I'm just as much for a price drop as this guy. but $300 for a brand new console is definitely not expensive.
Wii U is 'expensive' says Ubisoft CEO
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Yves Guillemot not happy with Nintendo's decision to start new system at $300, wishes it was less expensive.
The Wii U may be too expensive. That's according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, who told Games Industry International that he is not pleased with the pricing Nintendo decided on for its first high-definition console and hopes for a price drop.
"I always prefer lower pricing, so I can't say I'm happy," Guillemot said. "I'm never happy when the machines are expensive. What we have to do there is remember that compared to an iPad, it's cheap. With what it brings [to the gaming table] it's cheap. But I hope they'll be able to drop their price in time."
The Wii U is due out in North America on November 18 beginning at $300 for an 8GB basic model and scaling to $350 for the 32GB deluxe version that includes a copy of Nintendo Land.
The first high-definition system from Nintendo will launch with 23 titles, including Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Assassin's Creed III.
The Wii U comes to Europe and Australia on November 30, with a launch in Japan rounding out the bunch on December 8.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
607 comments
I think it's a fair price point, I don't understand what Ubi's CEO is taking about. Comparing the WiiU to an iPad is like saying the iPhone is cheaper than a DSLR camera, they're both different devices with different dedicated functions.
Sure you can play games on both, but the WiiU is a dedicated gaming console whereas the iPad can have other purposes and will never reach the level of quality gaming you can get on a console.
Ubi's CEO has been smoking too much of something lately...from the article it sounds like he doesn't even know what he's trying to say and is contradicting himself.
1 Like does anybody remember the ps3 pricing was $600 or so? people were pahing $1500 on ebay so how exactly is $300 pricy??? thats a ridiculous statement next gen hardware always hits higher than current gen. stupid stupid
@philMcCrevis pretty sure he's talking about pricy for the mass public. only serious gamers will spend $600 for a ps3, the rest of people waited and waited years for a big price cut. same with the wii u, he is saying the average casual person is not going to buy right away for their family or kids, which will hurt sales. they're going to stick to their ipad/ps3/xbox/old wii, whatever is cheaper
Oh! So now that statement of not to expect a '99 cent' Mario game are suddenly given perspective! Oh, so it was an indirect answer to the persistent question of why retail prices aren't more reasonable...Like magic.
If people think the Wii-U is expensive, wait til the prices are announced for the PS4 and XBox 720.
@RabidBurp You read my mind man..... I predict they're gonna be seriously expensive..... at least 400$. But I don't plan to buy it soon coz well, I bought my xbox360 just last year(2012) and I still have to catch up to a lot of awesome games which I haven't played yet.
@CasualGamer36x @RabidBurp $400 is being a little too generous. I'm guessing at least $600, with a price drop following within six months due to lousy sales. I think the Wii U prices is reasonable. 32gb will probably be more than enough. Nintendo Software isn't usually that big anyway. I think Ubisoft is nervous more than anything, and doesn't want to show it.
4 Like Ummmm... I can GUARANTEE you that the next gen Xbox and PS4 will NOT be $350 or cheaper for the first 5 years at least. Nintendo is keeping their systems' pricing almost stagnant since the first NES back in the 80's (adjusting for inflation) which is amazing, honestly. The 8bit NES was $199 back in the day, which, adjusted for inflation, is approx $370 in today's dollars, plus minimum wage was less (again, adjusted for current dollar value) so you are getting a HELL of a deal today compared to just a few years ago...
Sadly, this world lacks perspective today. Everyone is me, me, me... gimme gimme gimme, and can't appreciate what is out there. Oh well.
Also, Kudos to Nintendo for continuing to market to kids, as well as "adults". Kids SHOULD be the focus of game systems and toy manufacturers. I'm sick of adults who feel butthurt because "company x" makes products for kids. WTF? Kids are consumers too, buddy! They have JUST as much right to entertainment as you do, sitting in your parents' basement, covered in cheeto dust playing Halo 4 and Warcraft. Seriously.
Ummmm... I can GUARANTEE you that the next gen Xbox and PS4 will NOT be $350 or cheaper for the first 5 years at least. Nintendo is keeping their systems' pricing almost stagnant since the first NES back in the 80's (adjusting for inflation) which is amazing, honestly. The 8bit NES was $199 back in the day, which, adjusted for inflation, is approx $370 in today's dollars, plus minimum wage was less (again, adjusted for current dollar value) so you are getting a HELL of a deal today compared to just a few years ago...
Sadly, this world lacks perspective today. Everyone is me, me, me... gimme gimme gimme, and can't appreciate what is out there. Oh well.
Also, Kudos to Nintendo for continuing to market to kids, as well as "adults". Kids SHOULD be the focus of game systems and toy manufacturers. I'm sick of adults who feel butthurt because "company x" makes products for kids. WTF? Kids are consumers too, buddy! They have JUST as much right to entertainment as you do, sitting in your parents' basement, covered in cheeto dust playing Halo 4 and Warcraft. Seriously.
I wouldn't care if the WIi U was free. I would sell it. Not interested in anything Nintendo does.
