Wii Price Hike in UK. Is Nintendo Confused?

Jason Wong • Mar 12, 2009 • Comments (0)

In these bleak economic times, game companies understand that money is hard to come by. Jobs are being lost and currency exchange rates are depreciating every day. Amidst rumors of Xbox 360 and PS3 price drops in the coming weeks, will the Wii follow suit? Nintendo has heard your pleas and UK gamers now know the answer.

Nintendo is a fiercely innovative company that solves tough problems with unconventional solutions. They didn't pack up for home when the GameCube crashed and burned. No, they took the ashes, duct taped them together and gave us the Wii. It is this die-hard attitude that kept Nintendo alive and turned Iwata's frown upside-down. So in response to the diminishing value of the British pound, **drum roll** Nintendo will be offering an unprecedented "reverse price drop." Thank you. Thank you.

What is a reverse price drop, you ask? In layman's term it means... um, price hike. Retailers will pay an additional GBP 18-20 for every Wii, inevitably pushing the retail price from GBP 179.99 to 199.99. But enough semantics. Let's explore why a reverse price drop is actually good news. Please pay attention because the logic here is going to be a little tricky to grasp; but believe me by the end it's going to make perfect sense. And you'll agree this is another example of Nintendo's expert marketing.

By increasing the price of the Wii in the UK, Nintendo is highlighting the fact game consoles are a luxury item. As such, parents considering a console purchase shouldn't splurge on the Wii when Baby Jesse's been soiling the same pair of Pampers all week.

Kicking off Nintendo's wacky version of a stimulus plan, the reverse price drop will actually inject money straight back into the economy by forcing parents to make the tough decisions: buy a standalone controller + baby formula, or skip the formula and pay the extra $10 for the Wii Play/controller bundle. It's obvious -- watered down formula is just as good as regular formula and hell yeah the Wii Play bundle is a great deal.

A little known fact, Nintendo was that close to announcing layoffs. Yep, you heard it hear first. **Breaking news** There was a huge drop-off in sales this past month in European Wii sales: numbers plummeted from 600,000 units sold in January to a frightful 599,999 units in February. Due to extreme economic pressure, it is unfortunate that Nintendo will be forced to raise the retailer trade price for the Wii in the UK territories.

"This is a problem brought about by extreme currency fluctuations that are a symptom of the global economic situation," said a Nintendo representative. "The price that [retailers] then offer to consumers is, of course, up to the retailers."

To paraphrase, "Price hike. Your fault. Not ours."

Everyone's feeling the pinch. Nintendo is doing their part to stave off layoffs and educate consumers in making smart purchase decisions. I applaud you, Nintendo.