Poor pound ups Wii's trade price

UK gamers could soon be forced to fork out a little extra for a new Wii, if Nintendo’s recently upped trade price for the console is passed on to consumers by retailers.

The gaming giant told website MCV that the current economic environment has forced it to up the price it sell the Wii to UK retailers for. It’s rumoured the price paid by traders could increase by about £16.50, or £18.98 ($26/€20) including VAT.

“Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware,” a Nintendo UK spokesperson said.

If traders are hit with a £19 increase in the cost of a Wii and that rise is subsequently passed to consumers, then the average cost of the console would rise from around £180 to £199 ($274/€215) - an increase of just over ten per cent.

Whether retailers will pass the price hike on remains to be seen, but consoles already carry notoriously narrows margins as it is – making the possibility of a Wii retail price rise all the more likely. ®