Ahead of Difficult Holiday Season, Nintendo Cuts $50 Off of Wii U’s Pricing

News of Nintendo’s new 2DS handheld yesterday proved to be so intriguing that we somehow overlooked the fact that Nintendo had other announcements as well – such as a price-cut for its Wii U Deluxe console (it’s been long rumored the non-Deluxe edition would be phased out). This new price puts the Deluxe set at $299.99, shaving $50 from its original price. This move is an interesting one, because Nintendo has remained adamant that a price-cut was not in store for the console – and in truth, had a lot more good games been out by this point, a price cut probably wouldn’t have been necessary.

One can’t help but feel a little bad for Nintendo, but from an outsider’s perspective it seems like Wii U’s poor sales could have been avoided had there been a better execution in play. As we discussed back in May, the console’s biggest problem isn’t its strange hardware, but its absolute lack of games. Most of the titles that people are looking forward to are not slated for launch until 2014 – that’s a major problem given we have a holiday season ahead of us. Hence the price cut.

That poor execution is part of the reason for the lack of games. Thanks to the lacklustre response the console received at launch, and the relatively poor sales it’s experienced since then, game developers en masse have been wary of dedicating too many resources to the console. This is truly a bizarre situation for Nintendo, since prior to the Wii U, it’s never had trouble moving its mainline consoles.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD

All this aside, the newly-$299.99 Wii U Deluxe bundle will be packing a nice little present: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. This is a remake of the GameCube classic, featuring some modern enhancements to improve gameplay, while retaining the spirit and style that made the original so memorable.

If you do plan to suck it up and purchase a Wii U despite the lack of forthcoming big titles, Nintendo lists theses as the must-haves: Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, EarthBound, New Super Luigi U, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.