While PS3 and Xbox 360 owners wring their hands wondering about possible price cuts at E3 2008, Nintendo has already announced that it plans to stand pat with its Wii and DS systems.
After noting that Nintendo has seen record annual profits since the launch of its Wii console, company president Satoru Iwata told the Associated Press that it has no plans to reduce the price of its Wii or DS systems any time soon.
“I don’t t think that model is correct,” Iwata told the AP, which noted the recent slight reduction in sales of the Nintendo DS.
Instead, Iwata pointed to the incredible retail success of the Nintendo Wii, which sells for $250 in the United States and 25,000 yen in Japan. The Wii is by far the least expensive “next-gen” console, even after Microsoft and Sony have both already trimmed the price of their Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, respectively.
Consumers have purchased more than 24 million Wii consoles worldwide since its launch in November 2006, and Nintendo says it expects to sell an additional 25 million units in 2008. Many Wii purchasers have come from the casual gaming segment, which the PS3 and Xbox 360 both have an arguably hard time luring.
As a result of this proclamation from Iwata, gamers are left looking toward E3 2008 for game-related announcements alone, or perhaps the revelation of a remodeled DS, from Nintendo. When it comes to price cuts, however, such announcements will only come from Sony and Microsoft, if they come at all.