Report: Nintendo wanted $100 Wii

Veteran game designer Shigeru Miyamoto tells BusinessWeek that the original plan was for a super-cheap console.

The Nintendo Wii, to be launched in the US on November 19 (in Japan on December 2 and in Europe on December 8), is built around a unique motion-sensing controller, but the interface wasn't the only part of making a console that Nintendo rethought. At £179 ($249.99), it is also the cheapest of the three next-gen options, but the console was originally meant to be even cheaper, to the tune of $100 a unit, according to game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.

Miyamoto told BusinessWeek that the Nintendo Wii was made very much with mothers in mind. He said, "Our goal was to come up with a machine that moms would want--easy to use, quick to start up, not a huge energy drain, and quiet while it was running... Also we thought a low-cost console would keep moms happy."

The designer said that the $100 mark was his original goal for the Wii but that using NAND flash memory to store data and incorporating other "pricey parts" torpedoed that idea.

Power isn't everything for a console. "Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction," Miyamoto added.

296 Comments

  • _Sam_

    Posted Nov 26, 2006 11:24 am PT

    I'm fine with the current price

  • jon1233

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 5:17 pm PT

    I like his dinosaur analogy...

  • GatoFeo

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 5:16 pm PT

    U crazy, Wii still cost cheap!

  • kyle_toker

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 3:59 pm PT

    its still cheap but that would have been awesome

  • UMCP

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 1:34 pm PT

    WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IS EXPENSIVE!

  • mrzero1982pt2

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 7:11 am PT

    ha if nintendo made a 100 dollar nextgen system, they would have singlehandedly slaughtered sony.....wait, they just might this time

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Nov 20, 2006 7:00 am PT

    weird dinosaur analogy....

  • Shady_Grove

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 6:29 pm PT

    Waaaah waaaaah! Its $250. Not $100. Its still $350 less than the PS3.

  • chrisrulz554

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 4:29 pm PT

    In New Zealand the core 360 is $50 cheaper than the Wii with the core at $450 and the Wii at $500.

  • drangel_jam

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 3:21 pm PT

    eloquently spoken

  • grave_rob

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 11:04 am PT

    i like his whole dinosaur metaphor...

    if it was $100 at launch i woulda picked one up...& all that could have been

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 8:02 am PT

    A console for mothers? Why mothers and not fathers?

  • rouguesquadron

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 5:52 am PT

    While I would've loved a $100 price tag for the Wii, $250 for such a great gaming console isn't that bad of a deal.

  • franwex

    Posted Nov 19, 2006 12:37 am PT

    The first console of nintendo to be over $200. Still if you adjust inflation, I think the Gamecube would be the cheapest.

  • icemancell

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 8:22 pm PT

    yay nintendo always lookin out for us poor folks!!!!

  • Pheimos

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 7:35 pm PT

    AND IT'S RELEASED, YAY!

  • 1vgfan

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 7:19 pm PT

    doh!

  • dellcole

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 5:20 pm PT

    Although I like the idea of a cheep console, it would be strange if a portable system - the DS - would cost more than a console.

  • snakenamedjoe

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 5:05 pm PT

    Selling the console at a loss is a poor business practice. Monopolistic practices. It would be bad for the game industry. Nintendo has high business ethics, so it makes sense that they didn't do that.

    Still, I hope they manage to get their next console down to $200 at launch. I paid $200 for my NES, $200 for my SNES, $200 for my N64, etc.

  • Pheimos

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 4:47 pm PT

    Amazing, that'd be awesome ^^
    Can always trust Nintendo

  • Lumenadducere

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 4:42 pm PT

    Wow, that sucks...totally would have gotten one if it was just $100. And ryohazuki, I agree - that is a good quote.

  • LuminosityBlaze

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 4:02 pm PT

    Aww, come on! Sony is losing at least $300-500 per unit, Nintendo could have eaten the $150 and more than make up with software because they would absolutly fly out the store at $100, but still at $250 I think they are going to sell quite well.

  • powerslave88

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 3:53 pm PT

    whatever thanks for reminding me i gotta pay an extra $150

  • ryohazuki1987

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 3:30 pm PT

    "Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction," Miyamoto added.

    That's a great quote.

  • cfamgcn

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 3:18 pm PT

    I want a $100 Wii!!!

  • 4quarters

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 2:39 pm PT

    They probably could sell it for $100.00 but now they are just ripping everybody off!!!!!

