EA's CEO John Riccitiello has stated that he believes Wii sales would "explode" at $99 and the lack of third-party support is "frustrating".

In a recent interview with Industry Gamers EA's CEO John Riccitiello commented on the Nintendo Wii and its declining sales.

Mr. Riccitiello was adamant in his suggestion that a price cut would help to increase Wii sales. He noted that in recent years sales of the console have been dropping and if Nintendo wants to regain momentum they need to slash the price to $99 in America.

"I think they’ve now got competition, in the form of gesture-based gaming from Sony and Microsoft. If they were to find ways to promote third-party content better, as opposed to first-party content, and would hit pricing, I think the platform would see new life."

The issue of Nintendo's third-party support was also raised and it seems EA are not too happy. Numerous companies have commented in the past that Nintendo consoles are primarily focused on first-party titles and John Riccitiello describes the tension that exists between first-party and third-party titles.

"I think it’s a frustration for all third-party publishers, when a platform holder does less to promote third-party content. A great third-party company is Apple, a company that’s all third-party content. There’s often tension in a company between first- and third-party content. Nintendo’s unique in the world. They’re a great company because of the blend of first- and third-party content. First-party hardware, first-party content is what makes them great, but it’s actually pretty tough. I can come up with a dozen titles in the last decade, but it’s really tough to come up with a dozen great titles that have been platform defining for them that weren’t their own. I don’t care whether it’s Mario or Twilight Princess or GoldenEye; it was their own content. I’m going back to N64, and I can go back to SNES if you want, but they’ve never really been a heavy third-party supporting system. It’s not lack of trying; they start the morning thinking what’s best for their own intellectual property."