Earlier reports revealed that the Wii U was going to be expensive. Even the Nintendo's President Satoru Iwata admitted, "This thing is not going to be cheap." At the time he hinted it would be priced at more than 20,000 yen in Japan, or roughly $250 in the U.S.
As it turns out, Nintendo's highly-anticipated Wii U could cost double that. Several sites and retail outlets are now pricing the Wii U for $600.
EB Games Australia has listed the Wii U at $598, which translates to approximately $602 U.S. dollars. This isn't the first time EB Games priced a console early. In the past they listed the 3DS price as $350, which was the same price it launched at in Australia.
Similarly, online retailer Zavvi has priced the Wii U at £399.85, which also translates to about $600 U.S. dollars. Gamingbolt is also reporting Carrefour, the largest French Mall, has priced the new console at €450, approximately $600 as well.
Given the sluggish start of Nintendo's handheld 3DS, you'd think they'd go with a more conservative, cheaper price. Then again, with the Wii U utilizing an innovative Tablet controller, it can't be cheap to produce. But is a tablet controller worth an extra $250-$300? Still, you'd think Nintendo has learned from the 3DS sales, or even from watching the slow PS3 launch, which was also launched at a similar price.
As for Nintendo's plan for the Wii U, Iwata is looking towards a launch during the next fiscal year.
“We are also planning to launch the Wii U, which is the successor to the Wii, during the next fiscal year. We would like to show the final format of the Wii U at the E3 show next year,” revealed Iwata.
“As we learned a bitter lesson with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, we are trying to take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch. ”
Iwata or Nintendo haven't commented on these rumored prices; but if they do turn out to be true, are you willing to pay $600 for a new Wii U?
