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Nintendo's Wii U gets another price cut

The Wii U's price has come down again, just two months since it did last. Sales not as strong as Nintendo hoped, possibly?

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

The Wii U's price has taken a tumble. Another one. It's the third time Asda has slashed the console's price tag, this time by £100, MCV reports. And once again, Amazon has followed suit.

The Wii U premium pack (which comes with a copy of Nintendoland) will now set you back just £199. And the basic pack? Just £149. You can nab each for the same price over at Amazon.

Despite the fact it's dropped the price twice before, Asda still insists on calling both models of Wii U a best-seller on its website. No, I believe it. I'm just scratching my chin because it's itchy, that's all. Seriously.

Back in March, Asda slashed the Wii U's price tag, and it did so again in May, though both were thought to be just temporary sales. Temporary sales that keep happening. Both times, Amazon followed suit, just as it has now.

So how does Nintendo explain its console's poor sales? It says, "We have not been able to solidly communicate the product value of Wii U to our consumers yet, which has been a grand challenge for us." Which isn't a million miles away from what my colleague Luke Westaway claimed a while ago.

Nintendo will launch the highly-awaited Pikmin 3 at the end of this month, which it hopes will revive flagging interest in the console. The game is the latest brainchild of Shigeru Miyamoto, the man behind Mario.

The Wii U will face some stiff competition towards the end of the year, when the PS4 and Xbox One launch. The PS4 will cost £349 -- more expensive that the Wii U, but that's sure to come down. And that's not a patch on the Xbox One, which will cost a crazy £429.

My money's on Sony to win the next console war. What do you think? Is the Wii U dead in the water? What can Nintendo do to breathe new life into it? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.