Hasta La Gadget!

Nintendo has slashed the priced of the Wii ahead of the holiday shopping season, bringing the motion-tracking console down to under $130 to keep sales ticking until the Wii U arrives. Now down to $129.99 complete with two classic games, the black version of the console is offered with Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort (squeezed onto a single disc, no less).

The new bundle will replace the existing black Wii package, currently offered with New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and help fill the entry-level segment while the new Wii U takes on the more premium end of the market. That new console, complete with its tablet-style GamePad, will hit the US on November 18, priced from $299.99.

Nintendo’s Wii may be old, but its had impressive sales and managed to kick-start a new segment of motion-tracking gaming. That went on to inspire systems from Microsoft, with Kinect for the Xbox 360, and Sony’s PlayStation Move for the PS3.

The new black Wii package will be broadly available by October 28 across the US. No word on international launch plans at this stage.

Nintendo Wii under $130 in holiday price slash is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While hype for the Nintendo Wii U may not be as substantial compared to other consoles, pre-orders for the Wii U went quickly and eventually sold out. Now, console scalpers are looking to make bank on their pre-ordered Wii U consoles by selling them on eBay for almost a quarter as much as they originally paid for the console.

It turns out that the 32GB “Deluxe” Wii U system is selling for an average of $517, which is almost 50% higher than the $350 retail price. However, the margin is a lot less for the 8GB “Basic” console, which is averaging $348 on eBay when the retail price is only $300. Then again, one lucky eBayer was able to sell his 32GB Deluxe system for a whopping $750.

Selling sold out devices on eBay is nothing new. It’s been happening with the iPhone 5 just recently, with people spending as much as $800+ for the basic 16GB model. I also saw this kind of thing back in 2006 when Sony launched the PlayStation 3. They were easily selling for over $1,000 on eBay at the time when they sold out.

Seeing as to how a lot of people are willing to spend this much on a Wii U console says that Nintendo still must be doing something right at least. The lone fact that the Wii U sold out is a sign that the Wii series still has momentum. We’re excited to see how launch day goes for the Wii U — it’s happening on November 18 and there will be 23 games to choose from that day as well.

[via Ars Technica]

Wii U pre-orders fetching up to $750 on eBay is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nintendo‘s incoming Wii U has only been up for pre-order for a few days, but already it seems that some retailers are having issues keeping the console in stock. This is immediately reminiscent of the original Wii, which was a rare find for quite some time after release. Could the Wii U be headed for the same post-launch stock issues? That’s hard to say for sure, but it certainly seems that way.

At the time of this writing, retailers like Best Buy, GameStop, and Sears have all sold out of the Deluxe Wii bundle, which costs $349.99 and comes packed with a 32GB hard drive. GameStop and Best Buy still have the basic version – $299.99 with a 8GB hard drive – in stock, but those will probably go quickly as well. It’s also worth pointing out that Walmart is offering a “Wii U solution bundle” for $400 that allows consumers to pick which version of the Wii U they want (choosing the Deluxe edition adds $50 to the price of the bundle), one of 13 Wii U launch titles, and a Wii remote for some multiplayer action. Those bundles are still in stock, and it looks like that’s the only way to get a Wii U console from Walmart (at least online).

So, it would appear that the Wii U is pretty popular with consumers, but the question now becomes: is this an artificial shortage implemented by Nintendo to increase demand, or are customers truly going crazy over the Wii U? With that question posed, other questions inevitably pop up – just how much stock will retailers have to work with? If the console really is this popular, will Nintendo be able to keep up with demand? Does this mean that the Wii U will become as popular as the original Wii?

Of course, it’s far too early to answer most of those questions, but the Wii U does seem to be on the right track. Nintendo has an excellent launch line up going for it, and the Wii U houses some solid hardware, so it’s very likely that some core gamers who felt a little alienated by the original Wii have returned for the Wii U. Whether Nintendo can get both the core group and casual group to go nuts over the Wii U remains to be seen, but it will be very interesting to see how this pre-order shortage plays out in the lead up to the Wii U’s launch. Stay tuned.

[via IGN]

Wii U pre-orders going fast at most online retailers is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

“We will continue to sell the Wii,” Nintendo America president and CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told investors today in a Q&A followup to the company’s big Wii U event in New York City. “In the US, the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with the Wii.” However, where Fils-Aime sees the most opportunity may not be where you expect. “I’m responsible for Canada, and Latin America as well,” he said. “We think there’s opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America.” The Wii is currently offered by Nintendo in North America, Asia, Australia, and Europe, but not Latin America. The Wii ranges from $140 to $250, depending on what it comes with.

“You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that, candidly, we won’t be able to reach with the Wii U. That’s gonna continue to be an opportunity,” he said. Fils-Aime and Nintendo also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. “On a global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it’ll do well.”

He also stood behind the console continuing to sell in its currently available markets alongside the Wii U after the new console launches this November. “We do believe there’s still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell the Wii side-by-side for some period of time.” Unsurprisingly, he didn’t say exactly how long Nintendo is planning that support, nor would he say if we should expect a price drop for the aging console, but if we had to guess, we’d say “The Wii will drop in price” and “soon.”

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo sees next opportunity for Wii success in Latin America, Eastern Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

It’s tradeshow season and as is its custom, LG is bringing monitors packed with its latest and greatest display technology to show off. Just announced ahead of IFA 2012 are the EA93 and EA83 IPS LCDs, with the former aimed at entertainment / multitasking and the latter targeting graphics, video and photography pros. The EA93 is a 29-inch 21:9 aspect ratio ultrawidescreen (2560 x 1080) display with a thin bezel designed to immerse the viewer in the content. It can handle a 4-way split screen and connections via DVI Dual Link, DisplayPort, or HDMI with MHL support. The 27-inch EA83’s claim to fame is its 2560 x 1440 WQHD resolution that brings four times the pixel count of 1280 x 720 panels and 99 percent Adobe RGB accuracy. There’s no word on the price tag for either of these, but they should start shipping in November.

Continue reading LG preps 21:9 aspect ratio EA93 and WQHD EA83 series IPS LCD monitors for debut at IFA 2012

Filed under: Displays

LG preps 21:9 aspect ratio EA93 and WQHD EA83 series IPS LCD monitors for debut at IFA 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  LG  | Email this | Comments