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Rumor: Wii to drop to $200 by October

14.09.2009
Just two weeks ago, Denise Kaigler told gamers that Nintendo for the holidays... but evidence to the contrary may have already surfaced. An alleged early version of a Wal-Mart ad circular to be distributed later this month promises a "new low price" for the . The outlet that obtained (but didn't post) the leaked ad, , didn't find out the new Wii price but could say that the price drop would be effective in the first week of October. A newer circular, reportedly from Toys R Us, has also appeared on , with a price of $199.

If early October seems like a strange time for a price drop, think again. Tokyo Game Show is coming up later this month and it's a perfect venue for announcing a price drop that would probably apply to Japan as well as North America. Nintendo is specifically participating in the Kyoto Cross Media Experience, a show that runs concurrent with TGS and usually plays host to major product announcements.

While Nintendo President Satoru Iwata was also singing the "no price drop" tune in August, since then we've seen sales of the PS3 soar dramatically in Japan while North American Wii sales have almost fallen to PS3 and 360 levels. The Wii's original $250 price point is pretty long in the tooth by now and Nintendo may have good reason to think it won't be competitive with $299 360s and PS3s as the system goes into its fourth holiday season.