Nintendo Announces $99 Wii Mini For US Release 147
Zothecula writes "Nintendo recently announced that it was ceasing all production of its original Wii video game console. It seemed as if it had run its course, and Nintendo was shifting 100 percent of its focus to the floundering Wii U. Turns out, the Japanese company had other plans, announcing that its previously Canada-exclusive $99 Wii Mini is making its way to the U.S. 'The $99 price has been neglected in this product generation, but in the past, it has been a very successful price for game consoles. More than half of the volume of machines in the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 generations sold at the $99 or under price."
What's the point? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's barely smaller than the regular Wii (it can't be, since it has to be big enough to fit a DVD), it does less, and costs pretty much the same. Why not just keep selling the regular Wii?
No Internet is a Plus for Parents (Score:5, Interesting)
The fact it doesn't have internet is going to be a plus for parents. Now they can let their kids play games without having to worry about listening to a tirade of profanity from half way around the world. The older people that play this, probably aren't getting on-line either.
It's also about $50 cheaper than the full size Wii which is the price of a Mario game.
For cost conscious parents whose kids don't have a modern video game system yet, this is a solid option for Christmas. There is a huge library of excellent titles for the Wii. The LEGO games are all about $20 now, there are plenty of very popular Wii games that are $20 now.
If I didn't already have a Wii, I'd buy it. While I use the Virtual Console, I could live without it. It's not an essential feature for the system. I just buy the old classics, Something that most kids don't care about.
Re:What's the point? (Score:3, Interesting)
I never quite understood the Wii U.
The Wii was a cheap console with novel controllers and fun, cartoony games.
The Wii U is... what? A Wii with the same dated graphics in HD (extra sharp polygon edges?) and a crippled tablet?