Wii $250 - Nov 19th - The Nintendo 2-Day Press Event Thread!

Codenamerevolution has an update saying the keynote is going to be at 12/1 pm

Which is fucking spectacular since my next class is at 12:30 to 1:45 after my 9:30 one...fuckers, I won't get any news until like 3
 
[quote name='Plinko']What part is confusing--the Sunday part or the part that they're releasing it after PS3?

I get the Sunday part--they released the DS and Gamecube on a Sunday, and more people are free on a Sunday to get the system. I have no problem with that.

The PS3 part I don't get, either. The ONLY thing I could think of was that A) Nintendo wanted enough time to stockpile 1-2 million consoles so everyone wanted one and B) Two days after PS3 comes out, there aren't going to be any left on shelves. Parents come in to the store looking for a video game system and find no PS3s but a few Wiis available.[/quote]

[quote name='BryceDraven']What about the date? I heard from Gamespot that Nintendo always launchs their system on a Sunday.. is it because it's 2 days after PS3? Why Sunday? Because I bet a lot of kids on the weekend will drag their parents to the mall to get one. :bouncy:[/quote]

The PS3 part is the confusing part. I mean it's right on top of the PS3 launch. I think like everybody else on the planet, I was expecting it to launch before the PS3. There's so much advantage to be gained by launching before, at least in mind, I just see why they would do it after.

About stock piling enough units for launch, that joystiq article from last week said that the Wii was already in production and that they could launch as early as sept. What happened to that?

And trying to capture the market left behind by the PS3 shortage, wouldn't it make sense to have your product out before, in order to do that. People waiting in line for hours for the PS3 and don't get one aren't going to come in 2 days later still looking for the PS3 and pick up the Wii instead. It stands to reason that the person waiting in line for hours and can't get a ps3 would be more likely to pick up a Wii, as to not walk away empty handed. But that's just my opinion.
 
[quote name='SpazX']Codenamerevolution has an update saying the keynote is going to be at 12/1 pm

Which is fucking spectacular since my next class is at 12:30 to 1:45 after my 9:30 one...fuckers, I won't get any news until like 3[/QUOTE]

ah damn got a music test at 12-1:15...oh well
 
Do Japanese products usually include tax in the price? Per an update at Joystiq:
2:06 a.m. EST [update 10]: The press release is up. It lists the contents of the Wii box: Wii console, Wii remote (w/ strap), nunchuck attachment, Wii AC adaptor, Wii A/V cable, Wii console stand(?), sensor bar, sensor bar stand and two AA batteries. Also, it seems the 25,000 yen price includes tax.
Click to expand...
Seems odd, though obviously they can't do that here since tax rates are different everywhere.
 
Holy meh. Two more months until I get this thing? I can't say I'm jumping for joy. I guess I'll wait until the US announcement to get excited on this one. I hope they're launching in black.

EDIT: DAMNIT.
 
GWN still hasn't updated about the keynote, but I'm going to go with codenamerevolution's info.

This just in, GWN blows.
 
Nintedo's target are softcores. Hardcores know what they want and will get what they want. Compare the Wii price to PS3 and you got yourself a softcore winner.
 
[quote name='BryceDraven']Nintedo's target are softcores. Hardcores know what they want and will get what they want. Compare the Wii price to PS3 and you got yourself a softcore winner.[/QUOTE]

Yep, with Nintendo you don't get the money shot, just some humping on belly action.
 
fuck wii sports....i would of bought this right away it it was cheaper. but even 299 for the core 360 bundle is a much better deal and you get your moneys worth... fuck wii for now

If anything ill wait for some outpost deals... im in no big hurry as nothin has caught my eye yet with this system. will have to demo it first
 
NES $200 in 1985 = $378.25 in 2006
N64 - $200 in 1996 = $259.40 in 2006
GCN - $200 in 2001 = $229.81 in 2006
Wii - $250 in 2006 = $250.00 in 2006

I'm not too upset at the console price. I'm more upset at the $5 NES games. However, $8SNES games should be A-OK depending on what title I want (SMRPG, for example). And for those saying you can get a 360 for ONLY $50 MORE are lying to yourselves. That's the core pack, which I know none of you are stupid enough to buy(not to mention the fact that there's a rumor they're going to stop making them), so you're looking at a minimum of $150 more. I'm sure Nintendo could sell the system in a box with one remote(no analog attatchment) and minus whatever else, but what's the point? I'

I've been wanting a Wii for a long time now, and there's a huge difference in what I'd LIKE to pay and what seems reasonable. After looking at what seems to be coming with the package, in addition to the fact that I'm a Nintendo fan; I've decided it's worth my $250 at launch.
 
