Price cut could double Wii sales

Despite falling sales and the announcement of its successor, Nintendo reckons that Wii may have only hit 50 per cent of its potential lifetime sales.

We all know that the PS2 continued to sell in big numbers despite the arrival of newer hardware, mainly due to its significantly decreased ticket price and the chance that afforded it to tap into more casual and family-friendly markets.

That’s a pattern Nintendo of America’s boss Reggie Fils-Aime hopes the Wii can now emulate following the price drop announced earlier this week.

"For us this is a very important move," Fils-Aime told msnbc.com. "This is only the second price reduction for Wii hardware since we launched back in November 2006. And in the last home console cycle, the leading system at the time sold almost 50 per cent of its volume at a price point of $149 or below."

"When we launch our new home system sometime in 2012 we think the consumer buying in will look very different than the consumer who’s going to be buying a Wii now.

"What we’ve seen in this business it that there are certain consumers who love being first— they have to have the absolute latest hardware— and there are other consumers that are perfectly happy to wait until the game library is much more robust and they have a wider range of options.

"There are a lot of households where kids will be off from school and the parents are either looking for celebratory presents as the children finish the school year or they’re looking for a fun exercise to keep the kids busy and happy during the summer time frame," Fils-Aime said.

"And for these people who are perhaps just joining the gaming flock for the first time, that $50 cut is going to make a big difference. We think there is a wide range of consumers that are wanting to purchase a Wii and what they have been waiting for is this type of announcement."