Us Wii Price, Launch Date Revealed

Star Lord

IGN Wii

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 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 a previously unannounced bowling game.

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.

The Big N confirmed that it would charge $50 for its new Wii games, which is $10 cheaper than the cost of standard Xbox 360 titles.

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. Wil 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.

Sony recently announced that it would ready 400,000 PS3s in North America and another 100,000 in Japan for the system's launch. Nintendo said it plans to ship 4 million Wii units worldwide by the end of the year.

Star Lord

Japanese details released now too:
_________________________________________________
The Wii will debut in Japan on December 2, 2006 at a price of 25,000 yen. This converts to about $213 US. However, it will not include the Wii Sports title -- this will be available for 4800 yen ($40).
_________________________________________________

Question is, will Europe come first, last or middle?
Guess Wii'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out!!!

RE*AC*TOR

Dear god I hope Europe comes first. Also - I hope we get Wii Sports bundled. I think that would be a nice move.

koneko

That would be sweet. Nintendo acknowledging they haven't been great in Europe, and launching here first. That would be perfection. But it's a dream. They'll never do that.

Star Lord

It was kinda hinted at a few times that we could get it early, even if it was between those dates, I'd be pretty happy, but first would be awesome, would be a big sign to their European customers that they're not getting brushed aside to last like usual!
So the US price works out at like €200 roughly, wonder if we'll get it for that, or for the €230 that I've thought we'll get it for, or will they do the old $=€ conversion theyve done before?

Smellyirishman

Interesting stuff alright, don't think there is any chance we will be first but hopefully just before/after JPN release (They won't shaft us completly will they... ). I would not mind being last, as long as we get Wii Sports bundled, interesting that they are not giving it to JPN (perhaps because of the sports involved?) since they are also giving them the console second. Wonder if retailers here will stick at the €50 price mark.

RE*AC*TOR

japan conference first - japan get it last
america conference 2nd - america get it 2nd
europe conference last - europe get it first?

release in revers order of the conferences?


I can dream.

HomesickAlien

considering how sony recently boned europe up completely, the wii coming out in europe first would be a bit of a masterstroke of marketing...

zAbbo

Here's hoping Euro's get it first !

Star Lord

Re*ac*tor I was thinking the same thing.

Plus, Japan almost always gets the consoles first (With the exception on the Xbox), followed by the US, followed by Europe. Now with Japan seeing the Wii launch on the 2nd of December, and the way the London Nintendo conference tomorrow seems to be being hyped, and the statements of Jim Merrick, ex Nintendo Europe spokesman, I think there is a strong chance we will get the Wii either first or second! But it feels like it'd be too good to be true!

BlitzKrieg

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/topics/wii_preview/movie/lineup.html


woah!


that alot more titles then I expected.

Also do I see a game similar to Shining force in there? (me want!)

and I hear the sword sound effect from revenger of shinobi in there at one point

and finally I'm impressed the line up didnt try to sell the console solely based on one or two big games. (almost all the games got the same screen time.


EDIT: Goddamn it ther's another thread for this. *excuse me* (runs over to other thread)

sprinkles

Japan's wii will cost €167 :eek:

Does anyone know if they will be region coded?

koneko

I have a bad feeling about this.

Pleaaase, Ninty, prove me wrong.

tman

BlitzKrieg wrote:

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/topics/wii_preview/movie/lineup.html

trauma centre looks cool, that's the first i'd heard about a bleach game and it's nice to have a bomberman game with the cutesy graphics intact....
and metroid...

RIDLEY!!!!!!!!!!!11111

looks like a bit of resident evil towards the end as well...

*wipes up mess*

just a shame that there's no mention of Super Metroid on the virtual console at launch

skywalker

DamoElDiablo wrote:

Re*ac*tor I was thinking the same thing.

Plus, Japan almost always gets the consoles first (With the exception on the Xbox), followed by the US, followed by Europe. Now with Japan seeing the Wii launch on the 2nd of December, and the way the London Nintendo conference tomorrow seems to be being hyped, and the statements of Jim Merrick, ex Nintendo Europe spokesman, I think there is a strong chance we will get the Wii either first or second! But it feels like it'd be too good to be true!

The only thing is, why would the european announcement not be today? same day as the others. Ive a feeling that its on a friday so it gets less press coverage, cause its going to say we get it in 07.

Smellyirishman

There is a Bleach game?! As in Bleach the anime? I need to get home now so I can watch these videos!

koneko

skywalker wrote:

The only thing is, why would the european announcement not be today? same day as the others. Ive a feeling that its on a friday so it gets less press coverage, cause its going to say we get it in 07.

