Euro Rumor: UK Wii Launch Date, Price, Game Number

[Sooj]

Today's print edition of British tabloid Daily Star claims to have a lot of crucial Wii launch details, at least for Britain. Per journalist Paul Malley's story, the system is to launch "at the end of November" for a price of "£170" with "two dozen games." Other than that, the article lists some of the various activities Wii's remote allows, such as tennis, fishing pole, steering wheel, and sword and shield.

Given that Nintendo stated this week that release dates wouldn't be broken until September, we're not certain this story is valid, especially since it starts out with a comment that the new console was "unveiled yesterday." We have an email out to the writer to verify.

Thanks to reader Martin S. for the tip

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/view_item.php?1152384553

Apart from the late november rumour everything else sounds really great. But I need it now! :P

[Charlie]

There was an event a couple of days ago for non-gaming journalists, maybe they heard other people talk about it there? I think £170 is too much for it actually, I reckon they've got the release date just about right though.

[AshMat]

Woah, 170£ for the Wii and two dozen games|!!!!!
*cough*

Anwyway, sounds good enough for me

[Goron_3]

Nintendo's aim is to appeal to the mainstream audience, and £170 is WAY to much for that. I don't see my non-gamer friends saying 'Oh way, Wii sports...only £170!!!'.

Hopefully, this is all speculation.

[demonmike04]

You do realize it was the daily star that this info came from right...?

[BGS]

You do realize it was the daily star that this info came from right...?
I was just about to say that!...

The Daily Star is probably the most unreliable 'red top' aside from the sport.

[demonmike04]

Wait..you guys are thinking £170 is too much? Wow, the max i'd pay is £200.
Im expecting £150 though, hope my guess is true or it is less.

[The3rdChildren]

Compared to the launch price of the other "next gen" consoles, and previous console launch prices in Europe, that is pretty cheap. Nintendo set themselves a low start with GameCube and I think it's natural we all expect that once again with the Wii. Hopefully we'll get it - less launch means more money for mames.

I meant games, I just wanted to keep the m-train chugging along.

[Dcubed]

I reckon this is BS, why would Nintendo choose to reveal a price via the Daily Mail?. The Wii is coming out before the PS3, that is a fact. Therefore it cant come out in late November (Which would be way too close to Christmas to sell the console properly). Also 24 games is a bit much (Not even the 360 with it's rush job launch had that many games) and the price could only be real if it came with Wii Sports, Music and Motor Sports (This would actually be a very good price and very much mass market if it came with these games)

Though I would love to see Ninty sell the console for £169.99 with Wii Sports, Music and Motor Sports packed in, I don't think Ninty is smart enough to do that :angry:

[AshMat]

How is £170 expensive? It's still a lot cheaper than Xbox 360's core system.
£170 is a very reasonable price for a home console. Plus, it's £10 cheaper than the PSP was at launch.

[Smiter]

I reckon this is BS, why would Nintendo choose to reveal a price via the Daily Mail?

Er, it's the Daily Star. Quite possibly the least trustworthy rag in this country.

As I said in the R-E news forum, I don't believe a word of that article. We won't get any real information until Nintendo chooses to officially unveil it before/during September. As we all know, they are very good at keeping their cards close to their chest.

Just for fun, I'm guessing late October/early November European release. As others have already said, Nintendo has already begun manufacturing the retail Wii consoles and they want to be out before PS3. Since the Wii is "easy to make", an October release is very possible (and it's still in Q4 2006) without severe console shortages.

Price-wise, I agree £150 (inc VAT and without games) sounds like the sweet spot. Let's see, eh?

[Tellyn]

Wait..you guys are thinking £170 is too much? Wow, the max i'd pay is £200.
Im expecting £150 though, hope my guess is true or it is less.

Not everyone is rich. :shakehead

[ShadowV7]

All fake,not even a good newspaper compared to the rest.Why do people always assume they know the info we want or state the obvious,oh well it is the world of journalism :p

[demonmike04]

Not everyone is rich. :shakehead
I was saying it as my personal preference, but hey, even if it was that price, people should save up a little. Its definitly not going to break the bank at that price.

I am expecting cheaper, but i will take a Wii at £170.

[Owen]

I'll buy a Wii for £170 but thats too....how to put it.....erm....much? It's not expensive and i'm not saying the console isn't worth £170 but i just feel Nintendo have to release it for £149.99 or less.

Anyway i'm not believing this! I will be quite dissapointed if it's released here end-of November as well!

Roll on September for the official statement!

