Best Buy (News - Alert) and other major electronics retailers in the U.S. have knocked $30 off the price tag of Nintendo Wii consoles, dropping the cost of the systems down from $199.99 to $169.99.

The moves come just a few days after rumors began to swirl that Nintendo would reduce the price of its iconic motion control console by as much as $50. Engadget originally reported that the price drop wouldn't go into effect until May 15. The Japanese video gaming giant has yet to comment on the retailers' pricing change and still lists the Wii's official MSRP as $199.99.

Retailers that led the price-slashing charge included Best Buy, Target (News - Alert), GameStop, Toys 'R Us and Amazon. Wal-Mart still listed the system at its full MSRP as of earlier this afternoon.

Consumers who pick up the console at the still-unofficial new price will continue to receive the complete bundle package, which includes a Wii Remote Plus controller, the nunchuck controller extension as well as copies of the original "Wii Sports" and the MotionPlus-enabled "Wii Sports Resort," according to Digital Trends.

This is not the first time that Nintendo has been forced to slash the price of the Wii console. The system debuted at $249.99, but was then dropped to $199.99 after the console's initial wave of popularity had subsided.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter predicted in February that Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft (News - Alert) would all have to make substantial cuts to the prices of their respective hardware. However, he speculated at the time that Nintendo would probably wait until the launch of its next-generation gaming console to make the change. Many have suggested that the Japanese company will at least discuss a Wii 2 or other upcoming system at the E3 gaming conference in Los Angeles in June.

If nothing else, the price drop will only add to speculative fire surrounding a potential second iteration Wii console.

Beecher Tuttle is a TMCnet contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca