Rep: No Nintendo Wii Budget Label Plans In The Works

If you’re holding off on a buying a Wii title thinking that it’s going to be released on a future budget label…don’t. The company has admitted it has no plans to reinstate the Players Choice line, which released popular first party games at cheaper prices after a period of time.
“We have no plans for a Wii budget label. Nintendo Wii software is performing very well at its current price points,” a Nintendo rep recently told MCV.
“It’s important to note that Nintendo do not set prices. It is retailers that will ultimately set the prices of both hardware and software. And with brand new software titles available at estimated retail prices of between £19.99 and £34.99, we feel Wii represents great value over any current new competitor titles.”
Much as we’d always like to see prices slashed, it does seem perfectly logical for the company to keep the status quo for the time being. After all, it’s not like they’re having any problem with sales these days.

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I’m honestly beginning to think the Wii is not the bargain I thought it was. I recently bought a Wii knowing it was one of the best deals around, plus I didn’t want to stretch to either the Xbox 360 or PS3. I grabbed one for £210 with Mario Strikers thrown in (plus Wii Sports obviously). “Not a bad deal” I thought. Later I decided I wanted an extra controller so I can play with my mates, and was shocked that an extra controller (with nunchuck) cost about £45 (or £50 if I had got them with Wii Play). So at that point I had spent about £255 on a system that once appeared to be cheap. Then on top of that I realized I should invest in some sort of charger for those battery-guzzling Wiimotes, so that’s another £10.
Over £260 for my Wii, and I haven’t even bought a new game for it! I wanted to try out that Virtual Console, but that would mean another £15 for a game pad, and £15 for Wii points. Seriously, I would have braved the Red Ring of Death and bought a 360 if I had known how much the Wii would end up costing! Even the damn PS3 seems like a far better deal for what you’re getting! Don’t get me wrong, the Wii is a great system, but it’s NOT the budget console it appears to be.
As for the games… Even though I like a few of the Wii games available (the quirkier the better), I do think they’re overpriced for what they are. I mean come on! How much effort went into games like ‘Cooking Mama’ compared to the 360/PS3 titles? The games are fun, but should never charge over £15 for them, £20 tops. At the moment it seems Ninty can slap any price tag on their products and people will buy them. I did, and I’m a fool.
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