Saturday, May 13th 2006
Nintendo’s Wii Will Cost Less Than $200
Nintendo's Wii game console, which launch is scheduled adjacent to Sony's PlayStation 3, may become the most affordable gaming machine in years, as its pricing will be around $200, according to an executive of Sega, one of the main game publishers for Nintendo's game consoles.
Scott Steinberg, vice president of marketing for Sega, said in an interview with Forbes that Nintendo's Wii would cost less than $200, mainly because it does not feature state-of-the-art "heavy-duty" processors like those in PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. Forbes further reported that Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post predicted Thursday that the new machine, which will be released this fall, would sell for $200, a move that could prompt software publishers to create more titles for the gaming system.
Nintendo Wii console will feature IBM's custom PowerPC architecture based microprocessor named Broadway clocked at 729MHz and code-named Hollywood chip with built-in graphics core, DSP and I/O features from ATI that will operate at 243MHz, earlier reports suggested. Nintendo revolution will use 91MB of memory in total: 23MB of "main" 1T-SRAM, 64MB of "external" 1T-SRAM and 3MB texture buffer on the GPU. Nintendo's Wii does not feature a hard disk drive, instead, it boasts with 512MB of flash memory, but the console will also have a card reader, which will allow installing more memory.
Source:
X-bit labs
Scott Steinberg, vice president of marketing for Sega, said in an interview with Forbes that Nintendo's Wii would cost less than $200, mainly because it does not feature state-of-the-art "heavy-duty" processors like those in PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. Forbes further reported that Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post predicted Thursday that the new machine, which will be released this fall, would sell for $200, a move that could prompt software publishers to create more titles for the gaming system.
Nintendo Wii console will feature IBM's custom PowerPC architecture based microprocessor named Broadway clocked at 729MHz and code-named Hollywood chip with built-in graphics core, DSP and I/O features from ATI that will operate at 243MHz, earlier reports suggested. Nintendo revolution will use 91MB of memory in total: 23MB of "main" 1T-SRAM, 64MB of "external" 1T-SRAM and 3MB texture buffer on the GPU. Nintendo's Wii does not feature a hard disk drive, instead, it boasts with 512MB of flash memory, but the console will also have a card reader, which will allow installing more memory.
18 Comments on Nintendo’s Wii Will Cost Less Than $200
I'll pick one up, but will never call it a Wii.
I'll be picking up a Wii at launch. But I refuse to call it a Wii. I'll go into the store and ask for a revolution. I wonder what the store clerk will say, haha.
But on another note, have you guys noticed this is the most diverse spread of consoles ever? Look:
Xbox 360- traditional next-gen system
PS3- Ultra-expensive, but also motion-sensitive, along with traditional next-gen technical specs
Wii- Totally innovative, motion-sensitive, cheap, but also handled by the "new" nintendo (you know, the Nintendo that rereleases it's outdated Mario/Metroid games 100 times over and makes them literally gayer every time, and THEN doesn't let other company's release good games for it's systems)
Everything has advantages this time, the 360's the most powerful, the PS3's the perfect blend of power-to-features (or the mature Wii) for way too much money, and the Wii is the budget and kid's machine with the worst games but the best features and price
basicly, they shot themselfs in the foot, and insted of using ps3 to put a Blueray player in every home, they converted blueray and the ps3 in to luxary items that only the rich kid in school had,
putting it in line with the minidisc, betamax, UMD movies (who the hell pays more then what a dvd costs for a movie you can only play on a psp),
i would remind them of the neogeo, or the 3DO, which were consoles which were awesome for their time, but the excessive price tag and cheaper competition killed them,
most games come in all flavors, theres very fue plataform exclusive games now a days,
and those which are, usualy when a plataform is dying or expiriancing a weak market position, is diversified to other plataforms,
if i can play the same game on a Xbox 360 for 100 bucks less, (or even more since its being slashed to $320 towars Q3 or Q4), and dont tell me any of that core BS, you know that future Xbox games will require a harddrive, its either now or later, but you have to spend the extra cash,