The Wii Mini Is Real, Arrives December 7 — In Canada

An anonymous reader writes "Yesterday there was a rumor doing the rounds that Nintendo was set to release a brand new version of the Wii console called the Wii Mini. The new machine would be significantly smaller than the current Wii, is expected to ship with a Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuk, and Sensor Bar, and hopefully carries a much lower (sub-$100) price. Well, it looks as though this wasn't just a rumor. Best Buy Canada has it listed with an image on its front page and a December 7 release date." Also at PC Mag.

Comments

Re:Cooling

[ZiakII]

My son's Wii requires a fan be set up behind it for cooling or it shuts down.

Presumably they fixed that for this version (may have fixed it previously...I don't know, I just use it for Netflix).


That sounds like a clogged exhaust fan, I would just take a can of air to it, and possibly dissemble the fan and clean it. Never had that problem with mine and it runs in a small shelf under the TV.

Wiiii

[Anonymous Coward]

The Wii2 or Wiiii

Re:Wiiii

[JimCanuck]

Apparently Roman Numerals are not taught in school any more.

Re:Wiiii

[dubbreak]

With the December 7th release date maybe they should continue the bad taste on the drop date and call it the WWii.

No internet?

[bananaquackmoo]

But it has no internet? Really? Seriously? No thanks.

Re:No internet?

[Br'fin]

A curious choice. But I suppose if they didn't want to go to any effort to future proof the process and just wanted something cheap to go up against those $60 dollar motion activated Genesis knockoffs that CVS tends to carry this time of year... And it's obvious that people buying a Wii Mini aren't going to be focused on the latest and greatest Wii U stuff they want to be promoting on the Nintendo Channel... Still, it's a moderate shame about the Wii Shop and handful of online games.

*ponder* Does the Mini have fixed system memory and no SD Card support now too? I suppose without SD Card support it wouldn't have the save space memory for as many games/downloads either.

Re:No internet?

[NevarMore]

Netflix (this is my main use for my Wii)
Playing games online
Using the built in browser
Getting game updates

Re:No internet?

[gmarsh]

Other than sharing the same 2.4GHz ISM frequency band, bluetooth (used for their controllers) and WiFi share basically nothing. In the regular Wii they use separate chipsets, separate antennas, etc. They're stripping out a few bucks worth of hardware. Not to mention, implementing WiFi in a product invariably involves paying a bunch of license fees to patent holders etc - either included in the price of your wifi chipset or paid separately. This adds a couple more bucks to the design.

Take the $99 they're selling the thing for at the store and subtract store markup, shipping, factory tooling, packaging, the rest of the stuff in the Wii box, etc. and you don't have much money to spend on the Wii Mini itself. A few bucks spent adding WiFi could end up being a significant part of the cost.

Honestly, I have to throw some praise at Nintendo for making a game system that's so cheap. My workplace is doing an "adopt-a-family" thing for the christmas season, where employees get together and buy christmas gifts for single parents who can't afford much for their kids. At $99, it's made our shopping list.

Were people really upset about the size?

[Covalent]

It's not like the original Wii was enormous...it may have been the smallest major gaming console ever sold. And since the price is not significantly less and the functionality is significantly less (no internet) I'm left wondering one thing:


Why would Nintendo waste their money developing and selling this?

Re:Were people really upset about the size?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Classic Wii menu on the U is actually like the old Commodore C128s (in 64 mode)... they reboot into a separate ROM which has the original Wii firmware. You go back to the Wii U menu by turning off the console.

Re:Were people really upset about the size?

[dstyle5]

I don't remember them removing features though

The PS3 is the console they did that with. Backwards compat with PS2, ability to install Linux, fewer USB ports I think, etc.

Re:Were people really upset about the size?

[Yaztromo]

But the standard price is $130, any do poor people really play knockoff consoles?

The price may be $130 in the US, but it's $149.99 from BestBuy Canada (you know, where the Wii Mini is being sold), making the Mini 2/3rds the regular price.

I can certainly see a market here for this, particularly for use in cottage country. Often in such situations, cottages aren't equipped with Internet connectivity, and parents may want a cheaper version of the console they already have at home to allow their kids to play the games they already own while at the cottage. Many of these places still have standard definition TVs as well -- you don't go away to the cottage to sit around and watch movies (we don't even have a TV at ours, but I certainly know many people in our cottagers association who do).

I guess we'd have to see how sales go after the holiday season. I won't be running out to buy one, but with a 33% price difference I can see price conscious families who want a second console (or their first if they don't own one already -- strange how new children keep popping up in this world...) may be attracted to this as a nice Xmas gift.

Yaz

Re:Cooling

[blackfrancis75]

Err, from TFH:

The Wii Mini Is Real, Arrives December 7 — In Canada

Cooling won't be a problem..

Add internet connectivity using USB?

[WillAdams]

Could one add a (wired?) internet connection using a USB dongle?

I'll pass...

[Nexion]

I wouldn't want to be accused of having the smallest Wii on the block.

Re:Cooling

[egamma]

So no, you're talking out your rear end. How about some authoritative information?

rjejr is correct. You can go into your Wii Settings and turn off the background data options--you know, the one that updates your weather and news and all that while your Wii is in standby mode. If you don't use your Wii for weather/news, you can save yourself some electricity/money by disabling the standby mode.

Re:Cooling

[Bigby]

You don't want Japanese products arriving in the US on December 7th...