EA C🃏EO John Riccitiello has a solution to the problem of slowing Wii sales - drop the price to $99. After all, the PS3 and Xbox 360 steeply cut their costs down since they first launched, but Nintendo is stubbornly clinging onto a $200 price point.

That's still very close to the original price of $250, which the Wii launched for way back in 2006. It was September of last year when Nintendo finally𓄧 decided to slash the price, down to $199.

Butඣ that's 🦋the same price as a more feature-rich Xbox 360, and just $100 less than the Blu-ray-included PS3. With every passing day, the Wii looks more outdated than its competitors, and without any sort of price advantage, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out which system money-conscious consumers will buy.

"I think if they were to price down to $9☂9, [Nintendo] would explode," said Riccitiello in a recent interview. No kidding. If you cut down the price of anything by one half, people will jump on it.

But at $99, specifically, it breaks the $100 psychological barrier, which would make it a total impulse buy. It would no longer need to🍒 be something that yo🧔u research, study, and then commit to buy.

Riccitie🔴llo said that even though Nintendo may be okay with its sales levels at $200, third-party publishers 💦are becoming increasingly frustrated that the Wii is turning stale. He said the company has "never really been a heavy third-party supporting system."

EA is a stro☂ng supporter of the Wii, just as it is with every game system, so Nintendo should listen to its input. Aft𓆏er all, a $200 Mario box can only last so long.

[Source:]

Dec 17, 2010