Nintendo has finally laid out all of its launch plans for the Nintendo Wii. Lots of information was revealed so on to the highlights.
- Price: $249.99 (as expected)
- Release date: November 19th, 2006 (two days after the PS3)
- Available colors: white only (crap so no color until spring of '07)
- Units shipped: 4 million, from Nov 11 to end of year
- Box contents: Wii console, cables, sensor bar, one wii-mote, one nunchuck and Wii Sports
- Launch Games: 15 of them including Excite Truck and Zelda, 30 by end of year
- Games Price: $49.99, but 3rd party could charge more
Wii Features:
- WiiConnect24: News and weather channel from the internet, message boards, able to send photos, etc
- Mii: Allows for creation of virtual avatars, photo views, and ability to edit video (formats unknown)
Virtual Console:
- NES games are $5, SNES for $8 and N64 are $10
- Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, Donkey and Legend of Zelda available at launch
- Games tied into account rather then straight download. (hackers have fun)
Other Info:
- Metroid 3 is coming in 2007 (probably fall imho)
- Wii is Wi-Fi enabled, no cost to connect
- Zelda for Gamecube will launch December 11th (to force the impatient to upgrade me thinks)
- Wii-mote costs $39.99 and Nunchuk $19.99
- Pokemom will be first online game, no US release date announced
- Has only 512mb of flash memory (but expandable, uses SD memory)
- Includes Opera browser for web surfing
- No DVD playback
- Wii is region-free so if want some Japanese games, no modding needed, but 3rd party can employ a region look if want
The $250 price tag, combined with $50 games, additional $60 for second controller, plus $50 or so for additional memory equals a fairly hefty price tag, but once that is still cheaper then the PS3. The expected launch titles look good, especially Zelda, but disappointed at the lack of online multiplayer launch titles. The lack of DVD support will be slightly missed, maybe corrected with a future firmware update but doubt it. No mention of whether its backwards compatible with Gamecube, but rumors have indicated it should be. As a whole, I am still excited about the system and have every intention of getting it on day one. One mistake I think Nintendo is making is conceding some momentum to the PS3. They should have aimed for a release date at least a week earlier then the PS3 with possible shipment of wave 2 of release titles on the PS3 launch date to knock some wind out of their sales. However, if Nintendo keeps its promise of 4 million available systems then that should go a long way to help since Sony is choosing the shortage = thirst = later better sales approach. I think Nintendo is banking on people choosing to get their next gen fix on the Nintendo or 360 rather then waiting to get hold of a PS3.
Wii Official Website
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