Drink In Cheap Wii! Sub-£100 Gathers Pace

Nintendo Europe bossman stresses affordability

Posted by Staff
Believe!
Believe!
Good news for all gamers emerged earlier this week, as a serious Japanese analyst went on record to claim Nintendo will likely launch the Wii at well under $200 in the US, likely to translate to £150 in the UK on day one, arguably under even the most optimistic of predictions.

Tokyo-based Nikko Citigroup's recent report on the games industry, focusing on Nintendo's continually surging share price, claims the mainstream target demographic will not be asked for more than 19,800 yen for the basic hardware bundle.

Using exact currency conversions, this translates to a mere £90, a shade over $170 for the US and 133 Euros. Though of course, should Nikko Citigroup's Japanese pricepoint be correct, the price will be adjusted for Europe, the UK and the US, likely working against British gamers. Understand that in spite of our surging currency value, in real terms we are probably paying the cost of a few pints of Stella more than anyone else.

As you'll be aware, Nintendo is expected to make a serious announcement regarding the Wii in Leipzig next week. Price and release date have been closely guarded thus far. Indeed, check the exclusive interview we just published with the new boss of Nintendo Europe Laurent Fischer who, when pressed on Wii pricing said:

"Nintendo is always working in the same way. E3 was the first time we had demonstrated anything to the public on Wii. What we offered was an invitation to come, play, understand and share our joy to play. People are already willing to come down a very new road with us. Price doesn't matter at the moment. Other stuff doesn't matter at the moment. It's something we'll announce later on. It's going to be an affordable price, and every time we've made a promise using the word affordable, we've kept it and we will do when we finally announce the price. It's going to be later on..."

Make of that what you will. SPOnG believes we're all in for a nice surprise rather than a nasty shock.

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Comments

Showing the 20 most recent comments. Read all 133.
wiiwillwin 21 Aug 2006 22:30
114/133
When someone is attacking you and using foul language against you then it's obvious that they're trying to offend you. It's up to you whether you take offense and how you react. I believe it depends on how rude they are and why.

[humour] But if they're not then you should shutup![humour/]
e.g if they just drop one in like this 'oh by the way, little gay Cyprus sells loads of psp's...' get me?
tyrion 22 Aug 2006 07:41
115/133
wiiwillwin wrote:
When someone is attacking you and using foul language against you then it's obvious that they're trying to offend you. It's up to you whether you take offense and how you react. I believe it depends on how rude they are and why.

I think the issue here, at least as far as I was concerned, was that your very first post was slagging someone off, and their entire country, in an insulting way.

You may have been reading the formus for a while and got a handle on the style of banter that goes on round here, but there is a small problem with posting like that straight away; nobody else knew you.

If you've been posting for a while, then people have got used to your style of writing, your "voice" if you will, and can accept that you are probably joking. However, if it's your first post or even a reasonably early one, say up to 25-30 then most people will have no idea how you write.

If your early posts are jokingly insulting, it can come across as actually insulting because we don't know if you are joking or not.

The problem is that first impressions count just as much on an Internet forum as they do in face-to-fact communication. Jump in with both feet and you may leave big footprints.
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wiiwillwin 22 Aug 2006 17:28
116/133
even a reasonably early one, say up to 25-30 then most people will have no idea how you write.

That's enough 25-30 posts. How many did I post up to now? I think your right but I didn't hear anyone complaining about drfaulk overeacting.

Btw I had a witty or 'smart-ass' answer to your whole 'ireland is bigger then Cyprus' thing but I didn't say it. This shows I didn't mean to offend anybody on my first post.

Btw when are you going to tell us the 'pleasent ps3 surprise' information?

