Nintendo cuts price of Wii for first time

©Getty A player demonstrates a Nintendo Wii game

Nintendo on Thursday announced the first price cut for its Wii games console following declining sales and price competition from Microsoft and Sony.

The Japanese company said the price of the Wii would drop $50, or 20 per cent, to $199.99 in the US on Sunday. Its price is also being cut by 20 per cent in Japan to Y20,000 from October 1, and the same will apply in Europe from October 2.

The Wii, launched in November 2006, had gone longer than any console in history without a cut of its initial price.

In March, however, it was overtaken in sales by Sony’s PlayStation 3 in Japan and it has suffered dramatic declines in sales in the US this year. In August, Nintendo sold 277,000 units in the US, down from 453,000 a year earlier, according to research firm NPD. The price cut will be seen as an attempt by the company to bolster sales of the Wii entering the crucial holiday season period.

“I wasn’t expecting a price cut,” said Haruhiro Tsujimoto, the president of publisher Capcom.

“I’m surprised and I welcome it,” said Naoya Tsurumi, managing director of consumer business at Sega, which will publish Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games for the Wii next month. “I hope that this is very good news for us for Christmas.”

“This year especially there’s been a bit of saturation in Japan and western markets so this price cut will increase the sales again,” said Kenji Matsubara, president of Koei Tecmo, a large Japanese game publisher.

Microsoft cut the price of its basic Xbox 360 Arcade model by $80 to $199.99 a year ago and saw sales rise 20 per cent in the first half of this year.

Sony said on Wednesday that sales of the PS3 in the US had risen 300 per cent since it dropped the price by $100 and introduced a slimmed down version of the console this month.

Nintendo is still the clear leader in current generation console sales with more than 52m Wiis sold worldwide up to the end of June.

“Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s sales and marketing chief, in a statement.

“Our research shows there are 50m 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 is launching Wii Fit Plus, a follow up to the game that uses its balance board accessory, on October 4, and a new Super Mario Bros game is coming on November 15.

Additional reporting by Robin Harding in Tokyo