That's what I'm thinking too. The internet is buzzing with news of the US and Japan release, and Europe's bad news slips under the radar again. I just have a very bad feeling about this.

Scruff

more wii release info
Its going to be $250 probably with the Wii Sports Bundle.

That'll probably mean it'll be €250 here.

Setun

skywalker wrote:

The only thing is, why would the european announcement not be today? same day as the others. Ive a feeling that its on a friday so it gets less press coverage, cause its going to say we get it in 07.

I was reading this thread and getting even more excited about the launch. If they say 07 I'm going to throw a NES at Shigsy.

Rhyme

Odd how they are releasing it in North and South America on the same day... South America usually gets a raw deal when it comes to consoles/games.

If we can get the American's deal i will honestly split in half with excitement.

machalla

Hmm I'm not keeping track of all these things properly but apparently the US release date info is not confirmed as the NYT article got pulled? According to this :

http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/10307/

I've seen it mentioned a couple of places. So that US release date may be wrong if its based off the pulled NYT article.

thebman

It would have to release in Europe first to keep me in anyway interested. None of these features appeal to me in any way. I can do all that on Pc already with a mouse.

flogen

Yeah, I'd say a €250 launch price, hopefully with Wii sport... would be superb if we get it before US, or even before Japan... I'm surprised they've put Japan so late (perhaps they want more time to produce for it because it's going to be huge there), so maybe we can expect another surprise for Europe.

Oh and Nintendogs.... yay
(the amount of sweet looking games on that video, or at least ones that I want to look into more now)

Smellyirishman

machalla wrote:

I've seen it mentioned a couple of places. So that US release date may be wrong if its based off the pulled NYT article.

It was pulled, but then put back up, AFAIK but it should probably be taken with a cautionary pinch of salt for good measure.

Although I am happy to hear some info, I await todays (tomorrow morning's) US announcement, and Friday's EU annoucement with baited breath.

Star Lord

flogen wrote:

Yeah, I'd say a €250 launch price, hopefully with Wii sport...

the amount of sweet looking games on that video, or at least ones that I want to look into more now

I would have been happy to pay €230 for the console itself, so if its €250 with Wii Sports I'd be happy

But about the video, I can't see any of it and nobody has posted pics anywhere.

honru

If Nintendo does the right thing and gets the Wii out in Europe this year, I predict we'll get it either the week after the US launch (24th November) or the week after the Japanese one (8th December).

If you remember the original DS launch, the reason the States come before the Japanese is simply due to the shopping season. While the US lights up during Thanksgiving, the Japanese don't get going until they're into December.

Really great showing from Nintendo though. Pack-in Wii Sports? That's sound.

mcgarnicle

I think anything over 200 euro is a total rip off for this. Say what you like it's basically a gamecube with a new joy pad. I don't care if it comes with wii sports, that looks like a tech demo not a game.
There is all this hype now about the photo editing and news features, seriously if i want the news i will watch bbc or sky and ive never edited a photo in my life and have no interest in doing so. The virtual console, 10 euro for an n64 game? sorry i can play them for free on pc and use my 64 joypad while im at it. People are saying that nintendo are revitalising gaming etc but i dont see how. The joypad looks fun but nothing special really, its been done before. Im more excited about the ps3 at this stage to be honest. Nintendo's marketting has to be commended though, theyve found a way to remodle and repackage a 5 year old console, put it in a new box with a new joypad and raise the price 500% and have everyone sing their praises for doing so. I will prob end up getting it so i can play mario and zelda but I have a 360 and have every intention of getting a ps3, if i was limited to one or two the wii would deffinately be last on my list.

thebman

mcgarnicle wrote:

I think anything over 200 euro is a total rip off for this. Say what you like it's basically a gamecube with a new joy pad. I don't care if it comes with wii sports, that looks like a tech demo not a game.
There is all this hype now about the photo editing and news features, seriously if i want the news i will watch bbc or sky and ive never edited a photo in my life and have no interest in doing so. The virtual console, 10 euro for an n64 game? sorry i can play them for free on pc and use my 64 joypad while im at it. People are saying that nintendo are revitalising gaming etc but i dont see how. The joypad looks fun but nothing special really, its been done before. Im more excited about the ps3 at this stage to be honest. Nintendo's marketting has to be commended though, theyve found a way to remodle and repackage a 5 year old console, put it in a new box with a new joypad and raise the price 500% and have everyone sing their praises for doing so. I will prob end up getting it so i can play mario and zelda but I have a 360 and have every intention of getting a ps3, if i was limited to one or two the wii would deffinately be last on my list.

