Toki Tori 2 is finally available on the Wii U eShop today. The game has a normal retail price of $14.99, however, for a limited time, the game will be available for a 10% discount, dropping the price to $13.50. A lot of people have been looking forward to this game from Two Tribes, so now is the time to buy.
Reggie Fils-Aime, the President of Nintendo of America, has made it clear that they “don’t believe in pricing a product and then having to reduce the price some short time later”, and:
When we had to do that for 3DS, it was a very painful proposition for us. And what we did with the Wii at $249 and leaving it there for, I think, about three and a half years is very much consistent with our pricing philosophy.
It’s probably an uphill battle to regain the confidence of some early adopters, but I think there’s more to lose from a price drop than they could ever gain. Any price drop within a year or so of the Wii U coming out would just be encouraging people once again to hold-off from buying a system on day one.
(via gamesindustry.biz)
According to industry analyst Michael Pachter, along with the analyst firm with which he works, the Wii U’s price points “are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo’s core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand given current competition from other consoles and tablets”. As a result:
We don’t expect a price cut until summer 2013, at the earliest, but do expect a cut prior to holiday 2013. Any prospective price cut will depend largely on competition, which we expect to materialize in the coming weeks.
Of course, this is Pachter we’re talking about. He guessed the reverse for the 3DS, figuring the handheld would sell well at a higher price, so this feels more like a random guess at this point.
Nintendo of Australia has revealed that Australia will receive the “Basic” and “Premium” bundles that are planned for the rest of the world on the 30th of November. This coincides with the release date in Europe. Price-wise, you can pick-up the Basic bundle for $349.95, while the Premium bundle will cost $429.95.
Satoru Iwata has revealed that the Wii U will be available in Japan on the 8th of December. There will be two bundles available. The “Basic” bundle, which has 8GB of storage, will cost ¥26,250. This is roughly $340 USD. The “Premium” bundle, which has 32GB of storage, will cost ¥31,500, which is about $405 USD.
Video Product Distributors, the company that supplies stock to companies such as Amazon and Blockbuster, have possibly leaked the Wii U release date and price, listing the following information in their database:
As you can see, there appears to be three separate bundles, all of which are set to be released on the 11th of November. Time-wise, it makes sense, and the price of $249.99 would definitely be a big reason for people to pick-up the console. What do you think? Real? Fake? Discuss!
According to a French retailer, the Wii U will be available in Europe on the 7th of December for €349. Price-wise, I think that number seems a bit too high, but the release date feels like it could be accurate. There were already rumblings about the platform coming to Europe in December. These retailer listings in general can be iffy though. I wouldn’t bet on their accuracy while they continue to contradict one another.
(via jeuxactu.com)