While our sources are still firm in the fact that we will see the Wii’s price slashed to $149, ahead of that comes the news this weekend that Best Buy is putting the console on sale for $169.99. Of course, this isn’t $149, but it is a clear confirmation to us that the price of the Wii is going to drop or they would not be putting it on sale ahead of the price drop to move inventory.
The price of the Wii has not been cut since September 2009 when Nintendo slashed the price to $199 from its $249 price tag. Microsoft followed suit with the Xbox Arcade unit (which did not include a hard drive and only flash memory and also dropped its price to $199.
Our sources tell us that the drop to $149 will help Nintendo and retailers move through existing inventory and hopefully revive some sales momentum headed into the holiday season. Still, Nintendo is expected to focus on the sales of the 3DS this holiday season; and our sources tell us that we should expect Nintendo to announce a new console offering at E3 this year that will be launched next year.
On sale at Best Buy for $170
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