Btwwhy don't the backspaces on this work properly?
wiiwillwin 22 Aug 2006 17:53
117/133
You've got some real balls, f**k-face.
How about you internet nerds start talking online the way you'd talk to my god damn face.
Hey, cock-sucker

S**t, I was confused there for a second

Half you assholes can't argue for s**t and throw methods of discussion out the window because one or two people get their facts slightly blurred.
It's alright for people to say these things but it's not alright to say 'little gay ireland'


Looking back on this I should of been more pissed of. Other people were saying stuff to him like

'uh..huh.. Now I can confirm it...you know nothing about GPU's!'
or

'LOL! I can't believe you believe the bullshit nintendo feeds you! you can live in your imaginiry world if you want to, where nintendo is no.1' and It seemed to him like everybody was doing it.

And then I just come and make a point and he takes out on me! wtf? And now, now that i've reread everything I doute he found 'little gay ireland' offensive. He just used it as an excuse to attack me. So he can relieve his anger, because I was new and he was scared of everyone else.

But it did seem like I was attacking him now i've reread my post, it seemed liked I was attacking him coz everybody else was, but I wasn't.
Ditto 22 Aug 2006 18:23
118/133
wiiwillwin wrote:
And then I just come and make a point and he takes out on me! wtf? And now, now that i've reread everything I doute he found 'little gay ireland' offensive. He just used it as an excuse to attack me. So he can relieve his anger, because I was new and he was scared of everyone else.

But it did seem like I was attacking him now i've reread my post, it seemed liked I was attacking him coz everybody else was, but I wasn't.


I think we're getting a bit of "established community syndrome", maybe.

I'd just forget about it for now, and try and move on. We can debate who offended who and what this means for forever and a day :).

New discussions beckon :)
wiiwillwin 22 Aug 2006 18:35
119/133
Yeah...actually the real reason why i'm posting is because I want to make this thread as long as possible.
PreciousRoi 22 Aug 2006 19:15
120/133
wiiwillwin wrote:
You've got some real balls, f**k-face.
How about you internet nerds start talking online the way you'd talk to my god damn face.
Hey, cock-sucker

S**t, I was confused there for a second

Half you assholes can't argue for s**t and throw methods of discussion out the window because one or two people get their facts slightly blurred.
It's alright for people to say these things but it's not alright to say 'little gay ireland'


Looking back on this I should of been more pissed of. Other people were saying stuff to him like

'uh..huh.. Now I can confirm it...you know nothing about GPU's!'
or

'LOL! I can't believe you believe the bullshit nintendo feeds you! you can live in your imaginiry world if you want to, where nintendo is no.1' and It seemed to him like everybody was doing it.

And then I just come and make a point and he takes out on me! wtf? And now, now that i've reread everything I doute he found 'little gay ireland' offensive. He just used it as an excuse to attack me. So he can relieve his anger, because I was new and he was scared of everyone else.

But it did seem like I was attacking him now i've reread my post, it seemed liked I was attacking him coz everybody else was, but I wasn't.


Look pal, analyze and justify this in your mind how ever you want. Bottom Line, you swung first. It had nothing to do with what anyone else was saying, it had everything to do with you trying to discredit his opinion by throwing a cheap, juvenile insult aimed at his country of origin and the statistic itself. (Ireland is gay, therefore its handheld sales stats are an abberation and can be discounted) Think of it like this, you came into a pub and said something you probably shouldn't have to one of the regulars. Whine about the consequences of something like that around here, the cops will tell you to stay out of the pubs.

As to the privacy issue...you totally deserved that.

Admit that you were at fault, no ifs, buts, candy, or nuts, then move on and you might gain more by it than continued prevarication.
wiiwillwin 23 Aug 2006 11:57
121/133
It had nothing to do with what anyone else was saying,
YES IT DID!! HE ADMITED IT HIMSELF!!!
tyrion 23 Aug 2006 12:18
122/133
wiiwillwin wrote:
even a reasonably early one, say up to 25-30 then most people will have no idea how you write.

That's enough 25-30 posts. How many did I post up to now? I think your right but I didn't hear anyone complaining about drfaulk overeacting.

Perhaps I should have qualified my statement with the word "useful". Posting "he said, she said" comments or replying to yourself to cover more ground doesn't do much for your credibility.

By now, I'm sure most people here will have formed an opinion of you, it might not be a favourable one. If you do wish to be on good terms with people here, you might consider changing your posting style. You might even choose to post in more than one thread.

