Nintendo Wii Price: $250 or Less

Nintendo has confirmed its Wii gaming console will be priced at $250 or less in the U.S. market, much lower than rival systems from Microsoft and Sony.

Game developer Nintendo revealed in its financial results that pricing for its forthcoming Wii gaming console will be priced at Â¥25,000 or less in Japan, and $250 or less in the United States. The price point would put the Wii in the market at costs substantially lower tha Microsoft’s $299 Xbox 360 and Sony’s anticipated Playstation 3, which is expected to carry a base price of $499 when it goes on sale in the final quarter of 2006.

Nintendo also revealed it believes it can sell six million Wii consoles by March 2007, which would be a remarkably solid launch, since the Wii isn’t expected to hit shelves until November 2006.

The Nintendo Wii walked away with a good bit of the “Wow” from this month’s E3 Expo gaming confab, upstaging Sony’s über-expensive Playstation 3 with innovative controllers and a friendly attitude which may appeal to non-traditional gamers. A strong Wii launch would be good news for Nintendo, which posted a 19 percent drop in annual profits and warned results for its current financial year would fall below previous guidance.