Nintendo Chief Rules Out Price Cuts For Wii U

TOKYO (AP) - Nintendo's president says the Japanese video-game maker will get back into operating profitability next fiscal year at more than 100 billion yen ($1 billion), and is ruling out price cuts for the new Wii U home console to boost sales.

Satoru Iwata, speaking at a Tokyo hotel Thursday, acknowledged the sales momentum for the Wii U, as well as the 3DS handheld game machine, had run out of steam during the key year-end shopping season, especially in the U.S.

But he said no price cuts were in the works. Price cuts are common in the gaming industry to woo buyers to products, but the move can backfire by trimming revenue.

Nintendo lowered its full year sales forecast Wednesday to 670 billion yen ($7.4 billion) from 810 billion yen ($8.9 billion).