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Roundabout Wii Pricing: Less than $250

In a financial press conference today, Nintendo let loose the first ballpark estimation of the Wii's price tag. Technically they said "Less than 25,000 Yen ($222)", but when has something launched across regions for the same actual monetary value? Due to fluxuations like that, most outlets are pegging the US pricerange at $200-$250. I am inclined to agree with them.

But did we really need them to tell us this? Seriously. I guessed this almost immediately after I heard the PS3 price, and wrote it down in my E3 Recap / Predictions article:

"We didn't get a price at E3, but expect it to be relatively cheap. More expensive than the current gen, more expensive than the current handhelds, but cheaper than both the cheapest 360 and PS3. And if it wasn't currently shaping up to be cheaper Nintendo will make it fit. That said, I'd expect to see $250-$300. Less than the 360, less than half of the PS3."

Launching at this price point just makes sense, and the fact that Nintendo waited to see what Sony would do means they know exactly when they need to launch by, and exactly what price point they need to launch at to make as big of an impact as possible.

What we heard today just confirms all that. Expect real pricing and launch details in the coming months.

Source: Next Generation

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