Wii Prices Coming Down

Following the trend in console games, Nintendo announced that it will drop the price of its popular Wii gaming system from $249 to $199.

The drop comes on the heels of competitors Sony and Microsoft dropping the price tag for their gaming consoles.

All three game console manufacturers hope the drop in price will lead to an rise in sales.  Currently, sales on video game consoles has flattened out and more gamers are turning to buying used games than new.

The price cuts mean that “consumers will buy around the same number of consoles overall as last year,” says Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities. That presents an opportunity “to grow sales year-over-year at holiday” and possibly match or surpass last year’s sales of $21 billion.

Wii sales have dropped by 50% in the first quarter of 2009.

Neither the competition nor the economic times were responsible for Nintendo’s move, says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. He says the price cut was important for this holiday season and to drive software sales of upcoming releases Wii Fit Plus (Oct. 4) and New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nov. 15). “Our focus is strictly on driving more and more consumers into the gaming industry,” Fils-Aime says, estimating the potential U.S. Wii market at about 50 million total. “If the consumer sees value and innovation, they are willing to spend.”