First image of Wii Mini revealed
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Best Buy Canada outs new square-shaped red and black Wii; set for release December 7; no price information available.
The rumor appears to be right. Best Buy Canada has posted a listing for a Wii Mini, slating the system redesign to launch December 7. An internal document from a "major retailer" first tipped the console, though Nintendo has yet to confirm its existence.
According to the listing, the Wii Mini (at right) is square-shaped and will be available in a red and black color style. The retailer's website indicates the unit is available for preorder, though clicking the link does not lead to a product page. It is not clear what the Wii Mini will cost.
Nintendo recently dropped the Wii MSRP to $130.
If the report is true, it would mark the second Wii redesign, following last year's Europe-only "Wii Family Edition" bundle. This console did not feature GameCube controller ports.
Last week, Nintendo director of product marketing Bill Trinen said the Wii remains a viable platform because of its large install base. He also suggested Nintendo could spur hardware sales by making the system available "at the right price."
"I think there's also the potential for a lot of people who still haven't purchased Wii, believe it or not, who might be interested at the right price," Trinen said at the time. "So we'll probably be looking at it more from that standpoint."
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
132 comments
No Gamecube or online support, no buy. I can't see anyone wasting their money on this. If you have the original Wii just play that.
1 Like What's next? a toilet wii but cannot be used as to take crap on. Well Nintendo is coming up with this creative stuff.
2 Like It was hard enough not to giggle at the name "Wii" and now they have to go call their smaller model "Wii mini".
1 Like I hope like Hell people aren't stupid enough to fall for this shit. Last thing we need is to further encourage these big, greedy ass companies to push more bullshit on us.
1 Like Funny thing is the regular Wii was $99 at a few different stores on the weekend, and it will probably be that low again in the near future, perhaps Boxing Day. Other than perhaps the new look or maybe just for the sake of collecting, I don't see much point in getting this.
1 Like @hystavito "But it''s 'Mini.'"
Sadly that's all it takes for people to buy a new product these days.
For the first time in 6 years, I think I might consider getting a Wii but my backlog can't take anymore at this point. lol
4 Like Completely useless for Nintendo to market a new ?Mini Me? Wii console at this point in the Wii lifecycle, anyone that wanted a Wii got one years ago. And why now with the Wii U just launching? This sound like nothing but a money grab to squeeze the last little bit of life out of the old Wii before putting it out to pasture for good!
Well, the removal of WiFi is a huge, huge bummer. I also read that this new Wii foregoes internet altogether.
@nate1222 @Harrydapro @ElGreed unless he's a collector like me, this'll probably end up like the gameboy micro, a forgotten cool looking relic from the past (except the gameboy micro was an awesome console)
This reminds me of them releasing the Game Boy Micro after the release of Nintendo DS. Such stupid marketing decisions they've just made.
nice looking console....but no wi fi or backwards compatibility...what does this console do?
Umm...okay. I'm taking this as a sign that the Wii U isn't doing as well as expected. I am so done with Nintendo...
This comment has been deleted
1 Like Yeah, Nintendo, GREAT idea. You JUST freaking launched the Wii U, and now this?
You know what's gonna happen? Confused parents and grandparents are gonna buy the Wii Mini instead of the Wii U, and be confused when the kid starts crying.
I've hear of similar stories. One time at EB Games a lady bought a triple pack of GTA 1, GTA London, and GTA 2 for the PS1 thinking it was "GTA 3" Epic freakin face palm.
2 Like Nah sorry,I'll stick to my Wii for,now and wait for Wii u's launch here in Europe,taking gamecube+Wi-Fi,worst Idea Nintendo,anyone who'll buy a Wii right probably because if GameCube compatibility,I am happy with my Launch Wii.
I hope Nintendo doesn't outright abandon the Wii just yet like they did with the N64 and GameCube. But I don't know of any new games come coming to the Wii as an exclusive title. Normally (not counting the mini game compilations) those are the games that really make the Wii worth owning. Maybe that will change in the coming months but the Wii is just about dead when it comes to new games at this point... Really quite sad for us Wii Enthusiastist. :(
I would have just taken out GC support. Having a lack of internet support for a console in this age is baffling.
$100 though seems alright... but losing internet is crazy.
This really doesn't make much sense. Why would you make a Wii Mini when you just brought out your Wii U and you are trying to make people believe in how awesome the Wii U is..... Should've had the Wii Mini a while back.... www.firstpersongamers.com
1 Like instead of upgrading the wiiU, they downgrade the wii . brilliant. another example japanese people of nintendo are doing so much drugs lately
They just released the Wii U.. amazing they are still spending money redesigning the Wii when they should be focused on the Wii U. Why go backwards? People that want the Wii will buy it when the price drops. They don't seem to be making many new games for the Wii so why bother spending money to redesign it?
Anyone know what the awesome lineup of wii games are going to be this year? I know their 3rd party support is pretty much dead but what will newcomers have to look forward to when they pick up a wii?
Lets see..1. No Internet Connection, fine maybe i never use that2. No Gamecube games support, well okay3. Cheap pricing? if it is cheap enough it will sell well in developing countries in Asia maybe, just like the Slim PS2.Maybe i buy it, there are some interesting games on the Wii anyway.To any experts about this Mini Wii, advice please~
To be fare the amount of 360 and ps3 designs has gone out of control so this to me is no surprise i do wish all these companies would try to get it right first time round and stick to it but hay we're just mere consumers at the end of the day
1 Like @hangman000 @ollie2000000 It's made for people who don't care about the internet, just like the xbox 360 arcade edition and nobody complained about that with it's 512mb memory card
I dont own a Wii but dont some Wii games require updates a patch fixes via the internet like on the PS3 and 360?
@Trebblebase like the big skyward sword glitch, they patched it with an update channel available for free on the Wii shop, although they probably patched all that in the basic firmware i'd say
2 Like Cant connect to the internet or play previous gen games but plays the massive library of shovelware just fine... PASS!
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