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Could a Price Drop Save the Wii U?

Could a Price Drop Save the Wii U?

Here’s something funny. How much do you think a Wii U costs now, at this very moment? The correct answer is, almost the same price it was at launch. That’s right. Even though it’s a four year old console and the worst selling one on the market, Nintendo hasn’t made any moves to lower the price to make it more attractive to the people flocking to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

OK, yes, sure. There was one price drop back in 2013. But, that was more about a market consolidation. There were initially two Wii U models available, an 8GB standard and 32GB deluxe. When the 8GB was phased out, since 8GB is nothing in a console era where a single game can be at least 10GB, the $349 deluxe model dropped to $299. It made sense at the time.

Which is why another price drop makes even more sense now. The system is coming up on its fourth birthday and paying $300 for a console whose library pales in comparison to the temporarily-$299-on-sale-Xbox One and $349.99 PlayStation 4 isn’t tempting. Both of the opponents are systems with 500GB to 1TB hard drives, critically acclaimed games, and the ability to act as media centers, all things the Wii U lacks. They have huge, attractive games coming out every month, sometimes even every week. The Wii U doesn’t.

The NX rumors aren’t helping either. Here’s what happens when people hear a new console is going to be announced. Ready? They decide to stop buying the old one until the company makes the big reveal. Then, even if they decide they’d rather get the old console instead of the new hotness, they’ll wait until the new system is released so the old one can be picked up when it’s on sale. No one’s going to pick up the Wii U in such a tumultuous climate. Not when the NX could offer more.

Could a Price Drop Save the Wii U?

It’s especially odd since Nintendo has a precedent for being pretty self-aware with price drops. When the Wii was three years old in 2009, it went from $250 to $200. Keep in mind, this was also when it was one of the best selling systems on the market. Then, ahead of its sixth birthday in 2012, the Wii’s price droppped again to $130. Given the NX’s impending arrival, we should be seeing that Wii U price drop now.

The Wii U is a good system. It’s quirky and weird, but there are solid first party games on it. People should give it a chance, but selling it for $299 when the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are only $50 more does it a disservice. Especially since it doesn’t have the library or features to compete with them. Now that there’s also an NX on the way, Nintendo needs to wisen up and lower the Wii U’s price.

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