best of third party’ and that’s what we’re looking to bring to consumers,” he said.
“So in the end, the consumer choice is going to be once I buy my Wii U that satisfies my Nintendo cravings, cravings for all these other great multiplatform franchises, then what is the role of a competitive platform? And to me that is the million dollar question.”
The Wii U has not been dated.
7 comments
#1
Moonwalker1982
08/06/12, 7:27 am
Ok that’s good news i guess, its just that there’s practically no reason to get one. Pikmin and Mario? No way, personally i’m a bit tired of Mario and if anything, they should’ve showed a new 3D Mario. Too much multiplats coming anyway, sorry Nintendo, you have to come with alot more.
#2
DaveDogg
08/06/12, 9:40 am
While i loved the pikmin presentation i saw nothing to make me think that there is anything inside the box than current gen tech the same tech that several of the 3rd party devs have been telling is out of date for the last 2 years.
now if the the next gen consoles hit holiday (xmas) 2013 with high end gubbins where exactly does that leave the Wii U as far as the 3rd party devs are concerned and if and i do say if that means that the the Wii U is relavent for a year or so will that price represent good value?
#3
manamana
08/06/12, 9:58 am
DaveDogg hit the nail so hefty on the head, just leaves me writing +1
#4
The_Red
08/06/12, 11:08 am
@2
I think if PS4 and next Xbox are indeed much stronger machines (As opposed to rumored lighter ones that follow Nintendo’s way of thinking), Wii U will end up in the same exact position that Wii was this gen. Graphically one generation behind along with a control scheme that most multi-platform titles won’t use.
Of course another possibility is that 3rd parties will port PS4/Xbox 3 games to Wii U with weaker graphics ala Modern Warfare Reflex Edition (Wii port of MW1).
#5
ManuOtaku
08/06/12, 12:30 pm
“So in the end, the consumer choice is going to be once I buy my Wii U that satisfies my Nintendo cravings, cravings for all these other great multiplatform franchises, then what is the role of a competitive platform? And to me that is the million dollar question.
And thats exactly the main reason for me to be picking every nintendo console, now if they have an strong third party support, then is a great plus, i hope the release is a month prior to christmas time, and with pikmin and scriblenauts in the upfront, the rest will be a win-win case for me.
#6
Sini
08/06/12, 6:52 pm
wii wasnt a great value, it still isn’t. Neither was 3ds. Wtf does nintendo know about great value.
#7
DonnyKD
20/06/12, 11:30 am
@6,
That crack you use, can I have some?