US Wii Price, Launch Date Revealed

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:38 am

The news we've all been waiting for.

by Kathleen Sanders and Matt Casamassina

September 13, 2006 - Nintendo fans finally have a price and release date for the company's new generation console, Wii. The Big N is set to officially announce that the system will hit retail in North and South America for $250 on November 19. The New York Times published with the story and seems, in fact, to have beaten Nintendo Co. Ltd with the news.

Nintendo's Wii console will come packaged with one Wii remote, one nunchuck attachment, an AC adapter, an audio/video cable, a sensor bar, sensor bard stand, a Wii console stand and two batteries. The US package will also come bundled with a copy of Wii Sports, a compilation sports game that best shows off the mechanics of the system's unique controller. Wii Sports features tennis, baseball, golf and previously unannounced bowling and boxing games.
Nintendo said it would provide Wii owners with more than 25 unique games this year.

Wii's much talked-about Virtual Console download service, which enables gamers to purchase classic games, will offer a library of some 30 titles when the system launches. Titles will include entries from the Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong franchises, Nintendo said. Virtual Console games will cost between $5 and $10 each. Specifically, Nintendo Co. Ltd. announced that Virtual Console games would cost 500 yen ($5), 800 yen ($ 8 ) or 1,000 yen ($10); we're presuming these prices are for NES, SNES and N64 games respectively.

The Big N confirmed that it would charge $50 for its new Wii games, which is $10 cheaper than the cost of typical Xbox 360 titles. (Please note that this is First-Party games, prices have not been announced for Third-Part Wii games -- publishers are free to set their own prices on Wii titles.)

Nintendo Co. Ltd. revealed that Wii's various controllers would be available to buy separately at launch. The Wii remote will cost 3800 yen or about $40; the nunchuck 1800 yen or about $20 and the classic controller 1800 yen or about $20.

In a surprise announcement, Nintendo said that it wanted to make Wii a living room centerpiece by shipping the system with features outside of the videogame realm. Wii will include a photo channel, enabling users to display their digital photos through the console. It will also boast regularly updated news and weather channels. In addition, the system will ship with the Opera Web browser, enabling users to connect online.

One of the channels available on Wii is called the "Mii Channel." Here, players can customize avatars by selecting from a variety of face shapes, hair styles, color schemes, and so on. The hook is that these avatars can not only be stored on the console itself, they can also be transfered to the Wii remote itself -- presumably so players can easily access their personalized characters and take them with them when playing against friends.

full story HERE

Post by **complacent** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:13 am

I have a particularly positive outlook on this console. The new ideas presented I think are much needed in the industry. We've been using a "regular" controller for some time now. I've always thought that the "perfect" controller was finished when Sony released the original PS. All things after that were variations on a theme... by all console manufacturers.

(I think) This will force game makers and gamers alike to think in new directions - very exciting if you ask me

sirwilliam · Post by **sirwilliam** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:19 am

Oh yeah! Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!

After selling off all my nintendo consoles and games (oh yeah still have my GBA and 1 game...was saving that for DTEC

)

Will need to replenish my Zelda, Super Mario Bros and Metroid collection again.

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 9:55 am

I'm considering pre-ordering one.

Libra Monkee · Post by **Libra Monkee** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:28 am

I'm actually thinking about getting one of these (I still refuse to call it by it's name) over a PS3. Merely for the content, price, and the innovations but also because Sony has dropped the ball on several things with it's previous consoles. To name a few: the PS2's DVD playablity, the PS2's hard drive, PSP UMDs, Playstation online, and even the PS1's expansion port that was never used by Sony for anything.

Post by **Sabre** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:33 pm

Wow, very cool news. I have to admit though, I really thought they would launch it much earlier to try to get ahead of the PS3's launch on the 17th of Nov. I REALLY wish I could own both consoles as I like both of them for different reasons. Eh, we'll see

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 12:49 pm

sabre wrote: I have to admit though, I really thought they would launch it much earlier to try to get ahead of the PS3's launch on the 17th of Nov.

with the small numbers of PS3s available (both at launch and through the remainder of the year), Nintendo IS effectively launching much earlier than the PS3.

Post by **Sabre** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:27 pm

lol, good point, haha

snaab · Post by **snaab** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 4:49 pm

I like them both, but wish the Sony didn't necessitate a loan...

VIPGarage · Post by **VIPGarage** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 10:43 pm

i'm looking forward to getting the Wii. Should be bad ass and getting to play all the old school games again is just awesome.

Cereb Daithi · Post by **Cereb Daithi** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:54 am

my only complaint about the Wii... is the limited memory space... it has like a 512MB flash card onboard...but apart from that... if you actually do want to download games... looks like its teh memory card for j00.... however while they fall short on hat front..they make up for it by allowig you to save your Mii-Channel identiy into your controller...

so when you go to a friends house... take your controller and when you boot up their Wii... bam. instant mini-you.

i think i'll really have alot of fun playing with my Wii and discovering all the wonderful things it can do for me.

(this overused nintendo innuendo, or Ninuendo, brought to you by our corporate sponsors)

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 3:42 pm

so far nobody is taking pre-orders, but EB Games web page says they will soon announce "exciting pre-order bundles." exciting bundles. great...

Libra Monkee · Post by **Libra Monkee** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 7:50 pm

VIPGarage wrote:i'm looking forward to getting the Wii. Should be bad ass and getting to play all the old school games again is just awesome.

<cough>emulators</cough>

WANGAN_X · Post by **WANGAN_X** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:59 am

my eb is taking preorders???

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:22 pm

tried the EB and GameStop that's close by, neither are taking pre-orders. their web site says "check back for exciting pre-order bundles."

Amazon wants me to register before they'll send me an email update on pre-orders. Best Buy isn't accepting them.

hell, I'll probably just wait until next year. I'm NOT buying a bundle with anything that I wouldn't buy otherwise. I'll wait...

Libra Monkee · Post by **Libra Monkee** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:38 pm

I'm already registered with Amazon. I'll have them send me the pre-order info then when I get the email I can post it here.

Mr Kleen · Post by **Mr Kleen** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:57 pm

Libra Monkee wrote:I'm already registered with Amazon. I'll have them send me the pre-order info then when I get the email I can post it here.

snoogens

Post by **Sabre** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 2:13 pm

Hey, no pet name calling here...