Nintendo isn’t playing around.
Before the Wii launched, financial analysts, such as Merrill Lynch, expected the system to retail for $199, maybe even less. The trouble with that wild guessing was Nintendo never had a reason to sell the Wii for less than $249 – its current price. With a bottom-end Xbox 360 selling for $299 and a new PlayStation 3 landing on the shelves starting at $499, Nintendo can sell a machine for anything less than 300 bucks and have consumers look at the purchase as a real gaming deal.
“Wii Play” shows up months after the console’s launch to prove the point. For $49, you get nine little games packaged with one extra controller. Anyone who has played the Wii knows that the system shows its best face when a roomful of people get together and enjoy some multiplayer fun.
Oddly, the Wii shipped with only one controller. And even though you can play “pass-the-controller” in games such as bowling or golf on “Wii Sports,” the fact remains: More controllers equals more fun.
Nintendo solved this problem by selling “Wii Play,” an add-on package that provides the missing piece. The genius of this plan puts Nintendo in the position where it can hang onto a value-price point while still keeping the revenue rolling in. So, instead of selling a $300 Wii with two controllers and setting a retail price dangerously close to the Xbox, Nintendo just held back on the missing controller and offered it as an extra that every Wii owner in the world will want.
Much like “Wii Sports” – the game that came packed in with the original system – “Wii Play” bundles nine simple games that show off the system’s technology. Some of the games – including shooting, pool and air hockey – work well. Others – like fishing and cow racing – seem a little like Web-game castoffs.
“Pose Mii” and “Find Mii,” which use the bobblehead cartoon avatars that players create for themselves, are actually as fun as they are weird.
Whether or not you consider “Wii Play” a gimmick to sell controllers or a perfect set of party games, Nintendo’s strategy seems to be working. With close to 5 million Wiis shipped globally and a maddening shortage of units in the stores, gamers can’t seem to get enough of the Wii. As much as Sony and Microsoft had hoped to push the base price of the home game system up, Nintendo has shown that $250 remains the more popular figure.
Gamers have learned that understanding a little of the business of games can help explain what’s going on in the industry. You can sit and wonder why Nintendo would release another collection of OK, casual games rather than worrying about getting another “Mario” or “Metroid” on the shelves. “Wii Play” finishes the job of packing up the Wii that should have shipped in the first place.
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“Wii Play”
VIDEO GAMES/HARDWARE
Games and extra controller for the Nintendo Wii
$49.99 | Rated E for everyone
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