47 replies to this topic

[Robotic Sunshine Commander]

The recent rumor of 4 nintendo games being released this year for wii u ( which pretty much means the launch window) and 66 other games in development brought up another very important rumor along with it. Apparently nintendo will be taking a 50$ loss on every wii u and softening the blow with block buster games later in the year. If you think in depth of this, you may also think they are honestly considering this loss for the main reason that they have really beefed up the hardware and don't want a very expensive console(EPIC games/ unreal engine 4). Also you may want to consider this isn't a microsoft or sony console, nintendo doesn't have a dvd drive in this thing so if it's 350$ or even 300$ this console will be a powerful beast that plays all the modern games because a dvd drive runs up the price. All this awesome talk from developers like Mike Rein VP of EPIC games makes me even more excited for the console and the "true" unveiling of this awesome beast will be an eye opener to a lot of people at E3 2012.

So do you think this loss has a significant reasoning like a bump in power? or do you think it is for other reasons?

[Fig]

It's maybe a bump in power, but I think part of it is that they don't want another 3DS pricing fiasco. They said they won't make the sames mistakes twice, and starting at a "bargain" price would avoid the overpricing mistake. They would rather take a 15%-ish loss (assuming MSRP 300, 350 to build) than give away Ambassador software again.

Which leads me to another point, they will not only make up for their losses on hardware with retail games, but also accessories, and downloadable content (which has a good profit margin). It is risky, but I guarantee you they calculated everything on a per unit basis, i.e the average Wii U Owner will spend x dollars on retail games, x dollars on accessories, and x dollars on downloadable content. They used their figures to come up with a price point that software/feature purchases will make up for the hardware loss.

[Hank Hill]

I think that it's a rumor and should stay a rumor.

[AndyG]

I seriously wouldn't find paying $500 if it meant a console that made good use of all its features and would be future proof.
I guess we will have to wait till E3

[dagwood dang]

Sure it's just a rumor,
but selling consoles at a loss isn't at all unfamiliar.
In fact, M$ and Sony both did that with the current 360 and PS3.
took em a couple of years to recoup, but they made it work.
Nintendo didn't do that with Wii. They went positive for every one sold,
because they didn't go after the latest tech for it, which was one of the reasons why they didn't get the developer love they wanted.

This time around it's different.
If this rumor is true, then it's a good sign in my eyes, because it means they're pulling no punches
and putting together a beast of a machine with the optimism that they'll make that money back exponentially.

[Nollog]

The Wii U will have a Blu-Ray drive, not having the ability for it to play your Blu-Ray movies only saves then about $5.
That's per console.

So, I don't think not having DVD playback is that important to cost.

Edited by Nollog, 14 March 2012 - 06:16 AM.

[Gruff]

As I see it, it is good and bad news. Good news because it means Nintendo isn't pulling what they did with the Wii and bad news because they are going to be losing money on each Wii U they sell. In the end I want and don't want this to happen. But Nintendo has smart people working there and they know what they are doing. And they have a plan, and if all goes as planned they would regain the money they lost with each Wii U. The system isn't the only form profit, there are many other ways they can make make money. And eventually the cost of the system wil go down and they will start profitting from each Wii U. I don't want to see Nintendo take a loss at anything, but if means we could have a decent console at a decent price then it only means good for Nintendo.

Now all that I said might not matter because as we know, this just a rumor.

Edited by GameCube, 14 March 2012 - 09:39 AM.

[Bane]

I think this could happen, but probably no more of a loss than that.

[Terrabyte20xx]

The Wii U will have a Blu-Ray drive, not having the ability for it to play your Blu-Ray movies only saves then about $5.
That's per console.

So, I don't think not having DVD playback is that important to cost.

The Wii U will not have a Blu-Ray Drive, it's using it's own disc format that can store as much data as a Blu-Ray.

[Jakester897]

I want them to sell it at the same price they make it for.

[Nollog]

The Wii U will not have a Blu-Ray Drive, it's using it's own disc format that can store as much data as a Blu-Ray.

Yes it does.
Optical disc drives aren't magic, they're all pretty much the same.
The specs only match that of Blu-Ray.