[Smowza]

If this is around the price then i'm not surprised.... i've posted before that i thought it would be around £160 - £180. That price range is fine by me, but i do think it should come with either the classic controller (or light gun attachment) or some VC game downloads for free... i miss nice bundles like the good old days of the NES and SNES.

[DCK]

Meh, they took available info (all announced launch games and the max $250 price) for granted. It seems realistic though, but it's probably 20 pounds cheaper.

[Jamba]

Cmon... the journalist just probably wasn't even listening properly. Complete Dodongo shite...

[AshMat]

You do realise nintendo also have to make a profit on this, its not just wether you like the price or not

[Jamba]

You do realise nintendo also have to make a profit on this, its not just wether you like the price or not

I wouldn't be pleased by this price but I wouldn't be that angry either. My point is the obvious fakeness of the articly from this drivle of a newspaper. Why would they know what the price is and no one else? Did they think the Star journalist was too drunk to remember or was is that the people at the Star don't care/know about / read an NDA?

[Nintendo Fan]

If nintendo was to reveal the price wouldn't they have a press conference or something instead of releasing it first on the Daily star?

£170 Doesnt sound to bad. (I bought my GC with 1 game at launch for £170)
I don't think there will be 24 games at launch, but i know theres going to be loads :)

[AshMat]

ok so:
Iwata: We're dropping it to £150
Some Nintendo Guy: But we'll lose money!
Iwata: Yes, but people want the rumours to be correct
SNG: But..
Iwata: And, people want it to be £150, and we want to be popular

[Jamba]

ok so:
Iwata: We're dropping it to £150
Some Nintendo Guy: But we'll lose money!
Iwata: Yes, but people want the rumours to be correct
SNG: But..
Iwata: And, people want it to be £150, and we want to be popular

Oh c'mon... use your head a little bit. It's common knowledge that the perception of the price of any product can be greatky influenced by very small changes in actual price. This is why everything in UK is sold for £1.99 or £19.99 instead of £2 or £20. They seem a lot cheaper. So although £20 is not a big difference in itself it can be percieved as a lot more.

Also there are mental price brackets that products fall into. £100-£150 is easily one and £150-£200 is another. If it sold in the higher of these two, it would be considered a bit cheaper than the 360 but if it is sold in the lower, it becomes a LOT cheaper. It starts being seen as affordable in comparison to the rest of the market.

And yes, Nintendo do do market research to find out whta is "affordable". So in some ways you are right. Not that you are really.

[Cubechris]

The Gamecube was to cheap to begin with, giving Nintendo very little leway for price cuts. Ofcourse I was happy though. £130 at launch, yeah alright :)

[Fierce_LiNk]

I think anything from £130-170 is fine. £180 depending on what you get with the console (bundles, etc).

If they announced that the console would be retailing for 300 quid, THATS when you should be worried. :laughing:

[DCK]

Going under the $200/€200 barrier makes a huge difference - it makes it look dirt cheap in comparison to the 360 and the PS3 simply because the first digit is 1. Nintendo will choose the strategy which will give the best result but that doesn't mean profit automatically. If Nintendo can achieve a larger userbase with more aggressive pricing it will gain them more profit in the longer run. That's why I'm pretty certain Nintendo will go under the $/€200 pricepoint, and that means the Wii will be about £130-140 in Britain.

[Mikey]

£170 is too much. £150 is the max I'm willing to go. It's not that I can't afford £170, it's just a matter of principal for me.

[mike-zim]

well i will buy the console anywhere up to £200. i have a budget of £300. but i want extras like at least 2 controlers nunchuk and 3 games. this is minimum for me.

[Tellyn]

I'm under the impression that a wrist strap will be included seeing as they don't want broken controllers or objects that the controllers are dropped on/thrown at.

[Colin]

I can't see it being sold for above £150...........and I will be struggling to find the cash if it's around the £200 mark (although student loan may come in handy there).

[Sooj]

£200 is the maximum price I would spend on any console (exluding games, extra controllers etc) so I will definitly be buying a Wii but hopefully, not for me but for most casual gamers the price will be £150 max. £170 for a Wii does actually seems pretty pricey.

They can always make a small loss on the console and make it all back with the games...as the trend goes in todays generation.

[welsh_gamer]

I think it will be £159.99 and will come with Wii sports. Then games will have an RRP of £39.99 - £44.99. Then hopefully GAME will do a good Wii package deal, seeing their Nintendo fanboys all of a sudden!

[mike-zim]

yeah i will be trying to save as much as possible and trying to get the best package possible. one that gives me the most money off.