Price ranges...

[Tidus Andronicus]

The Wii isnt going to be cheap, Nintendo got away with having a cheap console because there systems lacked alot of features that the others did. Like a DVD player. It would seem very odd if there Wii console didnt have that feature, so Nintendo can either have a cheap console but lose profit with every console sold, or sell it at a higher price and gain profit.
Nintendo is in a tricky spot, while it got away with it last time, they cant do it again, so they will need more support from us if they want to succeed. If it cant get anymore players as it had with the GC, Nintendo are finished.

Ok, Nintendo is recording record profits right now, so even if they had to take a bit of a loss on the Wii, they could easilly afford too. And after a year or so, they would start seeing major profits again, even with an initial loss.
And besides, all consoles Nintendo has released have been $200 at launch, and have still made them money at launch. Nintendo plans carefully, desiding what features to include, and what to not, so that their price can remain low, and they can still make profit, while giving the consumer something great and new. Even so, I wouldn't expect the console to be over $250, and I'm sure Nintendo know's their fans are thinking this.

They are making it DVD compatable this time, but they still aren't gonna make the consumer pay for something they don't need. Especially now that DVD players are pretty much common in the home these days, and very cheap. Why does your videogame system have to play DVDs? O_o; And if you really need that feature, because for some reason your entertainment system doesn't include a DVD player yet... then Nintendo will sell something like a little USB dongle that you plug into the Wii, that tells it how to read DVDs. Its a simple, and no doubt cheap way to deal with that.

And what makes anyone think the Wii wont sell more than the GameCube? I don't see how anyone could think that it wont at least do that well. Besides, with consumers facing a $600 console, a $400 console, or a $200 console... which one are more parents going to buy for their kids on the holidays?
Heck, the Wii is cheap enough, that the kids dont even have to ask for it as a gift... many parents will just get it cause its a cheaper system, and will make an awesome xmas gift!
And when you consider Nintendo's fanbase will all buy it, and they may even accomplish their goals of getting people that don't buy games, to buy it... I doubt highly, that they wont sell more than AT LEAST the GC did. ^_~