Why You Can Trust CNET Wii U Basic price slashed by 20 percent at Target
The 8GB version of Nintendo's portable console is now selling for $239.99 at Target, a full $60 off its usual price.
Will gamers bite at a Wii U console that costs $239 instead of $299?
Target is now selling Nintendo's diminutive console at a 20 percent discount off the full retail amount. The $239.99 price is for the 8GB white version of the console; the 32GB black version will still run Target customers the full $349.99.
Target's price may mark a new low for the basic edition of the Wii U. Most retailers charge the full $299.99. Amazon offers a small discount, selling it for $279.
Target's discount may be in order as sales of the Wii U have been lackluster.
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter estimated that Nintendo sold just 55,000 Wii U consoles in April, down 19 percent from March. For the fiscal year ending March 31, Nintendo watched its sales dip by 1.9 percent, due in large part to disappointing Wii U sales.
Nintendo has blamed the weak demand for the Wii U on a lack of software titles, a problem it aims to correct this year, the company said last month:
For the "Wii U" system, launched in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2013, there were some delays in software development that resulted in intervals between new software title releases at the early stage of this year. Taking this into consideration, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, we plan to concentrate on proactively releasing key Nintendo titles from the second half of this year through next year in order to regain momentum for the platform.
