Add in an ample storage solution(which is included in that $400 360 console), and you are looking at another $25-$30 for a decent sized SD card.

I see that, but the thing is the Wii and especially Wii sports is really a multiplayer system. With the 360 I wouldn't even bother with an extra controller right away.

Also you have to buy at least one SD card and component cables (if you want 480p which I definitely would) which the premium Xbox has covered.

The Wii has definitely ended up more expensive than I had hoped. I will get one at some point, but I'm definitely thinking next year when they stop bundling in Wii Sports and have a better library.

I see your point, but I think there is a tipping point with pricing.

Using MP3s as an example, 99 cents a song (and less at some sites) isn't bad, and many people don't mind paying that versus downloading it illegally. If prices are raised a buck or two, many will probably revert to downloading illegally again.

I can see the same type of thing with the Virtual Console, people may be willing to download old NES games (which really, IMO, for the most part don't hold up well today) for a couple bucks, but at $5 and up, many may say fuck it and just stick with the emulators they've been using for years.

Its a fair point of whether the companies involved should take this into account or not, but if I was the CEO or whatever, I'd want to find the point that we could actually sell the product and make money, versus the point where we start losing large quantity of sells to illegal downloads.

That's another great point. I have 4 controllers for my GC, but have never bought a 2nd controller for my X-box or PS2.

The 360 has multiplayer covered through the Xbox Live experience.

Considering the Wii's storage is nowhere near the other consoles... you forgot to include 20 gigs of SD cards in the price comparison.
Oh and 10 to 1 no component cables included with the Wii ($30). 100 to 1 you'll have to mail-order them from Nintendo.

I don't think Nintendo expects to bring in people who run emulators on the PC. They're looking for the new gamer or the gamer they lost 10 years ago. If they can sell Super Mario Bros for $5 200,000 times or $1 1,000,000 times, which do you think they'll choose?

This is a bad comparison. For one, you're leaving out that some people would have to buy an SD card and component cable for the Wii if they wanted the packages to be truly comparable. Additionally, aren't there already Xbox 360 packages that include a game pretty much for free? Even if there aren't, some the 360 games are dropping in price after having been out for a year and others can be picked up used. I'm still planning on getting a Wii first and foremost, with a 360 most likely following at some point down the road. BUT, if I decided to get a 360 now and hold off on the Wii, I think the difference in what I'd be paying wouldn't be all that significant.

I wouldn't focus on the VC all that much when going over all of this. I know that it's important to a lot of people, but I don't think it'll be the thing that convinces people to buy a Wii instead of a 360 or PS3.

Hadn't seen this video yet.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/topics...ie/lineup.html

I'm not going to express my opinion because I was victim of getting wrapped up in the hype.....but......If we looked at the dates of the Nintendo Fusion tour, it would have pointed us in the direction for this iminent release date.

No change in my desire, I will still get one at launch.

The price and package is what I expected, although I really hoped for more. Oh well. Although, the controller prices are higher than I anticipated, as are the VC games. Considering that is about 360 pricing and I already own many of the Nintendo classics I want, I won't have to drop too much money there. The other features are meaningless to me. I want to play games on my consoles, that's all.

Wiisports? Meh. I will likely play with my friends once I load up on controllers, but it does not mean much to me. "Metroid Prime 3" being delayed is a huge blow to me though. NOt sure what beyond Zelda I will get at launch. I just saw "Battalion Wars 2" is coming to Wii though, so that took some pain away.

The release date also baffles me. A Sunday? In November? A wasn't expecting it that late. I can only figure they are trying their darndest to make sure there are lots of Wiis to fill empty shelf space.

I didn't want white though. I'll take what I can get, but I wanted something wild and fun for once.

Sure, there's some disappointment, but as Pixy said, I fell for my own hype. I repeat, no change in my desire, I will still get one at launch.

I may be one of those people. I have a huge library of NES and SNES games on my PC now. Shelling out $5 and up is going to be sketchy. I definitely would for a few games I know I would play all the way through again, but the "starting at" thing has me worried. I'm not going to pay $8 and up for a SNES game I may only play a bit and get bored with. I really don't play the games on the emulator much at all.

Hopefully they will have new content and rare games to look forward to, but I just don't see myself buying many VC games.

As mentioned by a few others, this really pushes me to buy a 360 now and put off the Wii for awhile. The price difference is minor and the 360 has had time to build a better library of games. The Wii launch games are pretty weak other than Zelda and I already have that ordered for the Gamecube.

Eh, it just sounds like people are trying their hardest to be as disappointed as possible by EVERY little nuance of this news. I can really only agree that I'd have preferred to pay $200 for the console itself. You can't find many (good) NES games for under $5 and except for the shit, SNES carts average $10 for common games. I guess it's hard to please a fanbase expecting nothing but handouts.

...

Same profit, more happy people to do it for $1.

If those were their actual choices, I think they'd be idiots to charge $5. If they're making the same amount of money off the big titles either way, cheaper pricing would definitely add to the money they bring in on lesser known or niche games. Of course, I'm sure it doesn't actually break down to 5 x 200,000 vs. 1 x 1,000,000.

Bullshit. It's easier to sell the 200,001st one than the 1,000,001st. But it doesn't matter as that was just a hypothetical. The VC will succeed or fail on its own and isn't one of my primary concerns.

I'm pretty disappointed with the pricing structure. Based on nintendo's actions today I derive that they must be extremely confident in their product. Hope they arn't drinking to much of the kool-aid...

Going back to this video, I'm even more convinced that Wii Sports should never be played alone.

As much as I want a Wii, I think I may hold out for CC or BB to offer a discount on accessories with a system purchase or some kind of add-in. Hell, I may just wait for the Red Wii to become available and buy it then. I know many people want black to match their components, but in my case, nothing matches what I have now anyway. I've got a shiny silver DVD, Black PS2, Black GC, White Dreamcast, Black VCR, Silver matte TV, and a Silver Matte Cable box. I would prefer each of my components to stand out at this point instead of them all trying to conform.

That has nothing to do with the question though. Your hypothetical was asking whether, if profits were the same either way, it would be better to have a higher price and smaller user base or lower price and larger user base. I can't possibly imagine why a company would want the first of these options, unless they were trying to differentiate themselves as an 'elite' choice, which Nintendo certainly is not doing.

512MB (isn't that what's included?) will be WAY MORE than enough to handle a hell of a lot of NES/SNES/N64 games plus Wii game saves.

There's no reason for 20GB or 60GB of storage for this stuff.

Ok, then, if they were going to make $1M either way, doesn't it stand to reason they've made more "profit" by serving less? But my point was that with any 2 pricing points, you have a break-even point based on sales.

Wii Sports isn't a full game, right? By that, I mean that Baseball is just pitching and batting, and tennis is like a mini tennis game. I'm pretty sure they said that you don't even control the players, you only control the swinging, and the matches are not normal tennis matches, much shorter.

Fair point. I just wonder how many of those people they lost 10 years ago use emulators though.

I use them, and planned on buying VC games and still do. But at what the prices look to be, I'll be much more selective in what I buy.