The Cheapest Next Gen Console?!

[FooFan]

Ok, one of the reason I decided on the Wii as my 'Next Gen Console' was the price. £179.99 for A Wii, set of Controllers and 5 games is a bargain! Especially when it was compared to the other options. So I was happy with that deal

So this morning I was looking at my Wii collection and thinking 'Actually... How much have I spent on this?!'. My Wii collection is larger than any of my previous consoles (SNES, N64, Xbox). It's also the only 1 that I got close to the launch date, all previous ones I waited about a year for the price to drop. So I have this massive collection, the biggest I've ever had, and I've not even had it a year! So I'm determined to find out how much it's cost me!

And here it is (itemised for your Viewing pleasure ):

Hardware
£179.99 - Wii Console, 1 Remote, 1 Nunchuk, Wii Sports
£29.99 - 1 Remote(Bundled with WiiPlay)
£17.99 - Joytech remote charging stand
£16.00 - 2 Sets of bongo Drums (With Donkey Konga)
£14.99 - 1 Nunchuk
£14.99 - Classic Controller
£3.99 - 1Gb SD card
£3.98 - GAMEware Scart Lead
£2.99 - 2 x Wii Remote Silicon Covers
£1.99 - Gamecube Memory Card

Total = £286.90

Software
£29.99 - Zelda: Twilight Princess
£27.99 - Mario Strikers Charged
£27.99 - Mario Galaxy£26.99 - Metroid Prime
£22.00 - Eledees
£17.99 - Excite Truck
£16.99 - Endless Ocean
£15.99 - Heatseeker
£15.99 - Big Brain Academy
£13.99 - 2000 Wii Points
£7.49 - 2000 Wii Points
£4.99 - WiiPlay (as mentioned above)
£N/A - Donkey Konga (mentioned above)

Total = £228.39

Gifts
(So this is what people have bought me for Xmas, Birthday etc)

£29.99 - Rayman Raving Rabbids
£9.95 - Metal Slug: Anthology

Total = £39.94


Well, as I was adding all that up it was a lot more than I was expecting! I know Consoles and Software are not cheap but I was never expecting a combined total of £515.29!

Suddenly the excellent value of £179.99 seems totally eclipsed!
Add on the gifts and that gives a grand total of £555.23 (that's kinda spooky ). What really surprises me is that I've managed to get most of my games fairly cheap. When you look at the list, I've only paid over twenty pounds 5 times! And I've never paid more than £29.99 for a game.

So that makes me think... if mine is this much, with only 2 sets of controllers and a bargain set of games... What's the average Wii owners like!? I mentioned in my last blog about people quite happily picking games up off the shelf for prices of £34.99 upwards, if that had been the case here then the amount spent would've been truly staggering! And what of the families that need 4 sets of controllers? Another 3 sets of controllers will normally cost you £135! That's not even mentioning the people that had to go through ebay to get their original console...

So I put this to you... The Wii is not the cheapest console to own. I really believe that the Xbox 360 is a cheaper console in terms of value. You can now get an Xbox 360, 2 games and an extra wireless controller for £209.99. To do the same thing on the Wii you are looking at £250 minimum. The thing is that it doesn't stop there! The 360 has been around longer and is more established than the Wii, so that means you can get older, but still excellent, games for under £20. Add on the money saved from controllers and you are looking at a much better value console.

Now, obviously this is not a fair comparison atm because the Xbox has been out for a whole year longer than the Wii... But it always will be! The amazing thing is that if you asked 2 regular consumers which they thought was cheaper, I'd put money on them both picking the Wii. Is it down to marketing? Maybe. The really interesting thing to see will be whether the price of the Wii drops at all. At the moment, why would they even consider it?! They're can't even supply the demand at the current price! Nintendo must be laughing along with the high street shops such as GAME!

Personally, I'm happy with my collection! I think that for 14 games, some VC titles, 2 sets of controllers, A classic Controller, Remote charging stand and 2 sets of bongos £555 isn't that bad! But if it was put like that when I first came to buy the Wii... Not so sure!

So I don't want to depress you guys too much, but it would be really interesting to see how much you think you've spent on your collections! And whether you think you've got good value?

Thanks for reading

[nutter]

I've only had my wii for about 2 weeks so i can't really say anything on that... plus the wii was a christmas present so i dont actually know the price, but going with the wii + 2 games bundle... around £220? so far its only about £290-300 wow thats more than i thought... BUT it will be going up very quickly

[ed.kilverts]

I limit myself to one game every 3 weeks, but i've still got quite a collection considering I've had my wii for(in 3 days time) 4months! Don't like to think of the cost...

