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EA urges Wii price drop

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EA urges Wii price drop

Riccitiello says Nintendo can win over still large PS2 userbase with further cuts to Wii RRP

He’s at it again – seemingly miffed by being out of the headlines for the best part of 12 hours, EA boss John Riccitiello has openly encouraged Nintendo to slash yet more from the Wii’s RRP as he believes doing so will allow it to tap into the PS2’s still large userbase.

“If you look at the research at what consumers are spending their time doing, the PS2 is still right up there in terms of time usage,” he stated during a talk at the UBS Global Media conference.

“My belief is the first platform that gets to $149 is going to inherit much of that business. And Wii is best opportunity. They've got the lowest cost platform out there – if they drive price I think they can really do well.

Not finished there, Riccitiello added that if Wii does not get another price cut it might find itself in a tough position once Microsoft launches its Natal motion hardware next year.

“$199 up against an Xbox 360 is a tougher compare especially in a world when Natal comes,” he observed.

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Koch

“The Wii is not gone. But if they maintain $199 and don't innovate they're going to have a hard time competing with what's already been announced from Microsoft and Sony.”

EA trying to rule the world

posted by Kay Dec 13, 2009 at 4:03 pm
1
Kay

The Wii is a success story! The first console to encorporate motion sensitivity, geared around family entertainment. PS2 consoles and games are cheeper because they're older technology etc.
The Wii has no need to reduce prices, it's a reasonable price for a console that can be shared by the entire family, it's a good deal!
EA are putting pressure on Nintendo to lower the price of their product so that if the cost of the Wii does go down (with or without this intervention) EA can gather up the 'glory' to fuel their supersized ego in a celebration of 'see what influence we have on the games market'.
We know what influence you have, buying companies and then laying them off, stop pretending that you care for anyone but yourself. Lower the prices of your own products if your that bothered.
It's not your place to interfer. I'm sure Nintendo have a highly capable team that know when the time is right. Stop sticking your nose in where it doesn't belong!
Rant over.

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