It was widely suspected that Nintendo decided at the last minute to pull the announcement of the price it will ask for the Wii console, though in an exclusive interview with SPOnG during E3, the firm has denied this is the case.
We put this to Nintendo Europe marketing chief Laurent Fischer who denied this was the case. "We at Nintendo, we are not working in this competition area. My feelings when I saw all of the conferences was I saw one block [of console concept] which was providing one kind of way to go for videogames - Next-gen only related to graphics and power."
Laurent continued, "The price has always been the last thing we've announced. We need to deliver [Wii] in the proper way and the proper way for Nintendo is to have software to give the consumer and player what we promise and we have to have the quantity necessary to fulfil their needs. We are not launching something people cannot put their hands on."
As you'll be aware, Nintendo is absolutely focussed on seeing a profit at all ends of its business and will, without question, launch the only machine to make money from day one. However, it does seem likely that with the PlayStation 3 being pitched at between $500 and $600, the Kyoto firm might see the opportunity to increase its margin by $50 or so per unit.
In related news, Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post predicted that the Wii will hit retail for $200, a prediction that, of course, remains unconfirmed at time of press.
We'll be spending a lot more time with the dashing Laurent Fischer in the coming weeks, answering questions on all things Wii, including the chances of a European release this year. Stay, as they say, tuned.
We put this to Nintendo Europe marketing chief Laurent Fischer who denied this was the case. "We at Nintendo, we are not working in this competition area. My feelings when I saw all of the conferences was I saw one block [of console concept] which was providing one kind of way to go for videogames - Next-gen only related to graphics and power."
Laurent continued, "The price has always been the last thing we've announced. We need to deliver [Wii] in the proper way and the proper way for Nintendo is to have software to give the consumer and player what we promise and we have to have the quantity necessary to fulfil their needs. We are not launching something people cannot put their hands on."
As you'll be aware, Nintendo is absolutely focussed on seeing a profit at all ends of its business and will, without question, launch the only machine to make money from day one. However, it does seem likely that with the PlayStation 3 being pitched at between $500 and $600, the Kyoto firm might see the opportunity to increase its margin by $50 or so per unit.
In related news, Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post predicted that the Wii will hit retail for $200, a prediction that, of course, remains unconfirmed at time of press.
We'll be spending a lot more time with the dashing Laurent Fischer in the coming weeks, answering questions on all things Wii, including the chances of a European release this year. Stay, as they say, tuned.
Companies:
Nintendo
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Comments
Zippy1979 16 May 2006 09:36
1/1
I'm buying one, and the price is bound to be cheaper than 360 or ps3.