UK retailers are asking Nintendo to pull a 3DS, cut the price of Wii U and reboot marketing
After news of January’s absolutely abysmal sales of Wii U in the states, UK retailers are asking Nintendo to do exactly what they did with 3DS to their home console: Cut the price, get some games, and start fresh.
“Wii U has not caught the public’s imagination yet. We need a killer app to drive sales, and a big marketing push to clearly communicate what Wii U is all about – it will probably be better to focus on the premium edition to do this.” – Tesco games buying manager Jonathan Hayes
“A price drop on the console or extremely competitive bundle options to encourage consumer take-up would be ideal.” Grainger Gamers’ commercial director Simon Peck
“Both the machine and software prices are too high to compete. The price point needs looking at but this alone will not fix the issue.” Founder of Xbite Nick Whitehead
“Lower prices should be led by Nintendo and publishers – not left to retail to discount down to the optimum price point.” Barkman Computers’ Nick Elliot
Ultimately the issue isn’t that the price is too high: It’s that the price is too high for what they’re offering for most people. Try as they may, I don’t think most gamers care about Monster Hunter, New Super Mario Bros., or even Pikmin. Third party support will be key if Nintendo wants to grow beyond just being a Nintendo-games box. Not that I would honestly complain if all the Wii U had was first and second party Nintendo games. That’s what I bought the thing for, after all.
