Thursday, September 21, 2006

Nintendo Wii Out For Christmas

Nintendo have confirmed the 8th of December as the European launch date for their next generation games console - Wii

Nintendo WiiPrices are estimated at £179 or 249 € and it will be bundled with one wireless Wii Remote, one Nunchuk and Wii Sports, a collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disk that anyone can play using simple physical movements.

Accompanying the console launch will be around 20 software titles including Wii Play and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Others are Ubisoft's RED STEEL, EA's Need for Speed: Carbon, Activision's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, THQ's Disney/ Pixar's Cars and Sega's Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz.

The Wii sees Nintendo getting up on a par with its competitors, which it never has done in the past. The console can connect to the internet and has 802.11b/g wireless networking, which will also allow it to connect to a Nintendo DS. It uses Bluetooth to connect up to four remote controllers

Unlike Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo haven't gone down the DVD route for games media, opting instead for a proprietary 12cm optical disc while still being compatible with the older 8cm Nintendo GameCube discs. That means that they don't have the capability of playing DVD movies, a deliberate move on Nintendo's part but, in my opinion, a mistake that could cost them dearly in sales once Sony and Microsoft get competative on pricing.

It's expected that you'll be able to buy Nintendo games for the Wii at the estimated retail price of between £34 … 39 (49 … 59 €). Additional controllers will also be available from launch at the estimated retail prices of: Wii Remote - £29 (39 €), Nunchuk - £14 (19 €) and the Classic Controller - £14 (19 €).

With Sony's Playstation 3 European launch delayed until March next year, these might shift very well indeed over the Christmas break.

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