How Much Were New Wiis in 2007? $250 All Year Long
As an avid gamer and Nintendo fan excited for innovative new consoles, I eagerly awaited the launch of the Wii in November 2006. When it arrived at the tantalizingly low price point of just $249.99, I was one of millions of fans who snapped up the new system and helped kick off a global gaming phenomenon that continued surging all through 2007.
According to official pricing set by Nintendo for North America, brand new Wii consoles remained $249.99 throughout all of 2007 – the same exact price point they launched with in November 2006.
However, don‘t let that flat $250 sticker price fool you! Behind the scenes, economic variables of supply and demand meant obtaining a Wii at that base cost during 2007 was extremely challenging for most gamers. Let‘s dive deeper into the story behind the Wii‘s pricing, availability challenges, and trailblazing success changing the gaming world in 2007.
Developing an Innovative Console for the Masses
Nintendo started designing their next-gen console in the early 2000s with a vision of opening up gaming to wider audiences beyond hardcore gamers. Key to executing this strategy waslaunching at a compelling price point anyone could afford.
"We wanted to reach people who had never played games before." – Genyo Takeda, Nintendo Director
When the sleek new Wii console arrived in November 2006 packed with the highly approachable Wii Sports game and intuitive motion-sensing controllers for just $249.99, it signaled a seismic shift – gaming was no longer just for the high-end enthusiast.
Spectacular Launch Sparks Insatiable Demand
The console struck an immediate chord upon launch, selling over 400,000 units in the first week in North America according to NPD Group estimates – putting it well on pace to reach Nintendo‘s target of selling 6 million Wiis globally by end of March 2007.
Frenzied demand outpaced production capabilities right from the start. Photos emerged of lines hundreds of people long outside stores hoping to get one of a few dozen Wiis in early shipment allocations. And that was just the tip of the iceberg for demand that would continue swelling throughout 2007!
Why Were Wiis Impossible to Find in Stores?
That Black Friday weekend kickstarted a sustained surge in demand for obtaining the hot new console over the 2007 holiday season and well beyond.
Yet rolling supply shortages prevailed, making buying a Wii at list price near impossible. According to industry analysts, several key factors constrained supply:
Production Capacity Limits: Nintendo struggled to secure adequate factory resources fast enough to match exploding global demand. Production rates plateaued at around 1.8 million units per month through late 2007.
Component Supply Issues: As Wii sales velocity shocked industry forecasts, vital components like wireless chips and memory faced allocation limits. Rumors swirled that Nintendo deliberately constrained supply as a marketing tactic, but sourcing component inventory simply couldn‘t keep pace.
Unexpected Hit Status Skewed Forecasts: Nintendo planned for solid Wii success – but no one anticipated it would become such a smash hit console so fast. Even 6 months after launch, demand kept vastly outpacing production in every region.
Between these core supply chain factors, Nintendo found itself constantly chasing consumer demand at every turn.
$250…If You Could Actually Find One!
The result across North America in 2007 was empty store shelves and massive waiting lists just for the chance to buy a $250 Wii.
Gamers and parents desperately turned to second-hand marketplaces hoping to score that shiny white grail. With severe imbalance between supply and demand, average resale prices for the already hard to find consoles reached $315 in Q1 2007 and kept rising to well over $350 by end of year based on NPD Group tracking.
Of course, Wiis changed hands on platforms like eBay for ridiculous sums – the highest recorded outside normal retailers peaked at $1,025 for a single premium bundle!
Yet whenever retailers got fresh inventory shipments, prices from Nintendo remained locked at $249.99. So gamers constantly faced an anxious choice – pay $250 for a Wii the second it appears locally, or potentially wait months as availability dried up everywhere again.
Unsurprisingly, new stock never lasted long!
Competitive Pricing Secured Early Dominance
A large factor behind the Wii‘s incredible success through 2007 was Nintendo‘s careful pricing strategy. By fixing an affordable $250 MSRP carrying over its launch magic into 2007 buying fever, the Wii effectively under-cut both rival Sony‘s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft‘s Xbox 360 – despite releasing a full year later.
The Wii provided a budget-friendly gateway into next-generation gaming, while PS3 and Xbox carried significantly higher barriers to entry:
| Console | Launch Price | Launch Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Wii | $249.99 | November 2006 |
| Sony PlayStation 3 | $499 and $599 | November 2006 |
| Microsoft XBox 360 | $399 and $299 | November 2005 |
With roughly half to a third of its competition‘s upfront costs, value-conscious consumers turned to the Wii en masse over pricier offerings. Even following Xbox 360 and PS3 price cuts later, the Wii maintained strong price-for-performance perceptions through 2007 and beyond.
Reflecting on a Pivotal Console Shaping the Future
As someone who grew up on Super NES and N64, then working at GameStop when the slim-profile Wii first arrived, it‘s remarkable to reflect on how dramatically that diminutive console shaped gaming history over the past decade and a half.
Getting my hands on Wii Sports alongside friends during the 2006 launch window felt revolutionary – nothing had achieved that style of inclusive asymmetric local multiplayer before. No longer kids in a basement, here was gaming that gave grandparents delight showing off bowling skills or teens trick shot battles over air hockey.
While certainly under-powered specs wise compared to contemporaries, the Wii enchanted with sheer accessibility – it put the focus on instant shared fun rather than technical complexity. And it‘s living room takeover was surely bolstered further by maintaining reasonable $250 sticker pricing all through the massively supply-constrained year of 2007 for savvy holiday shoppers.
In the decade-plus since, Nintendo has sold over 100 million Wiis to date according to its latest financial reports – making it the 5th highest selling console ever. That trailblazing success paved the way for subsequent evolutions like mobile gaming on Switch reaching broader audiences. It all started by taking a daring chance to open up gaming‘s appeal beyond hardcore fans with that sleek white box for just $249.
And for those of us passionate gamers along for the full ride since original chunky NES controllers, introducing the wider world to our favorite pastime through vehicles like Wii Sports resonates as a landmark pivot in the games we play today. Everyone gamer or non-gamer could immediately grasp bowling strikes or fly swatting home runs – magic moments seeding gaming‘s blossoming over the past 16 years into today‘s rich gaming ecosystem.
