Wii U pricing is not the issue, says Iwata

The Wii U's poor sales are not the result of the system's pricing, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told a CVG contributor, stating that sales of the Wii U Basic model are evidence of this.

According to Iwata, if the current pricing scheme for the system was its primary problem then its Basic model, which can be found at roughly $100 cheaper than its premium model, would not be selling worst of all.

"If the price is actually an issue [with Wii U], then there is some contradiction between the current sales balance between the Basic and Premium versions of the Wii U," Iwata said.

"The basic version should have sold a lot, but the fact of the matter is that people are buying more of the premium version. So the issue is not there."

Iwata emphasizes that the console requires strong software titles to help sell the system. "I understand that the real issue is the lack of software, and the only solution is to provide the mass-market with a number of quality software titles," he said.

Earlier in the month Nintendo confirmed sales of only 160,000 Wii U units worldwide between the months of April and July.