Wii launch on Nov 19th @ $250

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-09-14 12:40pm

SNES at 8-12$.

Ouch. I know it's a quarter of what a GBA rerelease would cost, but $12 is still steep.

On the other hand, some of the rarer SNES carts will set you back $50 or more (wasn't ToP going for $100+ at some point?)

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-09-14 12:42pm

12 is apprently for something else, i didn't catch percisely what.

More relevently.

Wii channel, if I understand this guy right, it lets you create persistent Wii characters, like those in the Wii sports games, and use them persistently across multiple games that support this sytem.

Now get this. You can load it onto your Wii remote, and TAKE IT AROUND. I.E your remote is like an Xbox gamertag(if I understand right) and carries persoonal data with you.

Now showing Wii photo/movie view.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-09-14 12:45pm

More wii info.

It has a calender function for family/personal use. Ability to act as a media hub, holding images in some fashion.

Whats the HD size though?

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-09-14 12:54pm

Wii remote seperate from nunchunk
Wii remote at $39, nunchunk $19

Majority of photo storage is on SD card, Wii also has SOME memory.

Legend of Zelda at early december.

all first-party games will be in at $49.99 or under

Or...I just found a text feed, me stupid.

:23 am: The Regginator speaks! "The next step in gaming is bringing gaming back to the masses." Obviously it's working for them so far, if you'll notice the brain-training craze and the runaway popularity of the DS. Not surprisingly, those are exactly the products he's talking about now.

9:27 am: Here comes the hard info. "One price, one configuration, one color." So there's only a white one (for now), it comes with the nunchaku and so-called "Wiimote" controllers, and it costs ... $249.99! The system will show up at 25,000 retail locations, so it probably won't be too hard to find one--especially since Reggie just promised 4 million units shipped globally by the end of calendar 2006, with the majority share going to North America.

9:29 am: But what's in the box? One Wii remote, one nunchuk both included. Don't forget about Wii Sports, the first pack-in game at launch since the SNES. Speaking of which, we're now seeing a demo of bowling, one of the games included in Wii Sports.

9:32 am: Like almost every Wii game so far, you play bowling just like you would in real life: like you're throwing the ball for real. You can purportedly put some spin on it, too. We'll have a more detailed report later today.

9:33 am: And the final Wii Sports lineup is...tennis, golf, baseball, bowling, and boxing?! That's new. This should be interesting.

9:35 am: Reggie's talking about the 25-game launch lineup, not surprisingly being led by The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Excite Truck will also be out on day one. He makes much of the fact that this is the first Nintendo console to launch with a Zelda...though, admittedly, this Zelda was originally intended for the previous console.

9:39 am: Here's a random sampling of third-party games that will be out on day one: Call of Duty 3, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Need for Speed: Carbon, Madden 07, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Splinter Cell: Double Agent.

9:41 am: More details that we already knew: roughly 30 games by the end of the year, and all first-party games will be in at $49.99 or under. But here's somethin we haven't heard much about in the US yet: "Wii Channels." Reggie says this idea is meant to expand the console's interface for all the members of the family.

9:44 am: Now we're getting slides of the Wii Channels interface, which lets you start up a Wii or GameCube disc, as well as hitting the "Wii Shop Channel" to buy older games for the Virtual Console (and look for Super Mario World and Super Mario 64 at launch). After launch, Nintendo is estimating around 10 new games a month to be available.

Surprisingly, full pricing details are here. NES games will be available for 500 Wii points, Super NES games for 800, and Nintendo 64 for 1,000. Wait, Wii what? Looks like they're taking the same tack as Microsoft: Consumers part with fake money more easily than real money. A 2000 Wii points card can be had at retail for $20.

9:46 am: Bill Trinen is showing off the "Mii" channel, which lets you create your cartoon-like avatar to represent yourself within games. To demonstrate the flexibility of the Mii character-creation utility--which lets you pick hair styles, skin color, facial features, and so on--Trinen is creating a rather, uh, loose interpretation of Samuel L. Jackson. After finishing the Mii, he's got it running around with pretty accurate Mii versions of Iwata and Miyamoto.

9:50 am: The second component of the Mii concept is transporting your Miis elsewhere, since they're stored on your remote. Head to a friend's house, play tennis with your controller, and you'll see your Mii pop right up in the game.

Now we're getting a demo of the photo channel, which is a pretty standard photo viewer. The most impressive thing here is how quickly Bill is navigating the photos with the Wii remote, which works like a mouse. You can also view videos through this thing, even adding mosaic effects or turning the video into a slide puzzle.

9:53 am: Reggie again with some more channels, like weather reports and news headlines (which are updated nonstop through WiiConnect 24 so you can read them anytime). A messaging service is also in place, letting you send messages to other users on the Wii or even to their cell phones (though Reggie didn't say exactly how this will work).

Finally, there's the Internet channel, which is basically just the Opera browser--which you'll need to cash in Wii points to purchase. But the Wii remote does seem uniquely suited to surfing the Web on your couch.

9:55 am: Reggie emphasizes the positioning of the Wii Channels interface for the casual, mainstream user. Makes a point of saying the point that the Channels interface will come up immediately, with no lengthy boot-up process to get in the way.

