Quote:the french site supporting the PUNK'D theory of Wii's graphics

Quote:- The Wii launches November 19th, 2006 here in the United States. It's only available in the White color scheme, to help maintain a single unique product image.

- Wii will be available for purchase in over 25,000 retail locations. Over four million units will be available by December 31st of this year, with at least 4 million of those actually sold. The United States will receive the heaviest amount of that initial system allotment. 6 million units will be available by March of '07.

- There's a $249 price tag. That includes the Wii unit, a Wiimote with nunchuck attachment, A/V cables (most likely composite), the stand for the unit, the sensor bar, two AA batteries, and a copy of Wii Sports. Wii Sports includes Tennis, Golf, Boxing, Bowling, and Baseball.

- Additional Wiimotes will cost you $39.99. Additional nunchuck attachments for the Wiimote cost $19.99.

- First party games maintain the $49.99 price point. Third parties are being strongly advised to stick to that, but final pricing decisions are left in the hands of the third party developer.

- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck are both confirmed as launch titles for the Wii. The GameCube version of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be delayed until December 11th. Third party games that will be available by the end of the year include: Trauma Center, Madden 07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, Rayman: Raving Rabids, Red Steel, Barnyard, Cars, Avatar, Blazing Angels, Far Cry: Vengeance.

- Virtual Console points run $20 for every 2,000 points. Each NES game will run 500 points, SNES games run 800 points, N64 games run 1,000 points. Launch titles include: Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong and The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo guarantees 30 titles available for download before the end of the year, with at least 10 legacy titles each month in 2007.

- To help diversify the Wii's performance, the Wii will offer a variety of "Channels". The Photo channel will offer the ability to upload photos and videos, manipulate/edit them, and then send them to friends via WiiConnect. The internet channel will offer web browsing via the Opera browser, which is not included out of the box. The Mii channel will allow gamers to create a 2D or 3D avatar of themselves. The 3D version will be transferrable into certain games and allow the game to replace the default character with the player's avatar.

- Most first party titles will support Widescreen functionality.

- DS/Wii game integration is planned, but details won't be announced for a while.

Quote:Resident Evil:: Umbrella Chronicals looks weird. The video shows the original mansion but with things blowing up, and it looks real time. So it's either a tech demo to show that Wii can output real time graphics that look like the FMV backgrounds from REbirth or one of the locations in Umbrella Chronicles happens in the mansion, again using real time graphics. Of course, the mansion done blow'd up in the first game, so could this be before RE Zero?

Quote:250 with a wireless controller and attachment, pack in with 5 multiplayer games and a next gen system that boasts graphics as nice as the big boys! atleast in Zelda anyway

Quote:MP3 looks much better, the graphics already got a few steps up, hopefully it'll hit around February

Quote:I cannot believe the Wii Channel rumor is true, it was a rumor months ago that Wii will act like a TV channel where you get news, browse the internet, send and recieve emails, play games and watch movies. Or make your own damn movies! I never thought a video game console would come with Photoshop and a video editor! And top it all off with the rumor of Orlando getting a wi-fi base so everyone can use it for free and hell i'd only need a computer for work.

Quote:going with white as a standard was the best choice, the black one looked like a PS2 with a freaky blue light. The white one looks like futuristic electronic goodness... that might also be a toaster.

Quote:The 60 bucks for a controller threw me, I never expected that. But i'm glad to know that alot of games dont even use it, like Sonic. 50 bucks for a game, we knew that. 250 for the system meets the enitial expectation when Nintendo said it'll be under 250 (249.99 ) and the pack in sweetens the deal, I think it has the airplane simulator on it as well though there's some confusion about that. 10 bucks for an N64 game is spot on, that's how much they are at used game stores somtimes alot more. IGN says it comes with 'cables' but wont specify what kind of cables, i'm hoping for component, though i'll probably buy the DVI/HDMI cable at launch anyway. I dont want to play Zelda any other way.

Quote:Here's the info. Dreams of a $150 dollar system and $10 contollers and a launch before the PS3 are now officially dead. Oh well.

