If you check out the current survey results which run through this Friday, only about 23% plan on buying a Micro for $99 at the time of this writing. Joystiq’s survey had about 15% willing to buy the system. Is the Micro price not micro enough?
Will Nintendo miss the boat on this pricing strategy? Has the company mispriced systems in the past? Numbers this low can’t be a good thing, even if they expect to lower MSRP later for the price conscious masses.
Metaldave
The Micro should really be $79.99, you are getting a smaller SP with no duel screens. It won’t be long before its that price, trust me.
James
I guess they saw the iPod mini’s success and thought it applied to the micro. It really doesn’t. Music is universal, gaming isn’t. The iPod mini cost MORE to manufacture than the normal iPod despite selling for less, however the Micro is apparently the cheapest GBA to make..
Nintendo could have introduced the (now aging) GBA to many many new people if it was sold at a ‘cant be beat’ price.. as is, Nintendo lovers may pick one up.. and the odd tech-junky, but I fear not many else.
The only way I could have seen the $99 Micro being a good value was if it shipped with the PlayYan, at least then it would have had multimedia capabilities for the price of competing music/media players.
I agree with Dave.. Nintendo WILL drop the price, and maybe sooner than later once they receive the less than stellar sales figures, its a shame they would have had a fair amount of bad press about the price in the meantime.
Metaldave
If it came with the PlayYan I would have bought it no questions asked. Give it 3 months, Micro will be $79.99
RavenHero23
I think that the price they said is really dumb. Unless they plan on dropping the price quickly and make a nice profit off of the people who really want the device in the worst way. I think $65-$75 would have been a sure fire way to move units and honestly the ds has better graphics and a totally unique experience to behold.
RavenHero23
Oh and is $30 bucks more for twice the bang graphically speaking and hardware.
Nicholas Roussos
The survey numbers are deceptive. Joystiq and Infendo readers probably already have a GBA SP and/or a DS. I think the Micro might be geared to a different consumer. I’m not sure who, but only because I don’t fall into that caategory.
Jack
I agree with the last post; Micro is not aimed at anyone who has a DS or an SP (although that hasn’t stopped this DS owner from saying ‘maybe?’).
Cell phone addicts and kids/adults with little or no Game Boy experience might pick this up just for the cool factor… then stay hooked with they see the size of the Game Boy Advance library.
It’s got that ‘grown up feel’ to it, no?
Anonymous
Don’t you remember that Nintendo tried to sell the SP to grown-ups and business men? I remember several images of the system in some dude’s briefcase.
I think it is trying to target a new market outside of Infendo and Joystiq readers like they tried to do with the SP, but in the end, gamers will still be the principle buyers and it sounds like they don’t want it at that price.
Sturek
Yeah it probably is aimed at non-gamers. But I think the price is also a problem for these “non-gamers”.
Maybe Nintendo just doesn’t want to sell that many micros….
You know three pillars: GBA, GBA:SP, GBM…
No idea….I just want one, but won’t get it for 99€…..
Oh and when is the Play-Yan coming out ? and for how much ?
Tom
I own an SP and will be at the store Monday at 10:00 am to buy a Micro. I don’t get to play games at home much, and the Micro lets me play them anywhere. The SP is not small enough to be truly portable. The Play-Yan will probably be on my buy list when it comes out. The Micro then becomes a compact media player (mp3, mpeg-4) with a bright color screen that combined is cheaper than a 2 gig iPod Nano. Oh, and it plays games too.
Syrius328
This is not for people who own a DS. I know that, if I didn’t own a DS, I would now own a Micro. It’s catering more to the person who liked the GB, but thought it was too kiddy, too clunky, etc. It’s for people concerned with image, or those that were going to buy a GB, maybe, sometime in the future, kinda deal.
These aren’t really marketed towards us ubergamers.
Joseph Salem
I like the Micro and myself