Assorted Disappointments

[exaggeration17a]

The biggest news of the day-- the announcement that I've been waiting months to hear-- has turned out to be less gratifying than anticipated. Nintendo's new console, the Wii, will be released in North America on November 19th for the price of $250. This is $50 more than what they should be charging for it. Nintendo seems to justify this price

Comments

[wisedanichi]

I'd be more disappointed if it wasn't for the prices of the other systems. That, and Wii will have a free wireless adapter and free, constant internet connection, which compares favorably to $50 for Live... the $10 difference in games also helps. I do agree that Wii Sports is no better than $5 incentive, and pales in comparison to almost any launch title that will be released.

If I have one complaint, it's that extra controllers will be expensive. I think it's $40 for a remote and $20 for the nunchuck attachment. $60 for a complete controller would be a lot to ask. I also don't know if paying $5-10 will be worth it for most of their archive (maybe for some hard-to-emulate N64 games).

[exaggeration17a]

Just because the other systems are pricy doesn't mean Nintendo should inflate the cost of their system. I actually think they were planning on selling it for $200 before reassessing the interest and deciding they could get away with charging $250 for it. I think that number could harm them because I don't know if the average consumer will be comparing features all that much.

The only defense I've heard for controller price is that the nunchuck attachment isn't essential for all games. However, even for Wii Sports Boxing, a two player match requires that both people have a remote and nunchuck.

I still think the Wii will be fun and successful. If I had any doubts, I'd wait for spring 2007 when Nintendo is supposed to release more color options. At the moment though, I just have to decide between a pre-order for launch day or holding out until the Yuletide.

[wisedanichi]

It does sound like Nintendo is charging this price because they can. They'll be selling the first console in many years that will be profitable, and not sold at a loss. I only hope that their retro controller is an option on most games, as it looks like SNES meets PlayStation's Dual Shock. That, and if the game is even half as good as the hype, putting new Zelda within a month of launch is pretty convincing for me.

It's that or the 360, and the 360 just hurt itself a little when I found out that Dead rising is HD-only. I'll just have to keep watching the release lists for the games I want.