Gingersnap
05-04-2011, 10:58 AM
Nintendo Wii price drops below $150; includes 'Mario Kart'
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Posted 7h 57m ago |
The new $149.99 Wii package, set to go on sale May 15, will include a white or black Nintendo Wii, a Wii remote and a copy of Mario Kart with a white or black steering wheel for the game. Nintendo will sell the newly priced Wii along with the current $199.99 Nintendo Wii system, sold with the games Wii Sports Resort and Wii Sports, until inventory runs out before summer. Then, the $199 system, which some retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Target began selling for $170 two weeks ago, will be discontinued.
"There is quite a bit more volume to be sold on the Wii home console," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "And the way we are going to get there is by offering the system at this low price and by including a key software title like Mario Kart." One of the top Wii games, Mario Kart has hit 10 million copies sold.
With 86 million Wii consoles sold globally since 2006, the Wii remains the top-selling video game system. But recently, sales have slowed. Nintendo said it sold 15 million units in the fiscal year that ended March 31, down from about 20 million the prior year. That helped drive company revenue down to $12.3 billion, 29% below the prior year.
Nintendo plans to unveil a successor to the Wii at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. But that unnamed system won't go on sale until at least the second quarter of 2012, Fils-Aime says.
USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2011-05-04-nintendo-wii-price-drop_n.htm)
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Posted 7h 57m ago |
The new $149.99 Wii package, set to go on sale May 15, will include a white or black Nintendo Wii, a Wii remote and a copy of Mario Kart with a white or black steering wheel for the game. Nintendo will sell the newly priced Wii along with the current $199.99 Nintendo Wii system, sold with the games Wii Sports Resort and Wii Sports, until inventory runs out before summer. Then, the $199 system, which some retailers, including Amazon, Best Buy and Target began selling for $170 two weeks ago, will be discontinued.
"There is quite a bit more volume to be sold on the Wii home console," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "And the way we are going to get there is by offering the system at this low price and by including a key software title like Mario Kart." One of the top Wii games, Mario Kart has hit 10 million copies sold.
With 86 million Wii consoles sold globally since 2006, the Wii remains the top-selling video game system. But recently, sales have slowed. Nintendo said it sold 15 million units in the fiscal year that ended March 31, down from about 20 million the prior year. That helped drive company revenue down to $12.3 billion, 29% below the prior year.
Nintendo plans to unveil a successor to the Wii at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. But that unnamed system won't go on sale until at least the second quarter of 2012, Fils-Aime says.
USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2011-05-04-nintendo-wii-price-drop_n.htm)