Quote:The question is, are they including Wii Sports at a loss, just the price of the disk and nothing more, or are they putting the price of the game into that system's tag? If it's the former then the extra game is a freebie.

Quote:$250 for the console and $60 for the controller [although for most multiplayer games all you need is the Wiimote] is more than I thought it would be, but it's definitely not enough to keep me away. I'll be picking up the Wii alone with a few games and an extra 'mote.

Quote:At any rate, here we go again. More than I would think given the small increase in power (everyone seems to be saying that aside from upping clock speed and RAM it's the same system, though hey maybe they at least added some new instruction sets for hardware supported new graphical methods), but it's still the cheapest by a decent margin and you don't lose out on some "uber" model for getting it.

Quote:(and as I said WiiSports means nothing given its clear lack of depth, maybe something to show a nongamer or something but is it a game that gamers will actually want to play? I have serious doubts. And either way, I'd never buy it.)

Quote:Onboard RAM is also on all the systems already (it just isn't open to the user because it's meant to store the OS exclusively).

Quote:The DS also has wifi out of the box.

Quote:Wii Sports includes Wii Boxing. Anyone that doesn't want that is clearly insane.

Quote:The DS also has wifi out of the box. Onboard RAM is also on all the systems already (it just isn't open to the user because it's meant to store the OS exclusively).

Great Rumbler Wrote:That doesn't really count. This is actual save space, on other systems it is not.



And it'll set you back about $130 too. That's without a game and it's a handheld console which are generally less than home consoles.

And the DS doesn't have photo/video editing software and the ability to link with computers and cellphones or show you a current weather 3D model of the world, or have news uplinks. And so on.

Quote:Wii: then and now

Posted Sep 14th 2006 8:45PM by Ludwig Kietzmann
Filed under: Nintendo Wii
"People change. Hairstyles change. Interest rates fluctuate." When Hillary Flammond uttered those words in Top Secret, she clearly hadn't experienced the gaming industry -- a marvelous, often magical place where things change very quickly indeed. As today's cataclysmic explosion of Wii news demonstrates, things can change for better or for worse. Yesterday's truth may become today's obsolete press release. So, what has (and hasn't) changed for Nintendo between then and now?

Then: The Wii could play DVDs via an unspecified and entirely nebulous dongle. The original console description reads: "Two Disc Formats, One Slot: Instead of a tray, a single, innovative, self-loading media bay will play both 12-centimeter optical discs used for the new system as well as Nintendo GameCube discs. Owners will have the option of equipping a small, self-contained attachment to play movies and other DVD content."
Now: Inserting a DVD into the system will likely produce a polite error message indicating a complete inability to play DVDs. Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan explains DVD playback was removed "in order to deliver the machine at a cheaper cost and because most people today already own DVD players." On the plus side, this reduces the amount of times we'll have to type a dubious word like "dongle."

Then: In January 2006, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata tells Japanese newspapers that the Wii should launch in the US by Thanksgiving. "As for North America, we need to release it by Thanksgiving, or otherwise we won't receive support from the retail industry."
Now: Launching on Nov. 19, Nintendo makes it with a few days to spare. Show some gratitude, will ya?

Then: Scott Hedrick, Executive VP of Opera for Devices, confirms that the Wii version of the browser "will not be sold as a seperate item." He also explains that software will come loaded on the system.
Now: The Opera browser is no longer built-in and no longer free -- it will be sold as a seperate item through the Wii's internet channel for an unknown number of Wii Points.

Then: At E3 2006, a whole host of new features are revealed for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Though the Wii version boasts a different control scheme, it will be released on the same day as the Gamecube adventure.
Now: The Wii's Twilight Princess is still on track for launch, whereas the Gamecube (reminder: the platform the game was originally developed for) is forced to wait until December 11th. Sure, that makes sense. Not implementing a widescreen mode must be trickier than we were previously lead to believe.

