Nintendo not thinking about Wii U price cut

Nintendo doesn't have any plans to cut the price of the Wii U console despite lower-than-expected sales.

Sales forecasts for this financial year were slashed by 1.5 million units earlier this week as Nintendo came to terms with a disappointing Christmas period.

Company president, Satoru Iwata, explained during a recent investment call that the console is already being sold at a loss so a price cut wouldn't be that helpful.

"With Wii U, we have taken a rather resolute stance in pricing it below its manufacturing cost, so we are not planning to perform a markdown," said Iwata. "I would like to make this point absolutely clear.

"We are putting our lessons from Nintendo 3DS to good use, as I have already publicly stated. However, given that is has now become clear that we have not yet fully communicated the value of our product, we will try to do so before the software line-up is enhanced and at the same time work to enrich the software line-up which could make consumers understand the appeal of Wii U."

Iwata also said it was pointless to compare sales of the Wii and the Wii U.

"People always try to compare the sales of Wii U with that of Wii, but the current situation is requiring us to focus upon how to re-renergise Wii U sales irrespective of any comparisons with the previous platforms."

Nintendo is hoping that the latest game announcements, including new Mario and Yoshi titles, will inject some life into the Wii U sales.