Nintendo Wii to launch November 19th at $249.99

[norkusa]

I think it's kinda funny that people are saying they're surprised at the price. Nintendo said it was going to be under $250. Did anyone here honestly think that didn't mean $249.99?

[Garry Silljo]

I think it's kinda funny that people are saying they're surprised at the price. Nintendo said it was going to be under $250. Did anyone here honestly think that didn't mean $249.99?

I was more or less hoping for 249.98 or even 249.95, but those damn jerks think they deserve to profit off of their products. Bastards. Every Penny counts and now I can't handle and an extra cent or six. Damn them for packing in a game, I really wanted to buy it cheaper and then just have a new shaped Gamecube and no Wii games. Damn Shame this pricing.

For the stupid, that's sarcasm up there.

[swlovinist]

The bottom line is that the system is still the cheapest choice of the next gen of systems. I guess if people want to bitch about the price, then they can just stick with their 360 or buy a PS3. The Wii will be a good system, and will be at least heavily supported by Nintendo. There is alot of bitching about the system, and I guess everyone has an opinion on this one. I dont care about people's opinions, as long as they stay out of my way when I go and pick one of these up on day one. The best thing to do when a price is too high is to simply not buy it. I have chosen this system as my system to buy this holiday.

[Pico956]

What's up with Gamestop not taking pre orders for systems, but only taking them for the games?

[s1lence]

What's up with Gamestop not taking pre orders for systems, but only taking them for the games?

Probably because they need to figure out the allocation of systems per store and what bundles are going to be made avalible.

[FantasiaWHT]

It feels like Nintendo hyped the price to be damn cheap,

Nintendo hyped the price to be "no more than $250"

....

[NintenDk]

It feels like Nintendo hyped the price to be damn cheap,

Nintendo hyped the price to be "no more than $250"

....

well theres your answer mr. creepy avatar up top.

[Anthony1]

Man, you guys are giving my takes way too much run. I know your reactions are all negative towards my takes, but still. You really shouldn't be giving me this kind of run. I practically feel like some kind of celebrity or something. Why do you guys care so much about what I think? I'm just one more opinion in a sea of assholes, and my opinion doesn't matter one iota. So if I come on here, and make a comment about something, you can take a look at it, and agree or disagree, but why is this thread turning into a "Let's see what Anthony1 has to say next and thing gang up on his ass and try to poke holes in every one of his comments".


If I really bother you people so much, your best reaction would be to totally ignore me until I go away. I also find it kinda funny that there is so much vitriol in regards to all my takes considering I'm one of the people that is actually going to be buying a Wii on day 1. Sure, I might be bitching a bit about this or that, but the bottom line is on Day 1, I'll be standing there, handing over $366.31 to somebody in front of a cash register, and I'll be walking out of the store, with my Wii, my component cable, and my extra Wii-mote and Nonchaku. I'll drive straight home, plug the shit in, and immediately start playing some Wii Tennis. Then after that I'll probably try out the Golf game. It looks pretty sweet.

Again, you can complain about something Sony is doing, and you will get patted on your back, you can complain about Microsoft, and you'll get alot of "here, here's", but you complain about Nintendo in any way, shape or form, and you get nothing but vilification and revilement from the house that Mario built, and it's millions of converts which a good percentage seem to reside on these boards. People think I'm anti-Nintendo or something, yet I'm going to be contributing $366.31 of my hard earned money to them, the first day that it's possible. I've stated a million times that the SNES is my favorite system of all time, and that does happen to be a Nintendo system. Remember when we did the votes for the DP top 100 games? Well, my top 15 picks were filled with Nintendo's finest. I can love a company, and respect a company, but I can complain about something as well. Sure, I would love to just get the system and the controller for $199, but that isn't going to happen, this is a thread discussing all about that, and I can voice my opinion about it, and I don't understand why I'm just getting hammered over it. Oh well, if I'm the guy you love to hate I guess it's better than being the guy you totally ignore. :/

[boatofcar]

Man, you guys are giving my takes way too much run. I know your reactions are all negative towards my takes, but still. You really shouldn't be giving me this kind of run. I practically feel like some kind of celebrity or something. Why do you guys care so much about what I think? I'm just one more opinion in a sea of assholes, and my opinion doesn't matter one iota. So if I come on here, and make a comment about something, you can take a look at it, and agree or disagree, but why is this thread turning into a "Let's see what Anthony1 has to say next and thing gang up on his ass and try to poke holes in every one of his comments".



So you type these dissertations and you don't want people to respond? That's pretty silly.

[norkusa]

It feels like Nintendo hyped the price to be damn cheap,

Nintendo hyped the price to be "no more than $250"

....

well theres your answer mr. creepy avatar up top.

Same difference. "No more than $250" or "Less than $250" is always going to be $249.99.

If Nintendo planned to sell it for $199.99, they would have said "no more than $200".