Then: Speaking at a news conference in Osaka, a Nintendo senior managing director makes it apparent that the Wii would launch in America for no more than $250. That particular statement would go on to fuel a ludicrous amount of speculation.
Now: Well, he wasn't lying. The Wii launch price comes in at $249.99, a full cent below the upper limit of truth.

Then: In March 2006, Satoru Iwata tells CNN all about the USB ports on the Wii and how "practically any storage method can be used" in lieu of SD cards and the 512MB of internal storage.
Now: Perrin Kaplan empties her Magnum into that idea, telling Wired News' Joel Johnson that only flash storage will be supported. Iwata's suggestion becomes relegated to something Nintendo "could" explore in the future. This "future" place we keep hearing about sounds fantastic.

Then: Retro Studios assures IGN that Metroid Prime 3: Corruption will attend the inevitably debaucherous Wii launch party.
Now: A quick glance at the confirmed launch party list reveals that Metroid Prime 3 has not been invited. It's been delayed until 2007, and no amount of pleasantly worded paragraphs can hide our resulting bitterness.

Quote:ABF/ 50 bucks for wii sports seems overpriced, yes. But you're telling me you didn't like Super Punch Out? Or Mario Baseball? Or the bowling minigames in Monkeyball? It's Nintendo, and the games were built from Miyamoto and his team. As it is, quick pick up and play games each using different modes of the wiimote with multiplayer sounds fun to me. The bowling game has you holding the wiimote tyo your chest, then swinging back and out while letting go of the B button on back to launch the ball, you can even spin the wiimote at your wrist to add spin to the ball. No more goofey charge meters! If you want less power behind the ball, throw lighter! I cant wait to try it out.

Quote:Also, I didn't know the 360 controllers were so expensive. The good news is that the wiimote just uses AA batteries and doesn't have charger kits (not from first party anyway). And atleast we have the choice to opt for the attachment at a later time. Though I was just thinking about those racing games coming packed-in with the steering wheel attachment; They could pack-in the control stick attachment with a game too. Like when you buy red steel it comes with a control stick attachment. Its blind guessing but I like it.

Quote:imo, the pack-in should have been Mario Galaxy. But that would take ALOT of sales away from Nintendo, especially in light of the recent sales the DS recieved because of NSMB. So I understand, but still. SNES came with Mario World and that kicked ass, I mean my ass still hurts. The awesomeness of Mario included with a new system will probably never happen again in our lifetime. But i'll accept wiisports.

Quote:My immediate reaction is that Nintendo is asking too much for everything. I expected a cheaper console, cheaper games, cheaper controller, cheaper virtual console...I'm gonna hold off on a Wii purchase until a good price drop occurs.

Quote:The fears of Wii being vastly underpowered have been put to rest, the cost of the VC imo is spot on (5 bucks for an NES game with no blowing required! )

Quote:About the only VC games I'll be getting are some good games that were only released in Japan/Europe [if that's available] or some of the rarer games.

Quote:Online multiplayer? Yeah! Online high scores? Eh...

lazyfatbum Wrote:Paco/ You want a price drop on the cheapest system available? It's a next gen system with tons of built in features, more so than the 360 or PS3. You had no problems shelling out 500 clams for a 360 right? And when you get down to it it's just an XBox with better graphics, but 250 for Wii, a system that is being so-called the 'only true next gen system' is too much? I dont get it. The fears of Wii being vastly underpowered have been put to rest, the cost of the VC imo is spot on (5 bucks for an NES game with no blowing required! :D) the controller continues to get positive reviews and it's a set-top box with more features than any other console out of the box as I said. So what gives? What is it that makes you think the Wii should be cheaper than 250?

A Black Falcon Wrote:Cheaper games? You were expecting Nintendo to charge less than $50? Uh, that wasn't a very realistic hope given that they have said several times that $50 is what their game prices were going to be, I'm pretty sure... other than that I agree that prices are too high though, obviously. I'll probably buy one anyway, but it definitely does make me think about it more skeptically than I would have if it had been $200.

Paco Wrote:I was expecting $39.99 for Wii games seeing as how they don't have to put as much effort or time in to them as those developers working on HD 360/PS3 games.