Links: Kotaku and Forget The Box

So the Wii U costs about $180 to make, and these sources are saying it won't retail under $300. Obviously the information isn't quite official, but $300 is a lot for old tech. Forget the Box gives a lot of detail, check it!

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

@ZOnikJJ said:

$300 is a lot for old tech

Even though I've seen old tech go for just that in GameStop?

Link-bait nonsense rumour link is link-bait nonsense.

As soon as the Wii U actually comes out we can read the teardown and not be at the mercy of people trying to profit from advertising dollar by printing anything their fever dream halfwit cousin comes up with.

Even if this was true the old tech argument doesn't work very well as the PS3 and 360 were both "old" tech within a year of their release.

I don't think people care about graphics as much as you think. Look how popular Call of Duty still is, that's one dated looking game.

Well, with respect to the original Wii, it launched at $250 with old hardware.

In addition, the PS3 and Xbox 360 likely will see price drops (to as low as $150 says Kotaku) this year.

@ZOnikJJ said:

In addition, the PS3 and Xbox 360 likely will see price drops (to as low as $150 says Kotaku) this year.

Damn that is crazy good for a PS3.

I think "old" tech is the least of their worries. To replicate the success of the wii nintendo must convince all those mums and grannys who bought in to the wii that this new one offers something different. The hardcore buyers will just be gravy.

@Kidavenger said:

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

Barely. It's not so advanced that it should cost $300.

@Kidavenger said:

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

By better you mean just its graphical capabilities.

                                                                       Rumour

                                                              Anonymous Sources

$300 is a good price for a new home console.

People also forget that console specs =/= PC specs. Having to do nothing but run games allows a lot more to come from what would look like the worst modern PC specs ever.

@egg said:

@Kidavenger said:

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

By better you mean just its graphical capabilities.

its graphical capabilites will still be less than playstation 3 or xbox 360. and i dont give a shit or want to play games on a tablet. this is a pass for me.

I think $300 makes sense, but it's asking too much for what's on offer. We'll see if Nintendo makes the package more compelling at E3, but Baby's First Tablet and a souped up Wii aren't exactly impressing me.

@tunaburn said:

@egg said:

@Kidavenger said:

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

By better you mean just its graphical capabilities.

its graphical capabilites will still be less than playstation 3 or xbox 360. and i dont give a shit or want to play games on a tablet. this is a pass for me.

Well in that case I wonder what Kidavenger meant when he said it will be better. (who knows maybe it will be.. but we don't know) Its controller is evidently worse, but maybe the tablet features will make up for it somehow.

If it's $300 and black (my white Wii is the only thing in my home theater cabinet that's not black), I'll buy it at launch.

Hahaha... "sources"

wait for e3

@MikkaQ said:

...but Baby's First Tablet and a souped up Wii aren't exactly impressing me.

And if it's anything like the original Wii we'll have to wait a year and pay another 40-50 bucks to get an attachment for the tablet that makes it work properly :P

That seems pretty good, wouldn't mind picking up a Wii U for that price.

Parts are only PART of the total cost. Manufacturing, shipping, and advertising make up the price too. Either way it does sound underpowered for the true next gen.

@JasonR86 said:

$300 is a good price for a new home console.

Especially if it uses last gen's controllers and is backwards compatible.

Waiting for Nintendo to actually say something about the Wii U and show something about the Wii U. So far there is just a big nothing about it if it is coming out this year.

@Kung_Fu_Viking said:

@Kidavenger said:

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

Barely. It's not so advanced that it should cost $300.

You don't know that. Anonymous rumors lead you to believe that but at the end of the day, you have no idea what is in there. Besides, $300 for a brand new system is a pretty good deal regardless.

$300 is a good price for a new home console.

@Gaff said:

@JasonR86

$300 is a good price for a new home console.

$300 is a terrible price for a new home console considering that its equally powered competition retails at $200 to 250.

We don't know enough about the Wii-U to say that. All we know is that it is the next Nintendo home console. Considering what we know $300 seems to be a good price.

I think it's going to cost 250 tops

And I'd rather pay 300 for a 4850 than 600 for a 6670.

What I'm really holding out on is the cost of the Wii U tablets. If the console only ships with one, how much will I need to fork out for another one...

and what if they decide at E3 that there should be 4 controllers supported. Too many unknowns at this stage.

And the key phrase is "we don't know enough". If Nintendo is still aiming for a Q4 2012 "launch window", dev kits would've been released to developers and factories would be preparing to start producing Wii Us. Both would mean that the hardware has been finalised. Though so far, nothing has been reported, and Nintendo has been eerily quiet (apart from "yeah, we made a big loss last quarter, but don't worry, we're launching this 'Wii U thing' this year. Promise!").

Then again, who knows come E3.

@Sooty said:

@ZOnikJJ said:

In addition, the PS3 and Xbox 360 likely will see price drops (to as low as $150 says Kotaku) this year.

Damn that is crazy good for a PS3.

From what what I've heard, that 150 applies to the 4gb Xbox. That currently retails at 200, so that's a 50 buck price drop. So that would mean 200 for Ps3 and 250 for the proper xbox. Anyway, the Xbox had a bigger discount then that last month, so not really worth waiting till holiday season for less then the cost of a game.

