Nintendo: 'Wii Won't Cut Prices'

Nintendo's Wii recently hit the 25 million units sold mark, and there's no indication the little white console is about to slow down any day soon. At least, that's the reason Nintendo has announced it will not be reducing the price of its popular system.

To some, the announcement is a surprise, given that most consoles knock at least a small percentage of their price tag off sometime around one year after launch. By comparison, Sony's PlayStation 3 reduced its price almost immediately, and the Microsoft Xbox 360 has seen its price slashed numerous times since its November 2005 release.

However, it's not all that much of a surprise for experts in the industry. Granted, Sony has cut quite a few dollars off its powerful PS3, but has been given little choice provided the system's middling sales. At $250, the Wii is already a bargain, and with the console continuing to fly off store shelves, there's no motivation for the Big N to cut its price. (Source: alleyinsider.com)

And yet, the Wii has, for the first time perhaps, faced some criticism. President of Epic Games Mike Capps recently told IGN.com that the Wii is little more than "a weird virus". The head of the company responsible for the Xbox 360's immensely popular Gears of War continued his tirade by stating, "It's a virus where you buy it and you play it with your friends and they're like, 'Oh my God, that's so cool, I'm gonna go buy it. So you stop playing it after two months, but they buy it and they stop playing it after two months but they've showed it to someone else who then goes out and buys it and so on." (Source: canada.com)

Ouch. Capps rubbed it much, much deeper by adding that he can't ever envision Epic Games producing titles for the little system. Why? "Everyone I know bought one and nobody turns it on," he added.

Capps is probably right. Many hardcore gamers find the Wii a cute little party system, but regularly opt for Blu-ray movies on the PS3 or Halo on the Xbox 360.

Still, when it comes to the bottom line, there's no reason for Nintendo to worry just yet.