9:59 am: That's the end of today's scheduled programming. On with the Q&A!

Additional Wii remotes will be $39.99, separate from the nunchuk, which will be an additional $19.99.

Will the system have its own internal memory for photos and such? Kaplan says it will have some capacity for internal memory, but "most" of the storage will indeed be through SD cards.

Of the 30 games promised by year's end, Kaplan says about half of those will be available at launch. Sounds like Zelda, Excite Truck, and Wii Sports are the only first-party ones, though. While first-party games are indeed $50 and under, third parties are--not surprisingly--free to set their own pricing on upcoming games.

Uh-oh. GameCube Twilight Princess now pushed back to December.

All first-party games and most (if not all) other Wii content will be capable of the 16:9 aspect ratio used by HDTVs, but will not be in high definition.

Will the DS and Wii be interoperable? "You'll be hearing more in the future about that," says Kaplan. Nothing today though.

It's official: Metroid Prime 3 is now a "2007" title.

Pokemon Battle Revolution (just announced in Japan) will be the first online-multiplayer-enabled game. Um, good?

10:11 am EDT: The presentation is officially over, and we now have a pretty clear picture of the Wii launch in the US. We're on to check out all the playable games, so stay tuned for hands-on stories and videos later in the day. Also Check back tomorrow for news from Nintendo Europe's event in London.

4 million units by Dec 31.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-09-14 01:00pm

So...a free nunchuk and disc of party games in every box, limitless memory through SD cards (yeah, you need to buy them, but who hasn't got a spare somewhere?), N64 titles at $10, plus an always-on, useful online component.

I want this thing so bad...this might even get my family into gaming.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2006-09-14 01:23pm

Bounty wrote:So...a free nunchuk and disc of party games in every box, limitless memory through SD cards (yeah, you need to buy them, but who hasn't got a spare somewhere?), N64 titles at $10, plus an always-on, useful online component.

I want this thing so bad...this might even get my family into gaming.

.
Oh yes, at last - Starfox 64.... (I've wanted that game since I played it at a friends house in London after we moved to Israel and he lost it).
And Ocarina of time too

.
10$- a bit exxpensive but worth it for the good games, and maybe there'll be a deal.
And SNES games= Me finally playing super Metroid [Legally]. Squeee!

Darth Garden Gnome · Post by **Darth Garden Gnome** » 2006-09-14 01:50pm

Uhh... I have a feeling I'm not going to really need to buy those old S/NES titles... if you know what I'm sayin'.

And who doesn't have Starfox 64 and OoT still lying around? C'mon now.

Of course, the Wii is still far and away in the lead for my next-gen console purchase.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2006-09-14 02:16pm

wautd wrote:So that's about 200 in real money. I think I'll end up with a Wii/X360 combo

You'd better hope that Nintendo Europe doesn't do something daft and sell it for EUR 250.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-09-14 03:58pm

The Wiki now lists the dimensions for the remote, the nunchuck, and the classic controller, care of Nintendo of Japan's site:

The body of the Wii Remote measures 148 mm long, 36.2 mm wide, and 30.8 mm thick.

The body of the Nunchuk controller measures 113 mm long, 38.2 mm wide, and 37.5 mm thick.

The body of the Classic Controller measures 65.7 mm tall, 135.7 mm wide, and 26 mm thick.

This is exciting, for weirdos like me, who always wanted to know how big the controllers were.

EDIT: Additionally, the dimensions of the console itself has been finalised:

Wii is Nintendo's smallest home game console yet; measuring 44 mm wide, 157 mm tall, and 215.4 mm deep in the vertical orientation without the included stand (which itself measures 55.4 mm wide, 44 mm tall, and 225.6 mm deep).

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-09-14 05:07pm

Sorry if this has already been mentioned, but I didn't notice it mentioned.

IGN reports that Nintendo's VP says first-party Wii games will be region-free:

Wii Region-Free Says Nintendo VP
First-party games unrestricted says Nintendo, third-party games up to individual publishers.
by Matt Wales

UK, September 14, 2006 - First-party games for Wii will be region-free, according to NoA's vice president of marketing and corporate affairs, Perrin Kaplan.

Speaking to Wired News' Joel Johnson, Kaplan confirmed that, like the DS, Wii gamers will be able to play titles from different territories without restriction. Traditionally, games purchased in regions such as Japan, US and Europe have only been playable on native home consoles. The news is likely to be welcomed by import fans, eager to get their hands on games as close to initial release as possible - however, Kaplan also suggested that region-locking on third-party games would be left up to individual publishers. Currently, it's unclear how Nintendo's region-free policy will affect the playback of existing GameCube titles, which are fully compatible with the Wii.

In the same report, Kaplan revealed that downloaded Virtual Console games would be tied to an individual user's account. However, the system is structured in such a way that, in the event of, say, a meteor crashing through the window and pile-driving your Wii to a pulp, you'll still be able to play your previously purchased games on a brand new Wii console.