They're not using it to play Blu-Ray movies, they're using it to play Blu-Ray discs containing games.
This allows them to get away with the fee for having the logo on the box, and playing movies from the discs.

[Rasvita]

If Nintendo thinks that charging me less than something is worth is in their best interest, then I am all for it. There is a point where it could be too expensive for me to buy. I don't care how powerful it is if I can't afford it.

[Crackkat]

i wouldnt be surprised if they do this, i would have more expected them to sell it for 0 profit and zero loss. either way, this is not going to be the case for the entire life span remember the cost of production goes down as time goes by, so they may take a loss for the beginning, but the software will make up for it. and when the cost of production gets cheaper, they will make profit from that

[Tre]

I don't know what to really think about this. Selling it at a loss is not good for Nintendo nor the consumer. I rather they sell it at a profit and have the games cost less but still profitable. If the console is sold at a loss then the price of games will need to go up to reflect that price. Money has to come from somewhere whether it be the console, the games, or the peripherals.

[Terrabyte20xx]

Yes it does.
Optical disc drives aren't magic, they're all pretty much the same.
The specs only match that of Blu-Ray.

They're not using it to play Blu-Ray movies, they're using it to play Blu-Ray discs containing games.
This allows them to get away with the fee for having the logo on the box, and playing movies from the discs.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/306064/wii-u-wont-use-blu-ray-nintendo/

Wii U won't use Blu-Ray.

[Nollog]

http://www.computera...u-ray-nintendo/

Wii U won't use Blu-Ray.

I just by bogedy explained it.

The drive in the Wii = DVD drive, rotating in reverse.
The drive in the Wii U = Blu-Ray drive, operating in a slightly different way to ordinary Blu-Ray drives, to avoid royalty or license fees.

[Terrabyte20xx]

I just by bogedy explained it.

The drive in the Wii = DVD drive, rotating in reverse.
The drive in the Wii U = Blu-Ray drive, operating in a slightly different way to ordinary Blu-Ray drives, to avoid royalty or license fees.

Prove it. If you do, I'll take all claims back, but until you prove it, I'll stand by my proof through the link I provided.

[Nollog]

I'm not trying to prove anything though.
Nintendo might have the magic and money required to make up their own optical standard.
Bear in mind Sony, TDK, and like 20 other companies invested billions over about 10 years to get to Blu-Ray.
Microsoft, Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC etc. to get to HD-DVD.

As you can see, it's unlikely.
In the past, Nintendo have avoided the royalties and license fees of using DVD etc. by making minor adjustments to how the disc spins, or the size of the disc.
[ http://en.wikipedia....do_optical_disc ]
Gamecube = miniDVD
Wii = DVD
Wii U = Blu-Ray ? The only way to be sure is to buy one, open it, and stick your eye in to check the colour of the laser. It might even be HD-DVD, but the specs only line-up with BD.

[neverwinteru]

I'm not trying to prove anything though.
Nintendo might have the magic and money required to make up their own optical standard.
Bear in mind Sony, TDK, and like 20 other companies invested billions over about 10 years to get to Blu-Ray.
Microsoft, Toshiba, Sanyo, NEC etc. to get to HD-DVD.

As you can see, it's unlikely.
In the past, Nintendo have avoided the royalties and license fees of using DVD etc. by making minor adjustments to how the disc spins, or the size of the disc.
[ http://en.wikipedia....do_optical_disc ]
Gamecube = miniDVD
Wii = DVD
Wii U = Blu-Ray ? The only way to be sure is to buy one, open it, and stick your eye in to check the colour of the laser. It might even be HD-DVD, but the specs only line-up with BD.

its never been confirmed to use Blu-ray and i doubt it will

[Nollog]

its never been confirmed to use Blu-ray and i doubt it will

Pay attention.
I'm using logic.

All that's been said about the optical drive is that it won't play DVD or Blu-Ray movies, and it will read discs in a proprietary fashion.
By using logic, you can check the specs Nintendo did give against all other optical drive technologies.
Blu-Ray is the only one that matches up.
Nintendo can not logically afford to create their own optical standard alone, and in so little time, without a single word about it until the console was revealed.