Wii U to retail for around $300 [Rumor]

How much are you willing to pay for Nintendo's Wii U? According to a source associated with Nintendo's manufacturing and distribution, fans would do well to save at least $300 for the forthcoming Wii successor.

The unnamed insider quoted the number to the Canadian blog Forget the Box, claiming the Wii U's total of goods – minus packaging, software, and other related items – is pegged at $180, with the Wii U's tablet controller eating roughly $50 of the cost. The source also indicated Nintendo is opting for an “economical GPU and CPU” that will bring the system in step with the current PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles without breaking the bank.

“They are cutting costs in the Wii U's hardware to build back confidence in investors,” said the source, adding, “There is a bigger focus on downloadable content, applications, video content, digital distribution, and services to create a stream of revenue. Investors will be ecstatic with the news."

Investors, sure. But players? That's up to personal preference. This isn't the first time we've hear rumors of the Wii U's underwhelming specs. Just last week, an anonymous developer claimed the Wii U will in fact be weaker than PS3 and Xbox 360. True, a $300 price tag is enticing, but the idea that Nintendo's next console will finally catch up to the competition just as Sony and Microsoft are gearing up for their own next-gen consoles may be concerning to fans expecting a larger leap in technology.

For its part, Nintendo has consistently said it isn't as preoccupied with graphics as its competitors. In a recent chat with Digital Trends following the latest tech rumors, a Nintendo rep repeated the sentiment, stating, “We do not focus on technology specs. We understand that people like to dissect graphics and processing power, but the experience of playing will always be more important than raw numbers.”

How does $300 sound to you? Would you pay more if it meant better tech?

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Matt Bradford wrote news and features here at GamesRadar+ until 2016. Since then he's gone on to work with the Guinness World Records, acting as writer and researcher for the annual Gamer's Edition series of books, and has worked as an editor, technical writer, and voice actor. Matt is now a freelance journalist and editor, generating copy across a multitude of industries.