Your post is really over the top.

The hardware is a good bit more powerful than Gamecube.

Photo Editing is like Bebo's painting feature so it could prove popular if implemented popular. Personally I have no interest in it.

A full motion sensitive controller has not been done before and certainly not a free hand one with wireless like the Wiimote. Sure it's a glorified 3D mouse really but to go with that as the main controller for your console is something Ms and Sony weren't willing to risk. The controller has the potential to revolutionise Console Gaming.

Personally I'll probably get a 360 instead as I don't like a lot of the new features and 360 seems to have more additional features I might use for not that much more if Wii is 250 Euro.

FutureGuy

mcgarnicle wrote:

I think anything over 200 euro is a total rip off for this. Say what you like it's basically a gamecube with a new joy pad. I don't care if it comes with wii sports, that looks like a tech demo not a game.
There is all this hype now about the photo editing and news features, seriously if i want the news i will watch bbc or sky and ive never edited a photo in my life and have no interest in doing so. The virtual console, 10 euro for an n64 game? sorry i can play them for free on pc and use my 64 joypad while im at it. People are saying that nintendo are revitalising gaming etc but i dont see how. The joypad looks fun but nothing special really, its been done before. Im more excited about the ps3 at this stage to be honest. Nintendo's marketting has to be commended though, theyve found a way to remodle and repackage a 5 year old console, put it in a new box with a new joypad and raise the price 500% and have everyone sing their praises for doing so. I will prob end up getting it so i can play mario and zelda but I have a 360 and have every intention of getting a ps3, if i was limited to one or two the wii would deffinately be last on my list.

Wait a minute...all that crying and moaning about the Wii, and you are STILL going to get one...damn, it HAS to be good :rolleyes: And I for one am not one bit excited about the PS3 "oh look you can see the little bits of plastic on Ronaldos bootlaces" whoop-di-doo...

Lord Oz

It's still just an overclocked gamecube basically. Would anyone spend €250 for another gamecube?

mcgarnicle

FutureGuy wrote:

Wait a minute...all that crying and moaning about the Wii, and you are STILL going to get one...damn, it HAS to be good :rolleyes: And I for one am not one bit excited about the PS3 "oh look you can see the little bits of plastic on Ronaldos bootlaces" whoop-di-doo...

No it doesn't have to be good. It has mario and zelda, two games that I love and would always buy the simple fact is to play both of these I need to buy a wii. zelda is a gamecube port and mario doesnt look like its above gamecube standard. The PS3 excites me because the thought of playing shadow of the colossus and the like with spectacular graphics, shallow as this may sound, is far more appealing to me than playing a gamecube with a new joypad. Seriously the ds may have been a success but i got Dk jungle beat with another new control method, it was fun for about 10 minutes then i put it back in its box and stuck it under the bed where it remains to this day.

koneko

Yawn. Another rant about the hardware. Who cares? I sure as hell don't. I'll be buying it for the games that are no doubt going to be a ton of fun.

I know. Strange right? I'm buying a console to play games. Total shocker. I must be crazy to want to buy a console that'll have fun games.

Smellyirishman

Lord Oz wrote:

It's still just an overclocked gamecube basically.

But can't you argue that an xbox 360 is just an overclocked xbox? (only overclocked to a higher degree)

Giblet

€300 in Ireland is the Worst Case Scenario (and probably the most likely )

I can't afford to buy that + a 50 euro game, so it had better be 250 euro. We should really be getting it for 200 euro but those crazy currency guys think that 250 dollars = 250 euro. GRRR

mcgarnicle

koneko wrote:

Yawn. Another rant about the hardware. Who cares? I sure as hell don't. I'll be buying it for the games that are no doubt going to be a ton of fun.

I know. Strange right? I'm buying a console to play games. Total shocker. I must be crazy to want to buy a console that'll have fun games.

To me those games look like they could run fine on the gamecube and i guarantee that joypad could be realised as a gc add on for a fraction of the price of the wii. Its a total rip off

koneko

Then don't buy it. Your point means nothing if you follow it up with "But I'll buy one anyway". Vote with your wallet.

I disagree, and I think some of the (Zelda in particular) screenshots I've seen are very nice, and this is only the start of the console and it's games. But at the end of the day, to me, having a Wii is not about the fanciest graphics and the shiniest yet-another-crappy-sports-game that's a bit prettier than the version just before it, it's about gameplay.

