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Nintendo says it won't cut Wii U price, despite slow sales

Nintendo has ruled out dropping the price of its latest console, despite sales being less than stellar.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

It's no secret the Wii U isn't selling too well. Many claim the console has confused 'casual' gamers with its tablet-style controller. And as a sign of how it's struggling, Nintendo has slashed its outlook on Wii U sales for the March quarter. But it won't drop the price, it's said in a stout defence of its strategy.

"With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," the company's president Satoru Iwata said in an official statement.

Just in case there was any doubt, Iwata-san spelled it out. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear. We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated.

"However, given that it has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the lineup is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software lineup which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U."

Having cut the price of the 3DS after launch, the company doesn't want to make the same mistake again. As the Wii U only went on sale a couple of months ago, a price drop so soon would show Nintendo had very little confidence in the console. It would also annoy anyone who paid full whack such a short time ago. 

I think critics are right when they say the Wii U is confusing for the average punter, especially after the simplicity of the original Wii. But I think maybe the age of consoles is on its way out, at least for the casual gamer, with the threat coming from far cheaper games for mobiles and tablets. Let's see how the PS4 shapes up when Sony lifts the curtain on it in a couple of weeks.

What do you make of the Wii U? Is the price too high? Let me know in the comments, or on Facebook.