Nintendo Targeting 50 Million Potential Gamers With Wii Price Cut

This week, as expected, Nintendo finally lowered the price on the Wii console to $199. EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich said he does not believe Nintendo's reacting to Sony or Microsoft, and he thinks the Wii will see an immediate 40% boost in weekly sales this October. Nintendo of America vice president of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler noted to GameSpot that the timing was finally right for a price cut, as Nintendo hopes to lure in many more new gamers with a more affordable platform.

"Our research shows that there are 50 million consumers in the U.S. alone who are sitting on the sideline wanting to be engaged in this fantastic, fun form of entertainment but just haven't found the motivation or been given the incentive to do that. We believe by lowering the price to $199.99 and by launching these great new titles, this is the right time to do that and this will be the incentive that gets these consumers in the game, so to speak," she said.

Countering any notion that Nintendo had to make a move to stay competitive following price drops from Sony and Microsoft, Kaigler added, "We were not driven by any other factors but our own business decision to do this."

Later in the interview Kaigler also said that Nintendo is looking at ways to create more experiences for both the Balance Board peripheral and Wii MotionPlus. "The Balance Board is a remarkable accessory, and there is a tremendous amount of potential for games to be developed using that truly fun interface. As you know, there are numerous third-party titles on the market that utilize the Wii Balance Board. Certainly, our designers are always looking at ways that we continue to utilize our accessories, and the Wii Balance Board is certainly one of those accessories developers are looking at leveraging to further enhance gameplay," she stated.

Regarding MotionPlus, she added, "There's no other motion-sensing controller like it on the market, so we're excited to look at incorporating that experience into other titles. So just like with the Wii Balance Board, yes, our developers are working at leveraging that technology into other games."

Between the MotionPlus (which we believe will likely become the standard Wii pack-in controller later in 2010) and the Balance Board, it's going to be difficult for Microsoft's Project Natal or Sony's motion controller to overthrow Nintendo's motion dominance.