Console price-cuts usually take place a couple of years into a system's lifestyle, but the poor Nintendo Wii U has already been significantly devalued by one major retailer just three months after its UK launch.

With Nintendo adamant it will not introduce price cuts at this early stage, supermarket chain Asda has taken the initiative and slashed £50 off the RRP for its Wii U consoles.

In what seems like a desperate bid to shift some of the inventory following lower-than-expected Christmas sales, the company is now selling the Basic 8GB console (without games) for £199 on the Asda Direct site, down from the RRP of £249.

The 32GB Premium black version of the machine, complete with Nintendo Land, is now available for £249, which is also £50 off Nintendo's suggested price-tag.

Others to follow suit?

However, the £199 console-only deal isn't the cheapest we've seen yet. The ShopTo website is offering the Basic package for £190, but ASDA appears to be the first major retailer to dip below £200.

The questions now are whether other retailers will follow suit, and whether the price cut will have any impact on sluggish sales, which have seen the original Wii outsell its younger, more advanced sibling.

A Nintendo-sanctioned price-cut for the 3DS console certainly helped to overcome slow early adoption of the handheld device, but by the same token didn't catapult it to superstardom either.

With the Sony PS4 coming later this year and the next-generation Xbox likely to be revealed in the coming weeks will a £50 saving make any difference to the apathy that has surrounded the console since its release in November?

Via Eurogamer