Nintendo's Wii U May Have A $300 Introductory Price

Nintendo's next big thing might very well hit shelves with its standard low price point.

Reports from Montreal-based blog Forget the Box, as cited by IGN, cite unnamed sources within the gaming mainstay company claiming Nintendo's new Wii U console will hit debut later this year with an introductory $300 price.

The alleged "sources closely involved with shipping and manufacturing Nintendo products" claim that the next-generation Nintendo console is being produced at a cost of $180 for the main unit and $50 for each unit's controller.

"Cutting production costs to maximize profits is Nintendo's main concern with the Wii U," Forget the Box quotes its sources as explaining. "They are cutting costs to the Wii U's hardware to build back confidence in investors. Nintendo wants investors to view Wii U as a less risky proposition."

Risk-taking has been a pastime at Nintendo since the November 2006 release of the Nintendo Wii, a console that introduced an emphasis on motion sensor-based controls and a new approach to active gaming that ran counter to the more traditional controllers of the same-generation PlayStation 3 from Sony, Xbox 360 from Microsoft, and even Nintendo's own previous consoles.

It also bears noting that the Nintendo Wii received a $250 launch price, as did its similarly pioneering 3D-enabled handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS. By comparison, the PS3 launched at a $599 price point and the Xbox 360 at $299.

Yet, the sources quoted claim the price has risen $50 over the original Wii's despite more economical design considerations.

"Nintendo chose an economical GPU and CPU that could keep up with the performance of today's current consoles, but keep hardware costs downt o maximize profits," quotes IGN of the Forget the Box sources. "Nintendo got a bargain price on the custom GPU and CPU that the Wii U uses. There is a bigger focus on downloadable contetn, applications, video content, digital distribution and services to create a stream of revenue. Investors will be ecstatic with the news."

More news regarding the Wii U's specs is expected at the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo.