FreddyCruder

Waiting for the Wii Price Cut

one thing that might be seen as slightly contradictory with your article is this: you state that the companies don't make their money on the consoles, but on the games, and at the same time you state that Nintendo have run out of AAA titles. In other words, if they wont make much money on games as it is right now because there aren't any titles, then their only source of revenue is the actual consoles, and considering that Nintendo is selling the Wii with a relatively good profit. (It's last generation hardware compared to sony and microsofts consoles). It's doubtful if they can afford to slash prices on the Wii to stay competitive. But hey, I'm no economist, so I might get this wrong. As for the other two companies entering the casual gamer territory I don't think they will be able to with the same punch. This is the thing: Wii together with Wii sports is the most ingenious gaming platform offer ever. Why? Because you essentially get a package that "non-gamers" understands. It's great versions of tennis and all the other sports that's in the title, it resonates well with "non-gamers" since it's physical, and it's what games should have been from the very beginning. Now, when it comes to story driven games or shooters that's a completely different ballpark, and one that Nintendo haven't been able to capitalize on this generation. But anyways, what I'm trying to say is simply, that I don't think Sony or Microsoft will be able to pose any considerable threat to Nintendo and their pursuit of the casual gaming audience using only means of price point. They would need similar controllers as well, or something that's even more "I get it"-esque.
In a sense it's like comparing apples with oranges. Nintendo is the console with Wii Sports, and they have some great titles for kids like Mario etc. And when EA finally starts to deliver great sport titles next year together with Nintendos new controller I would say that it will be even harder for the competition to keep up.
But of course, you are absolutetly right that it's bizarre that Nintendo can sell their console for such a high price now that Microsoft is going to lower their price yet again; and of course, it's a bit dangerous for Nintendo here, because they don't have as large revenues on game sales as Microsoft. I'm not sure though that Microsoft knows what they're doing right now, I mean, how much money aren't they loosing on their consoles already, and to then lower the price yet again.. these are risky times in the video-games industry for the companies, but it's definitely not grave times for the consumer (unless you are a hardcore gamer owning only a Wii, or one of the people who stood in line to buy an xbox 360 when it was released at triple the price it's at now).