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Wii $249 on November 19

by Chris Remo, Sep 14, 2006 9:11am PDT
Related Topics – XBLA, Sony, Nintendo DS, Games: Console, Retro Studios

Nintendo has officially revealed the North and South American release date and retail price for its upcoming Wii console. The machine will launch November 19, two days after Sony's PlayStation 3 hits stores, for a suggested retail price of $249.99. Included in the package are a Remote and Nunchuk controller combination and the accessible sports game collection Wii Sports. Since its initial showing at E3, Wii Sports has had two additions beyond the core tennis, baseball and golf games; it now includes bowling and boxing as well. Thirty titles will be available for Wii between its launch and the end of calendar 2006; a specific launch lineup was not announced, and may not be yet finalized, but approximately half of that number is expected to be available on launch day. Nintendo will be keeping its per-game price point at the traditional $49.99; other publishers are of course able to set their own prices, but are likely to follow Nintendo's lead. The system will launch with 30 virtual console titles across the various legacy systems supported by the service. Much like Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade service, users will buy points that can be spent to purchase these games online. However, Nintendo seems to be using a direct cents-to-points ratio; for example, a 2000 point point card will be available for $20. NES games will run 500 Wii points ($5), SNES games 800 ($8), and Nintendo 64 games 1000 ($10). Price schemes for SEGA Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 games were not announced. Wii will feature a variety of entertainment and communication features by way of its "Wii Channel" features. These includes a news channel, a global weather forecast channel, the previously announced Opera web browser, and a photo channel used to organize, display, and edit digital photos. Details regarding these channels are available at Nintendo's newly launched Wii official site. The Japanese site also contains numerous videos of the channels in action. Former launch title Metroid Prime 3: Corruption from Retro Studios has now been officially moved to 2007. While The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess remains a Wii launch title, the GameCube version of the game has been pushed back to December 2006. Nintendo also announced a Wii version of Big Brain Academy, which first came to Nintendo DS.


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  • #687
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    By: gibolas1234 x
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    I hoped the console would be 200$ but that was really just wishful thinking. 250$ is so much cheaper than the other consoles (ps3 good lord). Someone pointed out a horrible psp costs that much. A wii costs a lot more to to make than a psp. Also, the online service is free. I hate monthly fees. Paying for xbox live adds up.

    The price of the nes, snes, 64 games doesn't bother me either. I payed 30 bux for mario3 on my DS because it's worth it. It's a great game and I have more fun with it than a lot of games. Look at how much crappy cell phone games cost.

    I'm sure that if they included another controller it would bring the price up. Some people might not have the need for two controllers so I'm sure they are happy they're not paying for something they don't need.

    As for the sports game, I doubt it brought the price up too much to include it. Software is cheap to bundle. The price is lower in Japan for numerous other reasons. I'm sure throwing it in will please parents who don't want to have to buy a game for their kid as well.

    On the downside I wish it had HD and dvd playing capability. I would pay 300 if it included those two things. I love my DS, it's fun, the touchscreen is great. But I can't help look at a PSP and wish it had that nice screen or a memory card slot. Nintendo has great innovation, I just wish they put a little bit more into hardware.

    I will probably buy one after I read people's impressions.
    Sep 15, 2006 3:10am PDT
  • #630
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    By: abrasion This person is cool! x
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    Re-post of my thoughts, based on the long video of the Wii on the Wii page - showing games and people using it etc.

    Hmm lots of mini games on it, tailored to that controller obviously.
    This looks like a party console that's for sure.
    Price doesn't bother me, I'll consider one definately - more so than I ever considered the GC, specially thanks to it's B/C with GC.
    I hope it does have more Zelda / SP titles which are big / fun (I'm an SP gamer that lives alone,... do the maths on my thoughts on party games :( )

    The only thing which bugs me is the way it's being marketed, this http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/topics/wii_preview/movie/lineup.html reeks of apple - and that TOTALLY does not mean the Wii is bad at all, it's just personal preference, I hate apples marketing, the pristine white wanker trendy shit, I'm getting that feel from the Wii marketing big time - I heard the ipod is HUGE in Japan (one of the few foreign gadgets doing well) and it looks like Nintendo noticed that.
    (for reference, if / when I get one, it will be BLACK, thank god they are making black HELLO MICROSOFT)

    Still overall kinda cool - would really like to try the Wiimote though at someones house on a couch, not a display - PROPERLY for like 2 or 3 hours to get a real feel of it.
    Sep 14, 2006 6:20pm PDT