Video Game Giant Nintendo Drops Wii U Price by $50

In hopes of boosting Wii U sales this upcoming holiday season, Nintendo is dropping the price of it's newest gaming system. In addition, the company is launching its latest big-name title, "Super Mario 3D World," just in time for Christmas.

The deluxe edition of the Wii U, offering 32 gigabytes of storage and packaged with the game "Nintendo Land," currently retails at a whopping $349.99. The $50 price cut will bring it down to $299.99.

The price drop will become effective September 20, just before the release of new gaming consoles by Nintendo's competitors Microsoft and Sony.

Since its release in November of 2012, the Wii U has consistently fallen short of expected sales, and in the latest July earnings report, Nintendo revealed that the company's profits have suffered with only 3.6 million units sold worldwide.

The hope was to have reached over 5 million consoles by this point, which resembles the slow launch Nintendo had with the 3DS back in 2011.

Nintendo believes the launch of key gaming titles, including "Super Mario 3D World" (Nov. 22) and "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" (Dec. 6), could help bridge that sales gap.

This lower-priced Wii U is also timed to take advantage of the launch of “The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD.”

The release will include a limited-edition Zelda-branded Wii U, the “Wind Waker” game as well as a GamePad controller adorned with gold lettering, a gold crest from the kingdom in the game, and gold symbols, among other “Zelda” accoutrements.

No announcements have been made regarding the price of the standard Wii U system.