We got lots of hands-on time with the Nintendo Wii last week while we were out in LA covering E3 for our dorky younger sibling Kotaku; not two minutes after getting the Wiimote into our sweaty little hands to play Super Mario Galaxy, we'd already decided the Wii was going to have the honor of being the first game console we'd ever pre-ordered in our lives.
Back then the dominant rumor was the Wii would be launching with a $249 price tag, but now Merrill Lynch analyst Justin Post is joining Sega's VP of Marketing Scott Steinberg in predicting it will actually go for $200 or less. $200 or $250, it'll still be the cheapest of all the third generation consoles—and quite frankly we enjoyed our ten minutes with Zelda: Twilight Princess at E3 so much we'd fork over $250 for the Wii without much complaint whether it comes with just one controller or the two that its name suggests.
Analyst: Wii Will Cost $200 [Forbes, via Alpha Blog]