GamesIndustry International reports today on news from Canadian media collective, Forget the Box, which says that it has heard from sources involved in the manufacture of Nintendo products that the cost of materials for the manufacture of the Wii U will be around $180, with $50 of that accounting for the cost of the touchscreen tablet controller alone. This would put the actual retail cost of the Wii U to the consumer as no less than $300. The website’s sources also said that Nintendo is very much concerned with cutting Wii U production costs in order to maximize profits and restore investor confidence. According to the report, the $180 costing is solely for the Wii U console and touchscreen controller, and does not include the cost of packaging, software, and any other charges that might come at a later date, such as marketing, shipping and holding and research and development. GamesIndustry says that the source for the report also provided some information about the Wii U’s components, saying that Nintendo has chosen a GPU and CPU that, while still being able to keep up with current consoles, would still be economical enough to keep costs down. “There is a bigger focus on downloadable content, applications, video content, digital distribution, and services to create a stream of revenue,” says the source. “Investors will be ecstatic with the news.”
Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-04-09-wii-u-may-retail-for-USD300
