The Wii U has taken a price dip of £50 in certain UK retail locations, according to a report by GamesRadar. The Asda chain of supermarkets has cut prices on both the basic and premium package for the latest Nintendo console, thus making the prices £199 and £249 for each package, respectfully. No other retail chains or video game retailers in the country have also reduced the price.
This comes hot on the heels of several negative reports on the sales of the Wii U. Nintendo has cut sale forecasts for the system, from 5.5 million units to 4 million for the end of the business year (March 31st), according to this report. It has been rumored that sales of the Wii U during the month of January have been well south of 100,000 units.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is on the record to MCV as saying, "We think Wii U is a great machine. But it just has to sell more."
Furthermore, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, in an interview with CVG in February, stated that his company was "somewhat disappointed with the launch of the Wii U".
Nintendo has gone on the record as saying that the price drop in the UK is not reflective of a price drop elsewhere, according to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. "With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown. I would like to make this point absolutely clear."
With the Xbox 720 still in the rumor stages and the PlayStation 4 expected to come out before the holidays, Nintendo needs a stronger showing during this window where they have the only next-gen console available. With many potential blockbusters in the works for Nintendo, they still have a chance to have a strong showing during their monopoly on next-gen hardware.
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