Should be WiiU most expensive in the PAL regions. So what does he do about it? sell his ZombiU game in Australia for freaking $99.http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/game/pre-order/rayman-legends/668505 - $99http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/game/pre-order/assassins-creed-3/668500 - $99http://www.jbhifionline.com.au/game/pre-order/zombiu/668516 - $99Must be the "next gen" tax. :P
As a Day One game publisher, I can understand Guillemot's perspective, but I can't say I agree with him. For the hardware that's included, the Wii U actually sounds like quite a good value. It's cheap compared to something as common as an iPad, as he himself admits.
I say the same thing about the Vita. It's not cheap, but given the hardware that you get, it's a pretty good value.
Look, the companies like Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony don't make a huge profit in the consoles. The money is in the games. Consoles are always going to be a bit higher for that reason and that reason alone. Sega was smart to rid of the console making for this reason.
Looks like Nintendo said enough is enough with just having kiddie genre games. It's about damn time. Gaming as evolved into an adult driven industry. Even bars and saloons have video game nights.
This comment has been deleted
Yea kinda sad they keep focusing on *family friendly* adverts. Its like the Wii adverts, if you don't following gaming news, you'd think Wii only have - Super Mario Galazy, Wii Sport, WiiFit & Mario Kart. According to their adverts they put on tv
2 Like I don't see how it's too expensive. It's more powerful than all of the other current gen tech and the same price. How is that a problem?
here it the uk its £300 for the premium and £250 for the standard model. so if you look at it from the stand point of how many dollers them pounds would convert into then we are getting screwed but then one pound for me is the same as 1 doller for some one else who is in the states also they don't call us rip off Britain for nothing.
But what's the minimum pay in the UK? I remember asking my brother when we visited England in 2004 why everything was more expensive compared to Germany/France/Italy and he said it's because while the cost of living matches the average household income. So if the average American makes like $40,000 a year whereas the average Brit makes £40,000 a year, no one's getting screwed over really.
I mean, look at Austrailia and Brazil's prices O_O
@abHS4L88 I don't know any one here that earns £40.000 a year they did we probably would not feel that we get screwed here.
@abHS4L88 @jtthegame316 Correct my friend, come to Aus and grab yourself a pint of beer, you will find yourself $10 lighter in the pocket. Everything is more expensive in Aus. Source Living in Aus my entire life
@abHS4L88 Depends on the age of the worker once you reach 21 there is no more pay rises.
I believe the going rate for a 21 year old casual worker is about $20 an hour. Part timers obviosly get paid less.
Isn't minimum wage over double in Austrailian than in the US? Minimum wage here is $7.25 whereas minimum wage there, I believe is around $15.65. Like the UK, it could also be the average income.
@abHS4L88 Sure is, back on topic the the Wii U will release here at $349 for the basic one or $429 for the premium pack. Over priced, well in Aus it sure is.
Lol, I'll pass, I don't drink alcohol but damn that's expensive! I live in Hawaii where cost of living is higher than the average household income.
The title should be more like "Wii U is expensive says most of World"
And fantastically, in the UK its $50 - $100 more expensive. Go figure.
Errm is the UK getting screwed over just looked at the prices I swear we are paying at least £50 more.
I do want to add, that if you get all that stuff in the box...WOW! You get alot of hardware for $300! However, if i had kids i would not even attempt this system they would fight over the 2nd screen controller and would probably end up breaking it and I can only imagine how much a new one would cost?
I don't think its TOO expensive, and people will be glad to pay that, its the holiday! I don't want one though I bought the Wii on launch and played it very little. I do think its a nifty concept but not something i want to spend my money on.
2 Like remembering the launch prices of the PS3 and the 360 the Wii U is not expensive at all in fact here in the UK the premium Wii U console is the same price as the PS3 is now so to me that is good value it's £299 by the way
6 Like $300-350 is expensive? It comes with:
Wii U GamePad
Charging cradle
Stand for both Console and Controller
HDMI cable, no console has ever include this thing at launch
8GB-32GB memory, can be expended up to 3TB via external HDD
Additional game that costs $60
Come on, Yves, you know better than that, if nintendo is selling it at lower price, they may shut down one of its department.
HDMI is the standard cable required to connect to the average HDTV and costs maybe $2 to manufacture, so they damn sure better include it.
"can be expended up to 3TB via external HDD"
...at an extra cost. $350 for a console with only 32GB is overpriced.
"Additional game that costs $60"
It's not really "a game," it's more a collection of minigames. I'm not saying it's bad, but if it didn't come in the box, and the box was $60 cheaper, I'd spend the $60 I saved on a different game.
@desert_thief I thought the PS3 launch have HDMI in it. The Blu Ray would be pointless without an HDMI.
1 Like @GaMa__GaMer Yes, PS3 launch had HDMI, but its HDMI cable wasn't included with the system.
I think the added weight of the cable to the box cost more in transportation fees than to produce the cable itself. The best cables cost about 35 cents a foot to produce, and be aware that they're really far from giving you the best cable, since quality is useless over a short range.
@desert_thief "HDMI cable, no console has ever include this thing at launch"
Thia a "Next gen" console(7.5 gen).Why the hell shouldnt they give this with the console
2 Like @hangman000 @desert_thief Because they want to milk customers with their branded cable, which is like ten times more expensive than aftermarket one.
Good comparison with the Ipad, considering what the Wii U will give you gaming-wise compared to an Ipad (or high-end android device) suddenly the price seems very fair.
5 Like $300 cheap... + it Nintendo. So you know it wont red ring on you or get hacked every other mouth:P
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