Think more in terms of value for money!

[nutter]

Originally Posted by ed.kilverts

Think more in terms of value for money!

YEAH!

I think i will limit myself, but if there is a must have game, Wii fit, house of the dead... i must buy it but i probably won't spend alot of money on games... never do...

[ed.kilverts]

I can't be bothered to hunt around to save £1.50 though. And I won't shop online as, for some strange reason, I don't like the wait while they post it. I'd rather wait twice as long but have it as soon as I've paid for it. So now I just use tesco and get CC points while I'm at it lol

[wiimadjay]

mine is

wii = £179.99
extra wiimote= £29.99
asnother extra wiimote=£29.99
extra nunchuck= £14.99
charger=£10
links crossbow training=£19.99
resident evil:UC=£29.99
endless ocean=£18.99
super mario galaxy=£32.99
fifa08=£34.99
resident evil 4=£24.99
mario part 8=£34.99
excite truck=£32.99
mario strikers=£32.99

total = £527.87

[Gaffer]

Good blog there Foo

I actually totted up some totals last spring (when I thought I'd buy either a 360 or a ps3 to complement my Wii).
To fairly compare all three, I gave them all the same requirements:

1. Must play games (not interested in DVD/HDDVD/BRD playback)
2. But will still need at least a decent component cable for the Telly
3. Must be 4 player compatible and so have 4 controllers
4. Must be able to connect wirelessly to my router for online activity
5. Online play must be taken into account

So for the Wii we have:
Console = £180
Official component lead = £20
4 Wiimotes = 1 with console, 3 more = £90
4 nunchuks (need these for the "full monty" really) = 1 with console, 3 more = £45
Wireless router connection = built in
Online play = free
TOTAL = £335

For the 360 we have:
Console = varies.....going for the "average" premium = £250
Component lead = already included in Premium box
4 wireless controllers = 1 with console, 3 more = £99
Wireless router connection = need an extra adapter gizmo = £60
Online play = £40 for 12 months
TOTAL = £449

For the PS3 we have:
Console = 40Gb available nowadays = £300
Component lead = £20
4 controllers = 1 with console, 3 more = £105
Wireless router connection = built in
Online play = free
TOTAL = £425

So all else being equal (for a fair comparison) the Wii still easily undercuts the other two imo (I personally just wanted the above pre-requisites at the time).




EDIT: Oh, and I was lucky in that I got my Wii as a gift, so I didn't pay for it ......all I paid for were the extra wiimotes/nunchucks and most of my 16-odd games.
So for me, yes definitely, my Wii plus peripherals was definitely a bargain

[FooFan]

Good response

I think, to a certain extent, a console is only as cheap or expensive as you let it be. For example, if you take out the wireless and changed the 360 premium to a Arcade console, that's £115 instantly saved! Which (Quite spookily)brings it down to the exact same price as the Wii.

But, as you've shown, it depends on what your requirements are as to which console works out best for you.

[M_the_C]

Nice blog.

I don't think I dare add up how much I've spent, but I am a cheapskate and only buy games when they are at least slightly reduced (i.e. £27.99), so it might not turn out that bad.

You could also add more quite easily, for example you added a GC memory card but no controller, if that controller was a wavebird then it would add still more.

Gaming is certainly one of the more expensive hobbies. *sigh* But I love it.

Also a nice post by Gaffer, at least it shows the Wii is more reasonable, although you put a subscription for the XBox360 online, when you can use Silver for free. Lowers it below PS3 (as I would have thought it was anyway) but still not below the Wii.

[monkey]

I added this up the other day as I was looking at my collection of games and wondering how much I'd spent.

I had my 30th in August and as Christmas has just passed I managed to get alot of my stuff as gifts and I havent included the cost of these.


Hardware

1 console £180
1 nunchuck £18
1 extra remote (with wiiplay) £33
1 classic controller £15
1 charging station gift

Games I still own

Mario Galaxy gift
Mario Party 8 gift
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 gift
Brain Academy gift
Links Crossbow Training gift
Rayman Raving Rabbids £35
MySims £33
Zelda £20
Mario Strikers Charged £29


Games I traded

Red Steel bought £35 sold for £30, net cost £5
Boogie bought £40 sold for £32, net cost £8
SPM bought £28 sold for £27, net cost £1
Eledees bought £30 sold for £13, net cost £17

Virtual Console

2000 points £15

Total Cost

£409