Nintendo rules out price cut for popular Wii gaming system

In light of the upcoming and lower-priced xbox 360 arcade gaming package from Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), competitor Nintendo Ltd. (OTC: NTDOY) said today that there will be no price cuts on its ultra-popular Wii gaming console, and that the Wii will go on sale in China sometime in 2008. Microsoft's new offering is possibly set to challenge the $250 price of the Wii, as it takes its own package price down to $280 and intros several new family-friendly gaming titles as well. That's a great move, but I have a hard time believing that the Wii will face a serious challenge due to the move.

In addition to seeing a huge growth in profits for its latest quarter, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said that a new "give a gift" feature is coming to the Wii, where games can be sent from one Wii to another over the net. Somehow, the Japanese gaming giant has found a way to make its gaming console the hit it needed, as competitive gaming consoles came in at much higher prices and with too much capability. Nintendo went for the mass public with the Wii, and it got it (and then some).

Iwata continued on to say that the demand for the Wii was still outstripping supply, which is a precarious position for any consumer goods manufacturer. As expected, he also announced no price cut for the holiday selling season. With the Wii being so hot still, of course it makes sense to not lower prices. Although the company is whipping out 1.8 million consoles per month, it may indeed face a holiday crunch in November moving into December if those numbers don't satiate global demand.