I appreciate good graphics, anyone here that knows me knows how much I've spent on graphics cards, but it's not what it's all about. I'd rather play a great game with innovative gameplay then another yawnfest with pretty graphics.

mcgarnicle

koneko wrote:

Yawn. Another rant about the hardware. Who cares? I sure as hell don't. I'll be buying it for the games that are no doubt going to be a ton of fun.

I know. Strange right? I'm buying a console to play games. Total shocker. I must be crazy to want to buy a console that'll have fun games.

Just to clarify, I dont doubt the games will be great thats why i plan on getting a wii. I just think it's a sham to get people to buy a console for 250 euro when they already bought practically the same console 5 years ago.

mcgarnicle

koneko wrote:

Then don't buy it. Your point means nothing if you follow it up with "But I'll buy one anyway". Vote with your wallet.

I disagree, and I think some of the (Zelda in particular) screenshots I've seen are very nice, and this is only the start of the console and it's games. But at the end of the day, to me, having a Wii is not about the fanciest graphics and the shiniest yet-another-crappy-sports-game that's a bit prettier than the version just before it, it's about gameplay.

I appreciate good graphics, anyone here that knows me knows how much I've spent on graphics cards, but it's not what it's all about. I'd rather play a great game with innovative gameplay then another yawnfest with pretty graphics.

I will buy it, your argument is bs though. The same gameplay could be achieved on the gamecube. You are paying 250 euro to continue to play gamecube games.

Kevok

If you don't see value in it, then don't buy it. Personally, the Virtual Console alone makes it worth it. Yes, I know, Roms + Emus are "free". My PSP is still 1.5 . But noone knows the hardware of the previous (Nintendo)consoles like Nintendo do, so the emulation should be much better.

€250 is, I think, the limit at which I'll buy it, or any new console for that matter.

bizmark

Ill be buying one to go along with my 360 so the wii60 combo will be sitting under my tv begging me to play for xmas .......Assueming i dont go blind before finishing dead rising that is

RE*AC*TOR

just saw this - thought it worth a copy.

/. wrote:

When Miyamoto told the reporter at the NYT that the new Nintendo console would cost $250USD, the reporter asked why it was $50 higher than previous Nintendo consoles. Miyamoto said it was due to differences in the exchange rate. So the reporter said "Fluctuations?"

Miyamoto replied "Fluck you Amelicans too!"

Rumor has it that this incident is why the Wii is being shipped later than expected too. I guess he's still a little bitter.

sprinkles

Lord Oz wrote:

It's still just an overclocked gamecube basically. Would anyone spend €250 for another gamecube?

Emmmm...... no it's not.

mcgarnicle wrote:

Im more excited about the ps3 at this stage to be honest. Nintendo's marketting has to be commended though, theyve found a way to remodle and repackage a 5 year old console, put it in a new box with a new joypad and raise the price 500% and have everyone sing their praises for doing so.

500% more than what? The Wii is definately not a remodelled N64 and it's certainly not 500% more expensive than the cube. I don't follow your arguement.

And as regards being more excited about the PS3...why?

Is it the better graphics? or perhaps it's the thought of remortgaging the house that does it for you.

Nintedo's praise deserve to be sung. They could have quite easily churned out a new "all powerful" console in the same fashion that Sony and MS did but to what avail. Is this the way things are going to keep going. Soon, very soon inf act, it won't be worth buing a machine just for updated graphics because that's all they are offering.

Ninty are actually doing something different. It's like the DS v PSP. The DS did something different. People laughed at them and said they would never compete with the PSP. The DS has 25 games in the top 50 in Japan, 6 in the top 10 while the PSP's highest managed #16 with Tekken. People are no longer interested in the most powerful. I for one want the most fun and that looks like the Wii.

zAbbo

It looks brilliant, everything has looked great so far, and a nice bonus of the Mii functionality.

sprinkles

PS: as for people saying that €250 is more expensive than the cube you have to compare todays value to back then. I for one would find it easier to get €250 together for a console than I would ahve done 5 years ago. Also whn you put it beside the PS3 can anyone honestly say they will enjoy the geming experience 3times more on the PS3 than on the Wii just because you can see the pupils of their eyes.

tman

sprinkles wrote:

Ninty are actually doing something different. It's like the DS v PSP. The DS did something different. People laughed at them and said they would never compete with the PSP. The DS has 25 games in the top 50 in Japan, 6 in the top 10 while the PSP's highest managed #16 with Tekken. People are no longer interested in the most powerful. I for one want the most fun and that looks like the Wii.

