The next-gen consoles are on the horizon, with Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One both expected to hit store shelves in time for turkey. Obviously, both are receiving the majority of fans' attention, leaving one company out in the proverbial cold. For most of the year, and arguably since its introduction, Nintendo's own next-gen console, the Wii U, has been languishing behind the competition, and will no doubt continue to do so in the face of more competition brought on by Sony and Microsoft's own next-gen consoles. Realizing as much, Nintendo has taken drastic measures to help pick up sales for the Wii U, namely, a price cut.
The former king of home gaming announced today that its slashing the price of its Wii U by $50, down from the $350 price tag since the system's release, to $300 as of September 20. In addition, Nintendo also announced a Wii U bundle featuring the HD revamp of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to further stimulate sales; available the same day the price cut goes into effect.
Sales of the console are at a record low, managing to sell only 160,000 units between March and June this year, and 3.6 million since releasing last November.
Earlier this month, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata felt that the console's low sales wasn't the result of any sort of pricing, but rather, lack of software.
"If the price is actually an issue [with Wii U], then there is some contradiction between the current sales balance between the Basic and Premium versions of the Wii U," Iwata said. "The basic version should have sold a lot, but the fact of the matter is that people are buying more of the premium version. So the issue is not there." Arguably, he has a point. Left and right, it seemed as though developers were snubbing Nintendo and passing on releasing games on the console.
Iwata believes that a strong line-up of key title releases for the console is important for the Wii U if it's to gain any kind of momentum in the current market. "I understand that the real issue is the lack of software, and the only solution is to provide the mass-market with a number of quality software titles," he stated.
With so many developers passing, Nintendo looks to be on its knees to get Wii U sales up, and despite Iwata's earlier statements, is set to play around with pricing after all.
While the Wii U has been suffering, the company's DS line has never been stronger, so much so that the company is introducing a new handheld. Dubbed the 2DS, it has all the means of playing the original DS and 3DS's library, dual screens, but not the former's capability to display 3D graphics, or either's fold-up-ability. Physically, it resembles the tablet style gamepad for the Wii U. Not exactly portable, but it seems interesting. Described Nintendo of America's COO, Reggie Fils-Aime, the gadget is meant for "the entry-level consumer looking for lower-priced access to a fantastic library."
At $129.99, it's not a bad price, and I was never able to focus my eyesight enough to appreciate the 3DS namesake graphics. The 2DS is set to release October 12. You can see the device in the trailer below.
