Wii Launch info?

[Ghost]

Yeah Hawkeye posted that video a while ago. Very funny.

[Stu]

IGN are reporting the U.S. release date is going to be 19th November and the cost will be $250, with games costing $50.

From IGN

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 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 ($5), 800 yen ($ 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. 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.

Nintendo will launch Wii in Japan on December 2 of this year for 25,000 yen, it revealed. North America will get the system first.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732669p1.html

[swim]

Heads up! If you know where the preorders start (stores) post please.

[Zurbaran1]

I'm waiting to see if ebgames.com puts it up once the official US announcement is made, later today.

[Zurbaran1]

Well it's official and it does look like there will be around 30 games available at launch with around half of them out launch day:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nintendo's new video game machine - dubbed Wii - will cost just $250 when it goes on sale Nov. 19 in North America, making it by far the least expensive of the next generation systems.

The Wii - which will feature a wand-like controller - will be the last of the next generation of consoles to hit store shelves, but only by two days. Sony's (Charts) PlayStation 3 goes on sale Nov. 17 for $499 and $599 and Microsoft's (Charts) Xbox 360 became available last year for $299 and $399.


The Nintendo Wii will have roughly 30 games out by the end of the year.

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The system will have an extensive game catalog in its so-called launch window (the first few months after the hardware is released), with roughly 30 games available. It expects half of those, including a new entry in the "Zelda" franchise, to be on store shelves the same day the Wii is released.

Games will cost $50, which is standard pricing for titles for current systems, but $10 less than what many games for the Xbox 360 and PS3 cost. One game - "Wii Sports," a compilation of tennis, golf, baseball, bowling and boxing - will come included with the system to demonstrate its abilities.

The Wii will ship with one controller and one secondary controller (dubbed the 'nunchuck') for more advanced games. Additional controllers will be sold separately for $40. (Additional nunchucks will sell separately for $20.)

Nintendo (Charts) said it plans to ship 4 million units worldwide this year, which, if achieved, should help ease supply troubles. (Sony, by comparison, will only ship 2 million PS3s this year.) New video game systems almost always sell out at launch, as enthusiasts quickly snatch them up.

The Wii, however, is not aimed squarely at enthusiasts. Nintendo has said repeatedly it hopes to bring in a wider audience with the system.

"The next step in gaming is bringing gaming back to the masses... appealing to current gamers as well as to people who do not consider themselves in the gaming industry," said Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America.

The Wii controller is specifically designed to be more accessible to non-gamers, resembling a remote control, rather than the button-heavy, dual-thumbstick controllers that have become the standard in gaming systems.

Wrist and arm actions translate directly to onscreen action with the Wii controller. In the "Wii Sports" tennis game, for example, users simply swing their arm in the living room and their onscreen character will do so as well. If you're playing a shooting game, you simply aim and fire.

In addition to Wii specific games, Nintendo's new video game machine will also offer users access to the company's extensive collection of games for previous Nintendo and other systems. Called the virtual console, this feature will allow users to download games over the Internet. Nintendo said pricing for older games will range from $5 to $10.

Thirty classic games will be available on the virtual console by year's end. Nintendo said it expects to add 10 games per month next year. To purchase games, users will need to buy a $20 gift card at retail.

Nintendo's decision to focus on gameplay did come with a cost: The graphical power of the Wii is far below what users have seen on the Xbox 360 and PS3. Onscreen images are roughly on par with the GameCube. The company said it feels users will not be dissuaded by the less-impressive graphics.

"If you want power you're going to go somewhere else," said Fils-Aime.

In a further move to attract a broad audience, the system will also come with an intuitive news and weather channel, a photo viewing channel and Web surfing capabilities. Users will further be able to send messages and photos to other Internet-connected Wii users, PCs and cell phones. All will be done through the game controller.

"Wii channels [the official name for the above features] are designed to offer ease of functionality for everyone in the household," said Fils-Aime.

[kirthew]

I was really hoping this thing would hit at 199....

Anyone else think it is wierd that we will be getting the Wii before Japan????

US Release - Nov 17th
Japan Release - Dec 2nd

I know it is only a few days... but Nintendo has never ever done this...

[Zurbaran1]

there's a first time for everything.

[Ghost]

You beat me to the punch, Z. It's a great marketing plan though, as Japan announced their plans yesterday, this morning America did theirs, and then Europe. And we get the system first! It's great and yes we will get that many Wii only games first as well as the virtual console items. This is definitely gonna put Nintendo at the top, for a while, all they have to do is keep producing great games, not only from 1st party but 3rd as well, and we can bet it's gonna get even harder for Sony to breathe. Especially since production still has to run and developers while already having the kits to build the games still need to test. Can't wait!

Which I just realised seeing as their will be a plan for Europe as well, it will have a huuuuge upper hand as when the PS3 is released they will not have any over there, and since most have their 360s they will opt for the Wii!

Originally Posted by kirthew

I was really hoping this thing would hit at 199....

Anyone else think it is wierd that we will be getting the Wii before Japan????

US Release - Nov 17th
Japan Release - Dec 2nd

I know it is only a few days... but Nintendo has never ever done this...

yeah it is odd, but so what...

i think what is odder is that both Wii and PS3 will be shipping 2 days apart WTF is up with that??? and PS3 is twice as expensive as Wii. i think i know which system most people will be getting this holiday season...

[Zurbaran1]

Originally Posted by fossa

[B][COLOR=darkorange]... i think i know which system most people will be getting this holiday season...

If for no other reason than that the Wii is going to be a helluva lot easier to get your hands on. Unless you are willing to go to extremes not likely you will get anywhere near a PS3. There are only going to be 400,000 of them compared to 4,000,000 Wiis. And with all the trouble Sony has been having with the PS3 who knows if they will even hit their date and have that many available if they do,