Nintendo will announce the Wii U price this Autumn, the company confirmed in a Q&A session with investors. Iwata pointed out that despite rumors and industry expectations, Nintendo had no plans of announcing a Wii U price at E3. Iwata said that when the Wii and 3DS were unveiled at their E3 shows, the price of those consoles wasn’t revealed either. Nintendo revealed the Wii price a few months before launch, and the company is taking the same route with the Wii U. The pricing will likely be announced at least a month before launch, in order to give retailers time to prepare and promote the console.
While Nintendo will be setting the Wii U price in the US, European retailers are free to set their own price. Over the past few weeks, Nintendo has given several comments on the Wii U price and their plans for the console. Iwata has repeatedly said that the Wii U price will be reasonable, while other Nintendo folks have said that despite a reasonable price, Nintendo will still make a profit on each Wii U console sold.
Recently, a report from UK retailers suggested that the Wii U price will be under £250 in the country, and possibly a lot less. Nintendo understands that the video game market isn’t the same as it was when the Wii launched — the economy isn’t doing as well and console gaming is facing stiff competition from mobile and casual games. This means pricing the console correctly at launch will have a huge impact on sales and gamers’ approval, as Nintendo learned from the 3DS launch.
