GameStop Expects 'Key' Nintendo Game This Year, CEO Wants PS3 and Wii Price Cuts

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Sparking a wave of internet-wide speculation, GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo has told CNBC that the retailer expects "a Nintendo key property" to release this year.

"They haven't given us any insight, but they have told us to reserve [shelf] space," he added. After E3 2008, Nintendo revealed that the teams behind the Zelda and Mario games were "hard at work" on new titles. While Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks for the DS in March, so far all's quiet on the Mario front.

DeMatteo also offered his opinion on console prices. He criticised Sony's $399 PlayStation 3, saying "That price point is clearly an issue in this economy." Responding to rumours of a $50 cut, he said "I don't know that $50 gets you that much."

Even the high-selling Wii might benefit from a reduction, DeMatteo believes. "I think [demand for] the Wii could slow down to the extent that Nintendo may want to cut the price"--affordable as falling component prices have increased the Wii's profit margins.

DeMatteo touched on Sony's recent PlayStation 2 price cut, saying "To be honest, it really wasn't worth doing." He explains, "If they'd done it earlier, publishers probably would have kept making games for the PS2, but once they've stopped, they've stopped."

From The Chatty
  • reply
    April 16, 2009 7:56 PM

    key nintendo game as in not Zelda for the DS? because if it's Zelda for the DS, this guy is really behind the times...

    • reply
      April 16, 2009 7:59 PM

      I doubt it. DS games are not "key games for the year".

      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        April 16, 2009 8:50 PM

        I would argue that point.

      • reply
        April 16, 2009 9:44 PM

        Try china town wars, it might change your mind. If not, you never played the classic PS1 GTA's...

        • reply
          April 17, 2009 4:25 AM

          I love Chinatown Wars but that doesn't change my argument. I cannot imagine Nintendo saying something is a key game when it's just a DS title.

          Then again Nintendo do a lot of stuff that I find fucking inexplicable, so who knows.

          • reply
            April 17, 2009 6:26 AM

            They have blue brains, it explains everything when you think about it hard enough.

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