The Video Game Critic

My wife wants to get me one for Christmas, which is great, but I feel bad having her spend $299 on me when it could very well drop to $249 or lower the next week.  What do you think... is a price drop likely?

I guess the Wii U could drop its price right after Christmas but I don't see the point. Sure it might pick up sales from the money people tend to get after XMas but I don't see why they wouldn't drop it before X-Mas then. I'm sure it's going to drop soon but there has been no information from Nintendo to confirm if they are planning on dropping the price (the 3DS price dropped out in the middle of nowhere).

For their sake, I hope not.  What they seriously need is a price drop before Christmas, get as many consoles into consumers hands while the shopping is good.  I think after Christmas it would be too late; anyone who wanted a new console already got one, and most people are tight on money anyway.  I'm not interested in any console at their current prices, but I could be tempted to pick up a Wii U if they dropped the price in the next two weeks. 

I agree with C64 Critic.  If Nintendo had one advantage this holiday, it would be to drastically undercut its competitors in price and really work on building up its base.  

Unfortunately Nintendo doesn't seem to have much direction (or sense) now days. Hopefully they know something we don't.

Cutting the price again so soon just will put more coal on the fire. Those that think the Wii U is doomed will gain more evidence that it is and those that fear it's doomed will start thinking that there's no saving it. And the media will be interpreting it in such a manner rather than in a positive way due to the timing. And Christmas shopping especially for such an expensive purchase is done or already planned right now so a major price drop now would have little effect on this Christmas.

They've already provided a nice price drop just a matter of weeks ago. At least until next Fall, I hope they instead concentrate on shoring up its modest software library and improving upon their marketing. If something does need to be done at retail, further sweeten their bundle offerings to offer more value for the same price like making a nunchuk & Wiimote a standard component of each bundle along with a free copy of Wii Sports Club on top of the existing pack-in titles.  

Another price drop now just indicates the worst and that it soon won't be a going concern. 

[QUOTE]Originally Posted by videogamecritic
Unfortunately Nintendo doesn't seem to have much direction (or sense) now days. Hopefully they know something we don't.[/QUOTE]

It's amazing that they can handle the 3DS so well and the Wii U so poorly, isn't it?  With the 3DS, they gave it a significant price drop and watched their fortunes completely change after a very ho-hum launch and first 6 months.  It's now a complete monster with exclusive after exclusive getting released.  Nintendo's at a disadvantage with third parties when it comes to home consoles, though.  Nintendo decided to once again go for last gen tech and they need to own it.  Sell the system for $200 to $250 and ditch the pack in games.  True, the Super Mario/Luigi bundle is nice, but consumers are still put off by that $300 price tag.  Pack in or no, most people realize they can get a PS4 for $100 more.  Better yet, they could release a Wii U/Pro controller bundle and ax the tablet altogether.  It would save much of their production cost and they could afford a better price.  As an aside, they could also patch current games that require the tablet (like Zombi U).

Nintendo should spend advertising dough on the bundle that I recently purchased for my son's 6th birthday. I got the Wii U, along with the Mario/Luigi disc, Nintendo Land, and a Mario controller for $319. The only problem is that as far as I can tell, only Best Buy sells this bundle. It's an amazing deal, and considering that I spent $620 (!) on an X-Box One, an extra controller, and the new Call of Duty game, the Wii U Bundle gives you much, much more bang for the buck (please note the unnecessary use of bold text for added effect).