  • Gamepro2421

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 1:52 pm PT

    aaaaaah! he shouldn't have said that! now i'm mad

  • jayteeslash

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 1:21 pm PT

    I'm 30 years old and I stick with Nintendo because of the so-called "kids" games. Mario games are the funnest around. I grew up on these types of games and now I'll be able to enjoy playing with my daughter. Nintendo's doing the right thing in not forgetting the people who made them the #1 company when the NES and SNES were around. They can survive on the nostalgia factor forever. The fact that the old Nintendo games will be available (hopefully they open it up for tons of old games - that's a guaranteed success and moneymaker) is icing on the cake. Graphics are over-rated. I've tried FPS and I must say they're the most boring games around, even if they look good.

    And I could give a rat's ass about a DVD player. I already own one and when I want a new one I'll buy a separate DVD player that is of much higher quality than anything they could put in a gaming system.

  • Sandro909

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 1:14 pm PT

    Watch Nintendo have the most powerful console with the newest media support, best graphics, virtual reality, and still be the cheapest and sell the most next gen... I'd laugh...

  • Max_Hydrogen

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 12:55 pm PT

    Unbehagen: 500$?! On man, I had no idea consoles were so expensive in New Zealand, damn! As for the Wii, 100$ would have been nice, but would it have been as poweful? Indeed power isn't everything but a system must keep up with the standards of the times or gamers will feel let down by an inferior product.

  • matthus8888

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 12:54 pm PT

    $100? I wouldn't have taken it seriously then. The wii's gonna be awesome, sucks that they gave red steel a bad review but im still gettin it. the dino analogy's really awesome. Yeah. uh, when they say, designed with moms in mind, they mean price. The wii's really innovative rather than the 360 or ps3, who just slap on some better graphics and call it a new system. motion. censored. controls. hell yeah.

  • marioforever07

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 12:47 pm PT

    im so excited to pick up my wii tomorrow

  • marioforever07

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 12:44 pm PT

    ya right they would make it $100

  • TPfan222

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 12:13 pm PT

    I don't think they will make it cost less than the DS.

  • stealth89

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 11:52 am PT

    $100 would have been nice...

  • judgenxcutioner

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 11:51 am PT

    $100 console these days would just be a paperweight, just like some of those launch model 360s. Oh and I heard Nintendo is putting that new teckmology called DVD into their Wii next year!! that is so friggin awesome it's so cool to know that Nintendo is keeping up with the times.

  • poncho88x

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 11:46 am PT

    100 bucks is fine but im sure nintendo wanted a lil more profit than that

  • madogmgd

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 11:23 am PT

    yeah but the legend of zelda twilight princess looks aweful

  • helluvagood

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 10:47 am PT

    cant do anything with a 100 dollar console

  • shizwill03

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 10:31 am PT

    Oh my smurfing GOD. To think that the Wii could have been only 100 bucks.....They would have sold out in seconds versus days. Also Miyamoto's quote is quite true. I can't WAIT to pick up my Wii tomorrow.

  • bigcrusha

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 10:30 am PT

    100$ is great but the console will look way too cheap. Where is the profit in 100$ considering that they took so much time perfecting motion sensitivity? Do you think it's right for something this great to cost less than a ds, or even a gameboy advance?

  • chaosX303

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 9:49 am PT

    If it were a hundred dollars the Wii would out sell the PS3 And 360

  • Darth-Revan45

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 9:36 am PT

    100 dollars, man I would jump on that like a Phirana. But that is an amazing quote from Miyamoto.

  • HappyInvader101

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 9:11 am PT

    "Too many powerful consoles can't coexist. It's like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction," Thats a pretty niffty quote i must say...

    but man, 100$ Wii? Im sure that if that was the case, Nintendo would win the next-gen console wars, without a doubt

  • Dantes_Monkey

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 8:50 am PT

    if it was $100 i would buy it without thinking

  • Cerza

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 8:23 am PT

    A $100 wii would have been great, but I really don't know how they would have been able to do it given what the wii is all about. And, that is a great quote, once again Miyamoto-san speaks from experience.

  • gamergoddess89

    Posted Nov 18, 2006 7:48 am PT

    Can't we all just get along. Xbox 360 and Ps3 are both good systems and i bet the wii will be too they all offer somethig different for each gamer. Nintendo aiming there sales toward mom's no offense is crazy i could never imagine my mom playing red steel to save her life let alone my older sister(she likes ps3) my dad yeah maybe he would and i definitly would even if they would have dropped the wii down to $200 it would have sparked in alot more people suprisingly and as for the "ferocious dinosaurs" Mr.Miyamoto is at it again with his quirky quotes

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