You summed up my thoughts nicely.
Since getting a DS back in January, I have fallen back in love with gaming. I could easily afford a PSP right now but am happy enough with just the DS.
I can see the exact same thing happening with the Wii and PS3

and could somebody order a taxi for RE*AC*TOR:p

Retr0gamer

I hope we get the Wii shortly after the other launches. I doubt a launch before either japan or america. IIRC the DS launched in America before japan and we had a 9 week wait for the DS. I'm officially excited now especially with the prospect of a new fire emblem game.

mcgarnicle

sprinkles wrote:

500% more than what? The Wii is definately not a remodelled N64 and it's certainly not 500% more expensive than the cube. I don't follow your arguement.

No but it is a remodelled gamecube. It certainly is 500% more expensive, a cube will cost about 50 euro new so 250 is 500% more.

sprinkles wrote:

And as regards being more excited about the PS3...why?

Is it the better graphics? or perhaps it's the thought of remortgaging the house that does it for you.

I've already said why I like the idea of the ps3, games like shadow of the colosuss were really made for spruced up graphics and i cant wait to play them as they really should be played... with lush backgrounds and settings. I'd rather pay 600 euro for a genuinly new console than 250 for a spruced up cube. I'll still buy both but I'm not deluding myself, I know what I'm getting when i go to get the wii.

sprinkles wrote:

Nintedo's praise deserve to be sung. They could have quite easily churned out a new "all powerful" console in the same fashion that Sony and MS did but to what avail. Is this the way things are going to keep going. Soon, very soon inf act, it won't be worth buing a machine just for updated graphics because that's all they are offering.

No they couldn't have done that, when nintendo started developing the wii they were on the rocks. The ds has blown everyone away with its success but when wii started development nintendo needed a cheaper option than trying to compete with the improving tech of microsoft and sony. MS and Sony are not just offering graphics, xbox live is fantastic and nintendo trying to bunch in on the idea of an entertainment hub with their announcements today seems to be a copy of what microsoft have been trying to do for years.

sprinkles wrote:

Ninty are actually doing something different. It's like the DS v PSP. The DS did something different. People laughed at them and said they would never compete with the PSP. The DS has 25 games in the top 50 in Japan, 6 in the top 10 while the PSP's highest managed #16 with Tekken. People are no longer interested in the most powerful. I for one want the most fun and that looks like the Wii.

The ds has been a shocking success. The wii is not the ds, nintendo has had plenty of gimicky flops before, i'm not saying the wii will flop i think it will do well but to just say that the ds did well therefore so will the wii is pretty short sighted.

Star Lord

machalla wrote:

Hmm I'm not keeping track of all these things properly but apparently the US release date info is not confirmed

Well we should know for sure within the next couple of hours.

US Event
9:00AM (Thursday) - 4:00PM (Thursday) EDT
6:00AM (Thursday) - 1:00PM (Thursday) PDT
1:00PM (Thursday) - 8:00PM (Thursday) GMT/UTC
2:00PM (Thursday) - 9:00PM (Thursday) BST
10:00PM (Thursday) - 5:00AM (Friday) Japan Time

koneko

mcgarnicle wrote:

I will buy it, your argument is bs though. The same gameplay could be achieved on the gamecube. You are paying 250 euro to continue to play gamecube games.

If you're going to dismiss what I'm saying as BS then I see no point in even continueing to reply to your posts.

I'll repeat myself. Vote with your wallet. You think it's a ripoff? Don't buy it.

RE*AC*TOR

Damn you British Summer Time!!!!

Noopti

No they couldn't have done that, when nintendo started developing the wii they were on the rocks.

Oh jesus.....hahahah, my bloody sides are splitting!! How were Nintendo on the rocks, they are one of the richest companies in the industry!

xbox live is fantastic and nintendo trying to bunch in on the idea of an entertainment hub with their announcements today seems to be a copy of what microsoft have been trying to do for years

And PS3 won't be "copying" what Microsoft have been "trying to do for years"?

The wii is not the ds, nintendo has had plenty of gimicky flops before,

Ahem....Betamax, Mini-Disc, UMD.....don't base the Wii on previous Nintendo "flops" if you are not willing to do the same with the PS3/Sony.
PS3 has so far been a disaster and it isn't even released yet. Development problems, production problems, bad press.
Nintendo is trying to do something different, just because you brand it an updated Gamecube (which is a bloody ridiculous argument, as all consoles are updates of their previous models), doesn't mean it isn't trying to do something different. Something that no other company has done before, no matter what you might think.
So give out all you want, you still said you are going to buy one......so there is only one sucker involved here, and it isn't Nintendo.