I don't think it's quite that dire, Matt, but their pricing does raise some eyebrows, including mine. They were trumpeting all along how they were going to be the console for the masses and have pricing to match, but they really didn't follow through with that. Their virtual games are the same price range as the Xbox Live arcade games and their boxed software is roughly the same. While it can be argued that the only truly usable Xbox 360 is the one for $499 (in fact, *I* would argue that), you are talking a console in the Wii that does not output hi-def, has games that will only be mostly widescreen (not cool for people with widescreen displays) and is on a generally reduced cost platform anyway (a beefed up Gamecube). $250 does not really add up. They also kind of cripple the multiplayer aspects of the system by charging so much for a usable second controller combination ($60 total).

Also, there's no good reason to tier NES, SNES and N64 games like they do. The price differential should be much lower. It's an artificial line that they drew just because one system is newer than the other and has a bit more code. At best there should only be a $2 difference between each of the virtualizations.

Again, I think Nintendo will do well, but like naming the thing "Wii", they're making things far more difficult for themselves than they have to be with the pricing that they're laying out there. At the very least it should leave them plenty of room for agressive price drops over time. (also, I do have to say kudos for including a few simple games as pack-ins, at least that's a plus in comparison to the competition (you only get light pack-in content with the $499 version of the 360)).

=================================
Bill Loguidice, Managing Director
Armchair Arcade, Inc.
[ My collection ]
[ http://www.MythCore.com ]