So Nintendo is still Nintendo then.

I'm definitely not buying this thing on day one if it's over $300.

Though I say that now but I'll probably still buy it. haha

If it's really only $180 to make it sure as hell better not cost more than $300. I realize there are other costs associated with production but paying $350 for $180 tech would be absurd.

I wonder how much storage it will come with, if there will be different SKUs.

Unless they have a actual Wii-U in their hands, and even then I doubt the estimating prowis of Kotaku. there is no way they can know how much the Wii-U will cost.

Edit: Actually I doubt anything from Koutaku.

I hope this thing is easier to get than Wii was. I had to wait about a month just to find a Wii anywhere, and even then I had to get lucky.

Since when did rumor become fact?

@selbie said:

What I'm really holding out on is the cost of the Wii U tablets. If the console only ships with one, how much will I need to fork out for another one...

and what if they decide at E3 that there should be 4 controllers supported. Too many unknowns at this stage.

It only supports one tablet controller, there's no need to have two.

well 300 seems like an ok price. I am not sure what other people who are non-gamers would even think about buying it, for me the tablet gimmick is already taken by apple and it works. But I am not sure if the tablet controller thing would even controll well but it probably will with the right games. 

It's better than current gen consoles and it includes a tablet and it's the latest Nintendo console, if it's only $300 it's a day one purchase for me.

@ZOnikJJ said:

Well, with respect to the original Wii, it launched at $250 with old hardware.

In addition, the PS3 and Xbox 360 likely will see price drops (to as low as $150 says Kotaku) this year.

Welp, guess it was a good idea to wait to upgrade to the Xbox S. I'll have to buy a PS3 for my folks too.

@The_Laughing_Man:

Anonymous, unconfirmed reports.

@The_Laughing_Man:

Anonymous, unconfirmed reports.

@The_Laughing_Man:

Who? Who says? The VG247 article where nothing overly specific is listed just 3 ANONYMOUS quotes? I was as disappointed as the next guy when I learned that the Wii was a overclocked Gamecube. What we got in the end wasn't a perfect console (What Nintendo console hasn't had issues the past few gens?) but it offered experiences that in most cases I couldn't get on my PC, PS3 or 360.

All I'm saying is people need to not write it off so quickly and easily. I also don't see how the price is an issue, the PS3 launched at a ridiculously stupid price and I'm sorry guys...my PC games were looking better and running at a higher resolution. Does that mean the 360 and PS3 were stupid investments? Nope, and neither will the Wii U whenever it launches.

@The_Laughing_Man:

Who? Who says? The VG247 article where nothing overly specific is listed just 3 ANONYMOUS quotes? I was as disappointed as the next guy when I learned that the Wii was a overclocked Gamecube. What we got in the end wasn't a perfect console (What Nintendo console hasn't had issues the past few gens?) but it offered experiences that in most cases I couldn't get on my PC, PS3 or 360.

All I'm saying is people need to not write it off so quickly and easily. I also don't see how the price is an issue, the PS3 launched at a ridiculously stupid price and I'm sorry guys...my PC games were looking better and running at a higher resolution. Does that mean the 360 and PS3 were stupid investments? Nope, and neither will the Wii U whenever it launches.

@The_Laughing_Man:

Well, it has taken everyone awhile to get what they got out of the 360 and PS3. I guess I just don't buy early pre release anonymous "reports" when you factor in that more will be squeezed out eventually.

A great example is Quake 4, launched on the 360 and it was a terrible mess when it came to performance on the 360. While the PC in the house with "Weaker" specs then the 360 was running it at a higher resolution and framerate. It's just to early to throw the hardware in the Wii U under the bus, and it's far to early to call judgement on the software and where it's headed. Heck man, I owned a 4870 which is what the GPU in the Wii U is based off (R700) it is faster than the GPU in the 360 and PS3 hands down. Evidence just doesn't support the attitude people have taken towards the Wii U.

As for the money thing, I'm not trying to convince you to buy one or to buy one at launch. This conversation is just whether or not we feel it's worth it based on the specs, and all I'm saying is that isn't necessarily a fair way to go about it by merely citing anonymous reports.

So we've heard that the Wii U is less, more, or equally as powerful as the Xbox 360, PS3, IBM's Watson, or a TI-83 Plus. In other words we know nothing. How do we get from knowing nothing to knowing the cost of production? Simple, just spew out any plausible-sounding number and people will eat it up.

@rebgav said:

@Claude said:

@rebgav said:

@selbie said:

What I'm really holding out on is the cost of the Wii U tablets. If the console only ships with one, how much will I need to fork out for another one...

and what if they decide at E3 that there should be 4 controllers supported. Too many unknowns at this stage.

It only supports one tablet controller, there's no need to have two.

Actually, that's still up in the air. I've seen it stated that the Wii U could use two tablet controllers.

They're already cannibalizing the power of the machine to render two separate video streams, I can't imagine that supporting more tablets would be a good thing unless it only supports multiple tablets when the console isn't sending output to a tv. God damn it Nintendo, what is this insanity?!

E3 will certainly explain everything, but what if one breaks? I need to know how much these things are before I dump more money into Nintendo's coffers. Also, two or more tablet controllers don't necessarily have to stream the same volume of information as one. It all depends on the game.