Look For Nintendo Wii To Have Strong Holiday Season

More details came out yesterday about pricing and release dates for Nintendo's next generation gaming system called the Wii (pronounced "we"). If you've been following some of my recent posts on the state of the console gaming marketing among Gen Y, this latest news from the number three console manufacturer is welcome news. The Wii will be available in stores in North and South America on November 19th, right smack dab in the middle of the ultra critical holiday shopping season. The new system will retail for $250, about half the cost of a juiced up Xbox 360 and less than half the cost of the yet-to-be-released Sony PlayStation3 (who just announced another delay this week which will effect European customers). The unique selling point of the Wii will be its intuitive wireless that when tilted by the user will produce movement and actions on screen. If the media campaign promoting the Wii comes off flawlessly Nintendo will have positioned a less costly "fun" and "easy" alternative to the technologically advanced, considerably more expensive Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. And you know what? I think they will have some success. Given the fact that early indications have teens and college students pushing for upgraded portable digital music players (the $300 video iPod), premium jeans (Seven for All Mankinds can cost more than $200), and other luxury goods, parents/boyfriends/girlfriends/relatives and the like might not be willing to spend an extra $250 on a console system. The last selling point of Wii is that it will come pre-loaded with a series of sports games touting the functionality of the wireless controller. As you probably know, games typically do not come bundled with the consoles, thus another selling point for the number three player in the console game. Look for Nintendo's Wii to be the sleeper hit of this year's holiday season.