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Sizing Up Wii U's Price Tag Against History


Metal Ghost

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http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/177337/Sizing_up_Wii_Us_price_tag_against_history.php

 

Good read. It was intersting to see it spelled out that the Wii U represents the most expensive Nintendo console launched, ever! Huh, I wouldn't have thought of it like that.

 

On a side note, read the author's last paragraph too. Very interesting....I hadn't heard that take expressed before, really.

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It's a great article. I have looked into the cost of consoles with inflation in the past--but not even close to as completely.

 

I do note that personal electronics tend not to follow the general curve of inflation very well. A walkman or discman cost about what an ipod does, for example (give or take).

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console-prices-relative-2.png

 

yeah, it's funny how people complain how expensive game systems are but while yes, they are expensive, they're no more expensive than in the past and even cheaper than in the past. I remember getting so excited to get a 2600. My dad saw an amazing sale at Toys R Us for $140. We ran through our toy mecca, grabbed that paper ticket, and got our dream machine. And that machine could take abuse that only little kids barely old enough to hold a joystick could dish out.

 

All reminiscence aside, Nintendo has always made a profit on every machine they sold from day 1 of that machine's life. That's why it was acceptable that people a good chunk of people never bought many games for the Wii because simply buying the machine would make Nintendo money. While game attachment rates were lower on the Wii than the 360/PS3, because there were sheer volumes of Wii owners, the games still sold like gangbusters. NPD was dominated for a few years by Wii titles. So much so, that NPD had to combine game titles to dilute the Wii titles (instead of showing Call of Duty 360 sales and PS3 sales separately, they were now just CoD sales) off the rankings.

 

The only machine in its entire history to not make a profit initially was the 3DS and that's only after they were severely pressured by the lack of sales at launch. Only lack of sales will cause them to reduce the price on the Wii U.

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Curious about that chart...how accurate is it? I got a 5200 at launch (well, it was for Xmas 1982, IIRC the launch was in November), and my parents paid $289 for it. I'm sure some of the other prices may be off as well, but that one jumps out at me.

Plus also putting things a little more into perspective, systems back in the 80's typically came with at least two controllers and a pack-in game. Todays' systems only one controller and not always do they have a pack in.

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Still too expensive. I don't think people are going to want to play "TV games" while holding a large/heavy/expensive Gameboy, but that's just my opinion and I'm frequently wrong.

 

I think the best thing about this Wii U - in the short run - is it may spur further price drops for Xbox 360 and/or PS3. I've borrowed a 360 a few times (love the games but just don't have time to get into 'em) and I'm waiting for 250GB system for $200. In "this economy" I think a new $300 system with no library and virtually-indistinguishable graphics - is going to be a tough sell. Even if you want to hold an oversized Gameboy controller.

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the chart is inflation-adjusted. it's not what the consoles cost when they were new. That $200 in 1977 is the equivalent to $756 today. just like kids today can't imagine that 20 years ago, gas cost under a dollar a gallon.

 

Oops, I guess my response seemed pretty silly. I was actually referring to the first chart on the linked site that shows the UNadjusted launch price of $330.00 for the 5200. It wasn't that much.

console-prices-absolute-2.png

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I don't think it's that people in the past were more able to buy a $700 console. it was simpler times. to see a technical marvel like the 2600 with few competitors out there... but the sales numbers reflect the cost. it sold some 30 million in its lifetime. had it sold for a comparable price to today's systems, it would be competitive with the numbers for the Wii, 360, or PS3, which combined is nearly 230 million units. Also, because of the lower cost of gaming today versus the past, sales are more global.

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