Along with announcing the release dates for the new Wii consoles, Nintendo have now confirmed their cost for most markets, ending speculation about the expected price of the Nintendo Wii. Given the high level of demand for seventh generation consoles, there should be very little variation in retailer’s prices for the Wii.

As part of a direct, conscious effort to expand their market share into the family gaming market, Nintendo have deliberately pitched the price of the Wii well below that of the forthcoming Sony PS3. While the lower-end 20GB PS3 will sell for US$499.99 in the States, the price of the Nintendo Wii will be a remarkably low US$249.99. For this price, the bundle includes:
- the Wii console
- the console stand
- the Wii remote
- the nunchuck attachment
- the sensor bar
- the Wii start-up disc
- an AC adaptor and AV cables
- Wii Sports (outside of Japan)
- 2 AA batteries
You’ll probably also need to buy an SD memory card as well, and pretty much everyone is going to want at least one more controller.

It’s reasonably well-known that both Microsoft and Sony make a loss on their consoles, and then make that up for that through the pricing of their games. It costs Sony, for instance, an estimated US$800 to make a PS3. On this basis, and considering the amount of R&D that’s obviously gone into the Wii, it seems logical to assume that Nintendo is also making a loss on the Wii console.

It’s not just the Wii console, however, that’s priced lower than its competitors. Games and peripherals are also slightly cheaper. Satoru Iwata has said that first-party Nintendo Wii games will not cost more than US$50, rather than the US$60 more usual for seventh-generation console games. Likewise, a wireless PS3 controller is expected to cost US$50, the same as a wireless Xbox 360 controller, whereas the revolutionary Wii controller will sell for only US$40. The extra Wii peripherals, such as the Nunchuck controller and the classic controller (which like the gun and the steering wheel is a shell for the Wiimote), are cheaper again, coming in at about US$20. If you’re setting up a system for the whole family to play at once, those ten and twenty dollar differences add up very quickly.

Basic access to Nintendo’s online content is free, but like its competitors, you’ll have to pay to actually do stuff. Virtual Arcade allows you to download and play old NES, SNES, and N64 games, for a cost in ‘points’. They’ll be paid for via an electronic card that can be bought and topped up in stores, and you can expect points to rapidly become part of ’special deals’. Nintendo will not control how much various game developers charge for either third party software or services like MMOGs, though they do recommend prices for these sit around their own benchmarks. Variation in price should be in line with other systems.

Outside of the U.S., the Nintendo Wii system will sell in Japan for JP¥25,000, and peripherals for JP¥1800 - 3600. In Canada it markets for CAD 279.95, $45 for extra controllers. The Wii sells in most of Europe for 249 Euros, and in Great Britain for £179.

It remains to be seen what more extensive bundles will sell for by Christmas 2007 and whether there will be repricing when Nintendo starts releasing colored controllers, but even at its initial release price, the Nintendo Wii is remarkably good value.