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Wii officially $200 starting Sept. 27

As widely rumored, console's first price cut set to go into effect on Sunday, nearly three years after original launch date.

With the eyes of the gaming world turned to Sony's Tokyo Game Show kick-off keynote address tonight, Nintendo of America stole some of its competitor's thunder by announcing the long-awaited first price cut for the Nintendo Wii. After weeks of leaks and price cuts that brought both the Xbox 360 Elite and PlayStation 3 to $299, Nintendo has finally confirmed the suspicions of gamers and analysts alike, announcing a $50 price cut to the Wii, effective this Sunday, September 27.

Surprise?

Surprise?

The system and its motion-sensing controller debuted in North America on November 19, 2006, with a $249 sticker price. It sold out almost immediately and remained a tough find on store shelves throughout the holiday season of 2008. While the price tag on the system has finally changed, the contents of the box have not. The $199.99 Wii will come with a Wii Remote, Nunchuk, and the original Wii Sports. The pack-in's follow-up, Wii Sports Resort, and its accompanying Wii MotionPlus attachment will still need to be purchased separately from the console.

In a note to investors, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research analyst Jesse Divnich said the cut is a response to disappointing hardware sales that have been slipping industry-wide since February. While Nintendo isn't the only company feeling that pinch, Divnich said the sales slip of the Wii has been steeper than its competitors. He believes this cut will help the Wii reverse that trend and keep it selling well throughout the holidays.

"EEDAR believes Nintendo is making a preemptive strike to capture as much of the mainstream and casual market as possible before Microsoft and Sony can release their mainstream-targeted motion capture devices (expected to launch in late 2010)," Divnich said.

258 Comments

  • AceCometh

    Posted Apr 18, 2011 1:58 pm GMT

    Still won't buy it.

  • Gov1

    Posted Oct 6, 2009 11:36 am GMT

    @ Xtatic324 Check your currency convertor $200 = £125.724

  • ybrik222

    Posted Oct 2, 2009 3:24 pm GMT

    The Wii costs $220 where I live now. I've seen it at that price at Wal Mart, EB Games, etcetera. I already own one though. I just recently got a PS3. IT ROCKS!

  • spoonOFknife

    Posted Sep 29, 2009 6:51 pm GMT

    why is there no "I don't buy casual consoles" option on the front page, cos at the moment the only option that is close is winning but the economic climate has nothing to do with not wanting a wii.

    edit- a ton of wii friends have seen the poll since i voted

  • wiidsduelpack

    Posted Sep 28, 2009 3:33 pm GMT

    Nintendo was the #1 console in August in N.A even though it is not the best and it was $250--------------

    Now that it is $200 and there are actually good games coming up, Nintendo should sell more, although why is Metroid Prime Trilogy not selling well if it is one of the best deals of Nintendo history.--------------- Some of the good games coming up are New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Metroid: The Other M, Red Steel 2, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and other good titles. Nintendo should sell more since good games are coming to the Wii.

  • ultralesus

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 10:51 am GMT

    And the UK??

  • Xtatic324

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 8:01 am GMT

    Should be 150.

  • hannify

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 5:10 am GMT

    about time

  • dwd_27

    Posted Sep 27, 2009 4:26 am GMT

    I bought mine the 2 month it came out ****

  • 24k_Solid_Gold

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 10:03 pm GMT

    And I already bought mine a year ago...OH THE AGONY!!!

  • trw534

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 5:53 pm GMT

    cool

  • calvinsora

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 1:10 pm GMT

    @chimera23: Don't make ignorant comments. Have you ever heard of the word "opinion"?

  • Flint247

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 12:29 pm GMT

    This site is full of Sony/Microsoft fanboys...ugh, it makes me sick. I admit the Wii needs shaping up now, but really, some of you are being too serious over it.

  • meta_foxx278

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 11:47 am GMT

    I honestly don't get a lot of gamers these days. They often whine, cry, b****, and moan about price drops this and price drops that, and when the price drops finally come, all they do is whine, cry, b****, and moan about that. They just made the system more affordable for those that have yet to purchase one, and yet you still want to complain about it? What do you expect Nintendo to do? Make it free? I don't think so. You begged and pleaded for a price drop, and you got one. Make the best of it and stop complaining. Everyone knows that Nintendo systems come down in price a little at a time. The Gamecube did so, the Nintendo 64 did so, and so did the Super NES. Maybe near the end of the life cycle it will see a $100 price drop, but now is not the time. It's more affordable now, so just pool up whatever money you can, and buy one. If you don't want to buy one, then don't buy one at all...problem solved.

  • Hunt270

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 8:13 am GMT

    Even though i have one, i do think i paid to much, i mean 199 is good but maybe 149.

  • NoLifeGamin

    Posted Sep 26, 2009 1:06 am GMT

    woah i know alot of wiitards say a lot of dumb things, but dang, this takes the cake, way to go Gamespot, giving these idiots the power to post a comment.......never a good combination in my book ......and i swear to !^*$% if a mod deletes this message just because a wiitard went "OMG THIS GUY MADE FUN OF ME!!!! "WAHH!!!!" i'm filing a complaint. period, i've had enough of the BS with mods on Gamespot and why can reviewers cuss while we cant!? WHAT DA.....*sigh* and those comments are also on M rated game videos........*facepalm* the amount of fail i've seen from mods astounds me to no end, which there is no end of to speak cuz it happens ALL the time!........ anyways, wii fanboys are the most ridiculous bunch of all the fanboys you could find......hilarious actually....

  • AlmightyMax

    Posted Sep 25, 2009 5:07 pm GMT

    $99.99?!?! Oh, wait. That's a misleading crop, Gamespot.

  • Flint247

    Posted Sep 25, 2009 1:01 pm GMT

    I hate the fanboys these days.

  • Lable1985

    Posted Sep 25, 2009 12:23 pm GMT

    It seems as though everyone has been getting price drops ever since Sony put the ps3 on a diet and made it affordable. What guys, afraid the clearly most powerful console might start turning the tides unless you remain cheaper than it? Yea, I'm probably going to get sh*t for this, but looking back on this year, and the rest of this year its clearly obvious that Sony has produced the best software. Microsoft hasn't released anything significant, but Halo ODST, and that's just a mission pack thats 3 hours long and cost 60$. Nintendo has done jack sh*t this year besides release mediocre 3rd party games, and yes I mean Wii sports resort as well!
    Now At this point you all think I hate the wii and the 360, but they both have some of the best games made in this generation! problem is none of those games have come out this year on their systems. Sony hands down has the best software this year.
    Though maby with this price drop I might consider actually buying a wii or 360 so I don't have to steal them from my friends and family.