Nintendo Discourages Wii Retailer Bundles
From Reuters…
Nintendo, which is striving to meet Wii demand more than a year after the machine first went on sale, was also trying to discourage the practice of bundling the consoles with extra games or accessories and selling it for a higher price.
A Wii by itself sells for $250 — cheaper than Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Xbox 360 and Sony Corp’s (6758.T: Quote, Profile, Research) PlayStation 3 — but some retailers have offered bundles priced for double that price.
“Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that. We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want,” Fils-Aime said.
Asked if Nintendo had threatened such retailers with fewer Wii shipments, Fils-Aime said only that the company carried a lot of weight as maker of one of the most highly sought items this holiday season.
“We don’t have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers,” Fils-Aime said.
Nintendo’s top priority was to satisfy Wii demand because the issue was an obstacle to future plans, Fils-Aime said.
Unable to accurately forecast how many Wiis will be sold in the coming months, Nintendo is finding it difficult to plan for new games, such as “Wii Fit,” an upcoming physical exercise game that uses a pressure-sensitive board.
“We at Nintendo America are focused on getting to the point when any consumer can walk into any of our retailers and find a Wii. Then we can plan, on an ongoing basis, the rest of the business,” Fils-Aime said.