I don't understand this mentality when it comes to console pricing. You realize that 300 bucks of today tech greatly exceeds 300 dollars worth of tech when 360/PS3 first launched, right? People need to realize that it's been almost 7 years since these consoles came out and adjust their expectations more accordingly.
Personally, I'm feeling $349 USD is the magic number, but I do , but I would also be confident with saying $299 as it has that softer ring to itself.
And if it weren't for the tablet controller I'd absolutely agree with you. Nintendo proved with the Gamecube that they know how to squeeze in quality hardware with a competitive price.
The controller ruins everything, though, because I just don't see how the thing's going to be cheap based on what Nintendo wants to accomplish with it. People still can't agree on an efficient way for the controller to handle low-latency streaming of intensive game data, and I don't even want to think about the price of the battery they're going to have to put in that sucker (because anything close to the 3DS' piss-poor battery life would be unacceptable for a console controller).
And I'd much rather that Nintendo went up on the price than pull another Wii and give us laughing stock hardware just to serve as a vehicle for their controller. I don't think Nintendo can afford to do that again this time around. Nintendo doesn't have to go balls to the wall on hardware, but they need hardware that will be able to produce comparable graphics to the competition for at least the 1st half of the gen.
Based on Reggie's abysmally worded comments recently, I think Nintendo realizes this. I see $350 as the absolute minimum the Wii U will be priced, with $399 within the realm of possibility and $379 my personal guess.