The Nintendo Wii may have cost $249.99 as it went on sale last weekend (November 19th), but the console was originally meant to be even cheaper, to the tune of $100 a unit, according to game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
Miyamoto told BusinessWeek: “My idea was to spend nothing on the console technology so all the money could be spent on improving the interface and software. If we hadn’t used NAND flash memory [to store data such as games and photos] and other pricey parts, we might have succeeded.”
“Our goal was to come up with a machine that moms would want – easy to use, quick to start up, not a huge energy drain, and quiet while it was running… Also we thought a low-cost console would keep moms happy.”
The designer said that the $100 mark was his original target for the Wii but that using NAND flash memory to store data and incorporating other “pricey parts” threw that idea out of the window…
Power isn’t everything for a console. “Too many powerful consoles can’t coexist. It’s like having only ferocious dinosaurs. They might fight and hasten their own extinction,” Miyamoto added.
What about the future? Nintendo hasn’t ruled out incorporating the same kinds of high-definition visuals Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are chasing after. “As new chip technology becomes available, we’ll consider less power-hungry varieties that don’t cost too much. And once high-definition TVs take off, we’ll consider the merits of better graphics and more power,” said Miyamoto.
Source: BusinessWeek
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