Wii price cut for the US and Japan

By Tom Bramwell Published 24 September, 2009

$199 from Sunday.

Nintendo will cut the US and Japanese price of Wii this Sunday, 27th September, the company announced this evening.

US consumers will be able to pick one up for $199 (down from $249), while Japanese gamers can expect to pay 20,000 yen (down from 25,000 yen).

In a statement marking the occasion, Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway said: "Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience."

Nintendo hasn't announced a similar price-cutting measure for Europe. Instead, UK retailers have told us to expect an expanded bundle at the same price including a Wii MotionPlus, Wii Sports Resort and a nunchuk on top of existing pack-in items.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (10) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • kissthestick #1 2 years ago

    lol yurope

  • VibratingDonkey #2 2 years ago

    F you N.

  • idiotsavant #3 2 years ago

    I suppose under $200 brings it under a significant mental barrier on price over the pond. I could see how bringing it down to £149 over here would do the same - but surely a £99 price tag for Christmas would mean that every man and his dog would get one here. Nintendo must be churning them out far cheaper than that.

  • Drakron #4 2 years ago

    Welcome to rip-off Europe.

  • rogueJT #5 2 years ago

    Europe as a whole is a ripoff and Ireland is the ripoff of Europe.

    You Brits don't know how lucky you have it.

    A university in Dublin did a survey of prices in shops like Argos and Tesco between Northern and Southern Ireland and the differences were astronomical.
    Some HDTVs in Argos were going for about twice the price!

    Sorry about the off topic rant but it's crazy over here!

    @idiosavant(or whatever)- yes I'd finally buy a WIi is the price went down to 99 pounds sterling. You're right, considering it's just a gamecube with a new controller and a measly 256MB(!!!) memory they'd still bhe making a killing on it.
    Edited by 1 at 24/09/09 @ 04:50

  • r4z0rbl4d3 #6 2 years ago

    Well, here in Sweden we haven't even got a price cut on the PS3, and won't either. We have to import them to get a decent price...

  • mkreku #7 2 years ago

    Yeah, a PS3 Slim is a measly $530 here in Sweden.. after the "price cut"! Rip-off what?

  • ZeroAX #8 2 years ago

    maybe you should get Euros in Sweden to get price cuts?

    Not talking political here, it's just I can't understand the thought process behind the different pricing by currency.

  • rock27gr #9 2 years ago

    LOL it's just a GC with a Motion Controller tacked on! What a rip-off.

    I wonder what all you guys will be saying when Sony and MS release their own motion variants, along with a hefty price point entry. Wait, I know, their motion tech will be Next Gen and worth the money!
    Edited by 1 at 24/09/09 @ 08:41

  • Alterego-X #10 2 years ago

    I guess it is supposed to be an experiment. If the price cut will be more successful, they will do that in Europe.

    If the bundle is more successful, they can still replace the price cut with that bundle over there.


    The latter seems more plausible to me, it just has more content.