Good lord am I glad that I didn't wait up last night to get this news. Unless I get one of these as a surprise Christmas gift, there's no way I'll have a Wii until sometime next year.

$200 was my upper limit of what I was willing to spend (including Wii Sports) since I'm still not sold on the Wii control scheme.

$250 is probably a fine price for the huge Nintendo fans that were going to buy this no matter what, but I think that extra $50 is really going to have an effect on people that were on the fence about this one.
 
What happened to Wii sports having 30 sports games on it? Maybe this is why I don't care that they added only bowling and boxing, because it was talked about for months about these supposed 30 sports games.

I agree with Shipwreck on this one, $250 makes it alot easier to pass until next year when it has a ton of good games out.
 
Bastards tricked me... I thought an earlier report was that the conference wasn't actually going to be till 9am PDT, but apparently that's when the delayed video will be up. Good enough!

9:27 am: Here comes the hard info--"One price, one configuration, one color." So there's only a white one (for now). 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 will be shipped globally by the end of calendar 2006, with the majority share going to North America.

Reggie doesn't beat around the bush, looks like they're just gonna go ahead and blow all the info out right away since it's all pretty much released already.
 
My guess was pretty much everyone else's:
~200 for what we are getting
~250 for a second controller.

Very dissapointing, even if it just "$50."
 
Reality's Fringe;2192911 said:
NES $200 in 1985 = $378.25 in 2006
N64 - $200 in 1996 = $259.40 in 2006
GCN - $200 in 2001 = $229.81 in 2006
Wii - $250 in 2006 = $250.00 in 2006
Click to expand...

Minimum Wage in Real Dollars: (2003)
1985 - $5.73
1991 - $5.13 (You omitted the SNES from the above comparison, BTW)
1996 - $4.98
2001 - $5.35
2006 - $5.15

So, taking those wages and dividing by the adjusted price (since I only found real dollars in 2003 versus 2006, it's not an exact measurement, but aside from things like energy, we're approximately where we were in terms of cost of goods as in 2003):

adjusted price/real dollar wage = # of hours to work at minimum wage for a given console

1985: $378.25/$5.73 = 66 hours and some change
1996: $259.40/$4.98 = 52 hours and some change
2001: $229.81/$5.35 = 43 hours (about 3 minutes less than, actually)
2006: $250.00/$5.15 = 48.5 hours

(Yeah, yeah, yeah, I left out taxes and benefits; I'm calculating on minimum fucking wage, it's not like you have that much to take out period).

So, this is a lousy and rough estimate, but it looks like the Gamecube was the console that required the least amount of man hours to save money for. Also looks like the Wii is only 5 hours more than that. Not terrible, but clearly could be worse (a $25 drop in price of the Wii would make it the most economical system, by these calculations).

Kinda shocking about a week and a half's worth of work in the 1980's to afford an NES, isn't it? These days it's only one hour at minimum wage ($5.15) per 20 year old NES game via the VC!
 
The Legend of Zelda TP & Excite Truck on launch day

Activisions launch titles as seen on IGN, Trauma Center at launch, Madden 07 NFS:Carbon at launch, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, RRR, Red Steel - All launch titles…more on that list as well.
 
I really thought for 250.00 they would through in some virtual console games and an extra controller. It's not really that bad of a price being 250 with wii sports , but truth if they didn't bundle it I think would be better looking at 199.99.
 
[quote name='twiztidjester']The Legend of Zelda TP & Excite Truck on launch day

Activisions launch titles as seen on IGN, Trauma Center at launch, Madden 07 NFS:Carbon at launch, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, RRR, Red Steel - All launch titles…more on that list as well.[/quote]

WHOO! That's good news...Zelda, Excite Truck, and Monkey Ball at launch for me.
 
[quote name='twiztidjester']The Legend of Zelda TP & Excite Truck on launch day

Activisions launch titles as seen on IGN, Trauma Center at launch, Madden 07 NFS:Carbon at launch, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, RRR, Red Steel - All launch titles…more on that list as well.[/quote]
From GameSpot:

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.

Even if half of them suck, 25 games is fucking amazing.
 
Trauma Center on launch?! damn :shock: that definitely makes it a little harder to resist.
 
[quote name='Blaine'] Those prices will probably drop pretty quickly.[/QUOTE]
I can't think of any examples of Nintendo lowering accessory pricing quickly. Not to say it won't happen as you suggest, it would just be very odd of them to do that. Typically Nintendo finds a price for an accessory and sticks to it come hell or high water--it was that way with the GC accessories, IIRC.
 
[quote name='botticus']From GameSpot:

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.

