Wii U ‘priced too high’, but appropriate for core fanbase

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, who is notable for his video game industry predictions, believes Nintendo's Wii U system is priced too high. Yesterday, Nintendo revealed the Wii U will launch with two separate packages: The Basic Set for $299.99, and the Premium Set for $349.99.

While he recognized the initial price point as a way to capitalize on Nintendo's core gamer fanbase, he did predict a price cut in the future once demand "beings to subside."

"We think that Wii U's price points are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo's core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand given current competition from other consoles and tablets," he said.

"In our view, Nintendo was smart to introduce the Wii U at higher price points in order to maximize initial sales from its core audience. We expect 1 – 1.5 million Wii U units to be shipped into the U.S. by the end of GameStop's fiscal year (January)," Pachter explained.

"We expect demand from Nintendo's core fan base to remain high through the end of its March 31 fiscal year. Once initial demand begins to subside, we expect Nintendo to lower prices," he concluded. "We don't expect a price cut until summer 2013, at the earliest, but do expect a cut prior to holiday 2013. Any prospective price cut will depend largely on competition, which we expect to materialize in the coming weeks."

Many believe Microsoft and Sony will offer some sort of bundled discount for the Xbox 360 and PS3 to compete with the Wii U. Of course, there are still expectations that both Microsoft and Sony will announce a new next-generation console by the end of 2013 at the very latest.

Back in June, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said Nintendo wouldn't make the same pricing mistake with the Wii U as they did with the 3DS. He said Nintendo was seeking a "reasonable" price for their new console. It seems a lot of our readers believe the Wii U's price is fair for what the system offers — a unique gameplay experience with a pretty impressive lineup of titles.

Will you be part of the initial wave of "Nintendo's core fanbase" or do you plan on waiting until a future price cut before you pick up the Wii U?