Will Nintendo’s Wii be a hit with consumers?

Gwendolyn Mariano, newsfactor.com

Japanese video game magazine Famitsu, which conducted the survey, found that 68.8 percent of respondents are looking forward to the Wii in contrast to only 21 percent awaiting the PlayStation 3.

The report also indicated that 88.4 percent of respondents said the PlayStation 3 pricing is too high, while only 10.9 percent thought the price was about right.

Next-Gen Pricing

Last week, Nintendo formally revealed that it will be pricing the Wii at $250 even though its competitors are pricing their next-gen systems at much higher levels.

Microsoft’s
Xbox 360, released last November, is priced at $400, while Sony’s forthcoming PlayStation 3 is set at $499.

Although the exact launch date has not been set for the Wii, Nintendo said it plans to ship six million of the systems between when it launches later this year and the end of March 2007.

In addition, the company is expecting to sell some 17 million Wii games in the same period.

Price and Success

“When consoles first come out, the price is at its peak,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research. “You can always lower the price, but you can’t raise it. It’s part of the strategy.”

Early adopters tend to pay a higher price, he said, pointing out that to be a leader in video games, it takes more than low prices. A lot comes down to the game titles, he said, such as what titles are offered and what’s available for the holiday season.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out,” he noted.