The Pie Whisperer

We’re coming up on thr 3 year anniversary of the release of the Nintendo Wii.  Coincidentally, we’re also coming up on the 3 year anniversay of my putting off the purchase of a Nintendo Wii. Delaying my purchase during the first two years was easy as it was hard to find a Wii sitting on the shelf.  The past year I’ve been seeing them everywhere, so avoiding the purcahse has been a bit more difficult, but I have managed - coming up with excuses not to spend money comes quite easily to me.  With the rumored price drop to $199.99 US just around the corner, though, I felt that the time for me to pony up for a Wii had come.

Until I started doing the math:

(Prices in Canadian Dollars.  I’ve guessed at the new Canadain price.  The rumored new US price for the Wii is $199.99)

$229.99 for the Console
$59.99 for the Wii Play (and an additional Remote)
$29.99 for an addtional Nunchuck
$59.99 for Wii Sports Resort (and a Wii Motion Plus Controller Thingy)
$29.99 for an additional Wii Motion Plus Controller Thingy
$99.99 for Wii Fit

Total: $509.94 (taxes not included)

For a console that I’m still not sure I really want, that’s a hell of a lot of money (especially for the one that’s perceived to be the least expensive).  Now I realize that I could trim down on the initial purchase, but not without consequences.  My wife wants Wii Fit so cutting that out could land me on the figurative couch.  My kids (mainly my older daughter) loved the sword game that’s part of Wii Sports Resort, so getting a Wii and not getting the game they enjoyed would probably put me in the running for some kind of bad Dad award.  Of course, if I’m getting Wii Sports Resort, then I need to get an additional Wii Motion Plus Controller Thingy, which means I also need to get an additional remote.  Realistically - if I don’t want to end up in anyone’s bad books - I can cut out the additional nunchuck, saving me a whopping $30, dropping my total down $479.95. For $150 less, I could pick up a new 360 Elite bundle (that comes with a 120 gig hard drive, a wireless adapter and Halo 3) which would definitely get more use (by me, at least).

So maybe the $199.99 US price drop isn’t enough for me to finally make the Wii jump after all.  I wonder if it’s going to be enough for anyone else who hasn’t jumped on the Wii bandwagon yet, too.