Dan DeMatteo, the CEO of game retailer GameStop, has joined the growing chorus of video game industry insiders and professionals calling for a price cut for the PlayStation 3. He thinks a price-cut for the Wii would help too.
In a recent interview with CNBC, DeMatteo said the PlayStation 3's is suffering for its $399 sticker price. "That price point is clearly an issue in this economy," DeMatteo said. DeMatteo feels that a $50 price-cut just isn't enough for the system. He's thinking more like $100. "I don't know that $50 gets you that much," DeMatteo said.
As for the Nintendo Wii, although the system is still selling strongly, DeMatteo thinks sales could fall off.
"I think [demand for] the Wii could slow down to the extent that Nintendo may want to cut the price," he says. "Nintendo has it within its arsenal to do that. The component costs have come down considerably. They used to break even on the Wii, but now they're making a considerable margin."
Keep in mind, the CEO of GameStop is in the business of selling software, so I'm sure he'd prefer console makers to give their system away and keep customers flowing to his retail chain.
In the CNBC interview, DeMatteo dropped a couple interesting pieces of news about upcoming game releases as well. When asked about The Beatles: Rock Band, DeMatteo said the game "is very cool and is a very thorough Beatles property. They have done a lot more than just leveraged the Beatles catalog."
Also, Nintendo has asked GameStop to create shelf space for a "Nintendo key property coming out by the end of the year."