Even if half of them suck, 25 games is fucking amazing.[/quote]

25 launch games is huge. Crap...I want half of those games.
 
[quote name='Scorch']No black Wii? Laaaaaaaame. Nintendo never gives us many colors.[/quote]
They do, just not at launch.

With the way Reggie said it, I have a feeling they're trying to avoid the PS3 "premium is silver and crap is black" or whatever differentiation they have.

I don't like white, but all my other consoles are white/gray/silver, so it fits in better than black.
 
Reality's Fringe;2192911 said:
NES $200 in 1985 = $378.25 in 2006
N64 - $200 in 1996 = $259.40 in 2006
GCN - $200 in 2001 = $229.81 in 2006
Wii - $250 in 2006 = $250.00 in 2006
Click to expand...

:applause: This really helps put the price into perspective. I thought that every previous Nintendo launch had been $199.99, but I wasn't sure. It's about time they started to raise their price. I'm with you RF; I think $250 is completely reasonable, especially since I get a game bundled in.
 
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.

At least it's 100 points = $1, pretty straightforward. And like I said before, if you pay with cash, there's no discount. With points, you can probably use coupons, find sales, etc on point cards.
 
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 2,000 Wii-point card can be had at retail for $20.
 
Jesus fucking Christ. Not that I expect CAGs to be thrilled about paying more, but seriously, $249.99 is the price they promised. Anything lower than that was just a Cheap Ass Dream. What is up with the whining? And the worst is the people who have declared that, since the Wii is $50 more than they anticipated on spending, they will instead shell out $400 MORE for a PS3. And that's without *anything* to play. At least Wii Sports is something to provide some entertainment included with the console. Paying less for a (presumably) more reliable system that includes 5 different sports titles? I'm all for it. Nintendo has proven it's quality equipment to me (I'm playing Paper Mario on my launch GameCube while my brother struggles with DREs on his launch PS2).

The legitimate gripes come from those complaining about VC prices. We all saw it coming, but it is a bit much to expect so much for NES games. I'll also give on the launch date. It seems like a mistake to me, but then again, I'm not in marketing. I'm not sure what the strategy is. I'm sure we're all thinking 'the sooner the better', so it's unfortunate that it's so far out. But once again, it's what was promised: 4th quarter.

So fuck it. Nintendo has not lied on this so far, and the price hasn't turned me off. Bitch all you want that it's not aimed at the 'non-gamer', but it's leaps and bounds ahead of MS and Sony in terms of price and accessibility, which are two HUGE factors for the non-gaming crowd. My 18 year old ex girlfriend enjoys playing games, but there are "too many buttons". This is also a big step in allowing children and parents to play games *together*. But aside from these details, there's one main thing that draws me in: the Wii looks goddamn *fun*.
 
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.
 
[quote name='PRMega'] This is also a big step in allowing children and parents to play games *together*. But aside from these details, there's one main thing that draws me in: the Wii looks goddamn *fun*.[/QUOTE]
Manufacturer's Note:
Both *together* and *fun* will require additional controllers and accessories not included with the Wii.
 
Wii Photo channel shown - Take your SD card and plug into your Wii. Massive amounts of thumbnails shown. NoA slideshow being run. Fun things to do with photos, puzzle scramble, doodle, and more.

Wii Weather Wii News Wii Messageboard quickly discussed. Send messages to pc users, cellphones through Wii Messageboard channel.

from GS
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. That'll be handy for blurring out the faces of ex-girlfriends.
 
I don't really care about the channels, but the weather and news is a good excuse to leave it in the living room instead of the game room. After all, my fiancee is the one who always asks me what the weather's like in the morning. :D
 
I"m not upset about the pricing of the system, I think it's what was expected. Wii get a game as well as the setup which is cool.

My only bitch is the price of the Wiimote and Nunchuk attachment. If I read it right, buying both will set you back $60 which is in-fucking-sane. So you're telling me that in order to get an additional 3 Wiimotes (at $40 a piece) I have to fork out almost 1/2 of what I paid for the system? That's .... wrong.
 
250 is what we all thought if it would include a game. THis is absolutely perfect for me and I agree that too many people are complaining. Wii Sports is something that almost all of us would have gotten just to try it out and it's basically like a $200 system and an extra $50 game. Im excited about Wii Sports! I haven't have a game packaged with a console since my SNES days!!!!!
 
[quote name='twiztidjester']Wii Weather Wii News Wii Messageboard quickly discussed. Send messages to pc users, cellphones through Wii Messageboard channel.[/QUOTE]
Tell us more, Reggie, about it all being about the games. Ha ha, just kidding. I can't wait for Wii Weather--that'll be a wiimote-only experience. Sweet.
 
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.
 
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