Prior to last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo trade show, one of the big rumors swirling was that Nintendo would drop the price of its Wii U console. Well, E3 came and went, and Nintendo made no pricing moves — and that’s not going to change any time soon, according to a company exec.
“We have no plans to change the price of Wii U,” Nintendo VP of marketing told GamesBeat in an interview. “The Wii U is a great value. With great content coming, that will drive the hardware installed base. We’ve gone from being the highest-priced console on the market to now being a great value with the announcements from our competitors.”
During E3, Microsoft priced Xbox One at $500, and Sony positioned the PlayStation 4 at $400. The Wii U sits $50 below that at $350 for the Deluxe model bundled with Nintendo Land. Nintendo thinks this comparison will help it going forward.
“The perception of our price has changed, but what’s also changed is that people now see what great content is coming,” said Moffit. “They’ll see the value in those games. They’ll be able to enjoy a Wii U in their household for a lot less than a competing console.”
Of course, the Wii U does not compare favorably to Microsoft’s and Sony’s previous systems. Microsoft is currently selling a 250GB Xbox 360 bundled with two games for $300. Sony has a 500GB PlayStation 3 bundled with Assassin’s Creed III for the same price.
Nintendo thinks that its “great content,” as Moffit puts it, will help it stand out this holiday season. GamesBeat got to go hands on with most of those games at E3, and we came away happy with what we played but also unconvinced that the publisher’s roster can withstand two major console launches.