As to dr_faulk, his initial reply to you was his 27th message since he started posting here in March. He was well on his way to establishing his "voice" on the forums.
dr_faulk 23 Aug 2006 16:39
123/133
wiiwillwin wrote:
[b]Looking back on this I should of been more pissed of. Other people were saying stuff to him like

'uh..huh.. Now I can confirm it...you know nothing about GPU's!'
or

'LOL! I can't believe you believe the bullshit nintendo feeds you! you can live in your imaginiry world if you want to, where nintendo is no.1' and It seemed to him like everybody was doing it.


You're right. =( And I apologise profusely. That other s**t-head was making me pretty angry with his sarky comments, and I did state this earlier, but what you said was the straw the broke the camels back (poked the camel's eyeballs were my exact words).

I wasn't scared, just pissed off, and it wasn't because you were new either - I've never even noticed the number of posts somebody has made until recently.

I totally over reacted and apologise. But maybe next time we can keep comments about people's countries aside? =D
dr_faulk 23 Aug 2006 16:41
124/133
So on the topic....

Are we really going to get this sub £100 Wii? I wish Nintendo would feck that TGS nonsense and just announce it!
PreciousRoi 23 Aug 2006 18:59
125/133
OK if you want to say you overreacted, fine. You weren't the only one who was offended by what he calls
wiiwillwin wrote:
...I just come and make a point...
which I take as referring to the post where he says:
wiiwillwin wrote:
In your gay little country of Ireland...
. And I found his distress at not being as safely anonymous as he thought he was in his tiny glass house almost as amusing as the virtual musc of its panes facing Eire smashing in retrospect.
DoctorDee 23 Aug 2006 18:59
126/133
dr_faulk wrote:
Are we really going to get this sub £100 Wii? I wish Nintendo would feck that TGS nonsense and just announce it!


I don;t think so. It MAY be launched in Japan at a figure that equated to £97.56 or something, but once the wonders of global exploitation (and 17.5% VAT!!!!) have had their way, we'll be looking at £139.99.

I hope I'm wrong - but to be honest, as long as it's under £200, I'm having one!


PreciousRoi 23 Aug 2006 19:07
127/133
thats sub-$200.00 US (in US, obviously?)right?
TigerUppercut 23 Aug 2006 20:31
128/133
DoctorDee wrote:

I hope I'm wrong - but to be honest, as long as it's under £200, I'm having one!

Nintendo has two choices:

It acquires more marketshare at a lower pricepoint or it makes more money at a higher one.

Obvious I know. £200 in the UK wouldn't surprise me. Perhaps ever £229. Equally £170 or so is a possibility. £200 with two WiiMotes and Zelda makes a strong offering. Pick up Monkey Ball day one along with Red Steel. Then lock all the doors!
TigerUppercut 23 Aug 2006 20:38
129/133
tyrion 24 Aug 2006 07:25
130/133
TigerUppercut wrote:

If it's 250 EUR, it'll be more like £180 than £170.

Under 250 EUR directly equates to under £168.94, add the UK's higher VAT on to it, plus a little "rip-off Britain" tax and we're at £180 no problem. See the PSP, it was 250 EUR and £180.

That said, I'm with the doc, sub £200 and it's moving to my house.
dr_faulk 24 Aug 2006 09:18
131/133
But doesn't everyone agree that it'll still be more attractive since the games will be max €60, instead of €70 or €80 (X360).

I wonder how much extra Wii controllers will cost.
Ditto 24 Aug 2006 11:52
132/133
dr_faulk wrote:
But doesn't everyone agree that it'll still be more attractive since the games will be max €60, instead of €70 or €80 (X360).


But we don't *know* that yet. Just specuation...
dr_faulk 24 Aug 2006 13:13
133/133
Okay, I agree with you that it's not confirmed, but how the hell could they cost anymore? All this talk of cut-down development time and cheaper dev-kits means that the games should stay the same price, or even be cheaper!
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