Wired also questioned whether Wii owners would be able to add storage capabilities via a USB hard drive add-on. Kaplan's response was that, initially, storage would be limited to flash memory. Although she suggested a hard drive add-on could conceivably be released in the future, it doesn't sound like Nintendo has any official plans as yet. Whether enterprising Wii users will be able to use their own non-Nintendo USB hard drive accessories with the console from the off is unclear.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732748p1.html

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-14 06:30pm

Excellent. Fuck this 'wait for lameass Australia to be cared about' nonsense. US is the first launch region right? Who in the US should I order one from?

atg · Post by **atg** » 2006-09-14 07:45pm

Stark wrote:Excellent. Fuck this 'wait for lameass Australia to be cared about' nonsense. US is the first launch region right? Who in the US should I order one from?

I'd hold off mate. With only first-party titles being guaranteed region-free you wouldn't want to spend some money on a third party title here and not be able to play it on your imported Wii.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-14 07:51pm

So I import third-party titles. If owning a DS has taught me anything, it's that games are cheaper EVERYWHERE ELSE.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2006-09-14 09:10pm

Since Pokemon Battle Revolution is confirmed to have online play, does anyone know if the Japanese DS game will connect to an American Wii? I think it will, but I'm not sure.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-09-14 09:16pm

Oh, we are so far away from knowing stuff like that.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-14 09:23pm

Since neither Wii nor DS has region coding, you could say no. DS/GBA game linking needs to be the same 'region', but I think that's due to the region-specific GBA carts rather than a fast rule. In any case, it's the carts that matter not the DS: so you can connect Jap-DS to Jap-GBA game in a US console.

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2006-09-14 09:29pm

DEATH wrote:
Bounty wrote:So...a free nunchuk and disc of party games in every box, limitless memory through SD cards (yeah, you need to buy them, but who hasn't got a spare somewhere?), N64 titles at $10, plus an always-on, useful online component.

I want this thing so bad...this might even get my family into gaming.
.
Oh yes, at last - Starfox 64.... (I've wanted that game since I played it at a friends house in London after we moved to Israel and he lost it).
And Ocarina of time too .
10$- a bit exxpensive but worth it for the good games, and maybe there'll be a deal.
And SNES games= Me finally playing super Metroid [Legally]. Squeee!

10 dollars isn't too bad considering that at EBgames, a used cart will run you ~5, and a good or hard to find cart is in the 8-12 range used.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2006-09-14 09:36pm

For some titles it sometimes runs you double or triple that.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2006-09-14 09:43pm

If they're bundling Wii Sports with the Wii, then $250 isn't so bad. A shame that it seems I'll need to wait a couple weeks for Zelda after that, though.

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2006-09-14 10:12pm

Darth Yoshi wrote:If they're bundling Wii Sports with the Wii, then $250 isn't so bad. A shame that it seems I'll need to wait a couple weeks for Zelda after that, though.

They are saying TP is still a Wii Launch title, its the GCN version that is pushed back.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-09-15 01:40am

No matter what you do, WATCH THIS VIDEO.

If you can, check these out as well.
http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732689p1.html

Even with the disappointing price and release date, I see more good news than bad news at today's conference. Amazing vids, that photo/video editing looks very easy to use and the browser looks awesome. This'll blow MSN TV out of the water easily.

The photo stuff looks like iPhoto combined with a sort of Photoshop Lite. It's useless to me as an owner of both iPhoto and Photoshop, but to people like my parents and older folks? This is a godsend.

DPDarkPrimus wrote:
Dominus Atheos wrote:So? I'm not spending $10 on a ten year old game, no matter how great the company is that made it, fucktard.
Once again:

I was sharing that information with everyone, not just you, moron. If you don't want to buy any VC games, that's fine; but considering how much Microsoft asks for those XBLA games, asking $10 for say, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is an awesome deal.

IIRC SNES games will probably be $8, so it's not even that.

$10 is the maximum price for anything.

Personally, I'm happy. I never played Zelda: A Link to the Past, or Super Metroid, or the SNES Kirby game, and I only played through some of Super Mario RPG. I want those games.

Wii games are region free, but I have a question for importers. What about video? Will there be problems with systems designed for PAL vs NTSC?

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-15 01:43am

What do you mean? What video? DVDs?

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-09-15 01:43am

Bounty wrote:So...a free nunchuk and disc of party games in every box, limitless memory through SD cards (yeah, you need to buy them, but who hasn't got a spare somewhere?), N64 titles at $10, plus an always-on, useful online component.

I want this thing so bad...this might even get my family into gaming.

Same here. I intend to force everyone in my family and friends' families to try Wii Sports

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-09-15 01:45am

Stark wrote:What do you mean? What video? DVDs?

Video is loaded through SD cards.

http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732707p1.html

Shows iPhoto-like slideshow feature complete with Ken Burns-style zooms and pans.

Shows off a movie-playack mode. You can apparently transfer home-brew movies to your Wii, view them and modify them in real-time.

A little of that is shown in the video I linked to in my post you are replying to.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-09-15 01:47am

Yeah, my slow-ass AU broadband is still downloading it.

But how would it stop me playing un-DRMed avis? Why would it want to? Even if I edit them with the console, it's not going to know it's not in the US. I don't get it.