[Anthony1]

So you type these dissertations and you don't want people to respond? That's pretty silly.[/quote]



I don't mind people responding, that's what takes are all about. You put your takes out there, and people react to them. But it seems the reactions are so much based on what's in the actual takes, and alot of times some key things in my takes are being totally ignored. Many are only focusing on anything negative I have to say, and completely ignoring the fact that I'm still going to be in line buying this thing on day 1. I mean really....If I hated Nintendo so much, and if I hated the Wii so much would I be buying one? Hell no. I'm buying one, cause I'm excited about the Wii, and what gaming goodness it might hold, but that doesn't mean I can't complain about certain aspects of it, and everyone is just focusing 100 percent on anything negative I have to say, like Nintendo and the Wii can have absolutely no faults, and that it's the most perfect product of all time.

[Garry Silljo]

If I really bother you people so much, your best reaction would be to totally ignore me until I go away. I also find it kinda funny that there is so much vitriol in regards to all my takes considering I'm one of the people that is actually going to be buying a Wii on day 1. Sure, I might be bitching a bit about this or that, but the bottom line is on Day 1, I'll be standing there, handing over $366.31 to somebody in front of a cash register, and I'll be walking out of the store, with my Wii, my component cable, and my extra Wii-mote and Nonchaku. I'll drive straight home, plug the shit in, and immediately start playing some Wii Tennis. Then after that I'll probably try out the Golf game. It looks pretty sweet.

Eh, your only buying it on day one because your a damn snob who wants to brag that you get EVERYTHING on day one. If it was a $2,000 super machine that only played MineSweeper and nothing else, you would buy it on day one just to brag that you did, and in 8,000,000,000p to boot!

[Anthony1]

Eh, your only buying it on day one because your a damn snob who wants to brag that you get EVERYTHING on day one. If it was a $2,000 super machine that only played MineSweeper and nothing else, you would buy it on day one just to brag that you did, and in 8,000,000,000p to boot!



Oh God, I just knew it would be my man Garry to play the "Snob Card". Look bro, you have a great disdain for me, and everybody on DP is well aware of that, you don't have to keep coming in with your snide remarks. Again, if you hate somebody, you actually "give" them power over you. Anytime you "hate" somebody, you are letting them know that they have power of you. I'm flattered to know that I mean so much to you.


Come here and let me give you a big kiss!!! :-P

[Garry Silljo]

Eh, your only buying it on day one because your a damn snob who wants to brag that you get EVERYTHING on day one. If it was a $2,000 super machine that only played MineSweeper and nothing else, you would buy it on day one just to brag that you did, and in 8,000,000,000p to boot!



Oh God, I just knew it would be my man Garry to play the "Snob Card". Look bro, you have a great disdain for me, and everybody on DP is well aware of that, you don't have to keep coming in with your snide remarks. Again, if you hate somebody, you actually "give" them power over you. Anytime you "hate" somebody, you are letting them know that they have power of you. I'm flattered to know that I mean so much to you.


Come here and let me give you a big kiss!!! :-P

I'm not your man, and the only power you have is the power to disgust me. Nothing worth bragging about, but bragging is what you're all about so you'll take it I guess. I don't know why you think you mean a lot to me. All your name means to me is "warning: headache." That about sums it up.

[SkiDragon]

Shut up.

[The Shawn]

I find the price right about on-line.


Just want to point out that I was looking at my Intellivision box the other day from 1980 and it still has the price sticker on it. It says :Woolworth $249.99 And that was 26 years ago.
:D

[geneshifter]

Have you guys seen the pcis of the Wii dev kits? No? Well, take a looksy:

http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/15/wii-developer-kit-shot-in-the-wild-many-luigi-green-with-envy/

I can't wait to get one of these off ebay :D

[Crazycarl]

I just thought I'd point something out to the people going for the "Wii60" choice, saying you can buy the two for the price of a PS3. You could actually have a PS3 and a good game for £460, as well as a high definition movie player and the same type of "revolutionary" controller as the Wii. Whereas with a "Wii60" you only have one crap game that almost no one wants and no next gen movie player.


Roll on the "troll" and "Sony fanboy" remarks. :roll:

have u played the game. I did, and it was fun as hell. And as soon as everybody plays it they will be hooked on it forever.

[Kid Ice]

If I really bother you people so much, your best reaction would be to totally ignore me until I go away.

I've been trying that for about three years now. It doesn't seem to be working.

[geneshifter]

If I really bother you people so much, your best reaction would be to totally ignore me until I go away.

I've been trying that for about three years now. It doesn't seem to be working.

Ziiiiiiiiing LOL

[FantasiaWHT]

All your name means to me is "warning: headache." That about sums it up.

Had to laugh at that one. If he gives you a headache don't waste your time reading his posts and posting in his threads.

[NintenDk]

I like reading those long posts sometimes when I need to make time dissapear on the fly and theres just the right touch of irony to them every so often.

[comrade]

Just to interupt the arguing.

Will I be able to use my 20" dell monitor with the wii? Using vga or something? I thought i might run into trouble because of the wiimote?

[Jumpman Jr.]

I will be buying a Wii at launch, along with Twilight Princess.
$249 US is an amazing price for a console these days. If you don't like the price, don't buy it.
The price of the spare controllers is kind of high, but it isn't going to stop me from buying at least one.
Isn't a wireless 360 controller $50? What is the difference with the Wii?
Oh yeah, the Wii's controller is ubelievably innovative.

[geneshifter]

Just to interupt the arguing.

Will I be able to use my 20" dell monitor with the wii? Using vga or something? I thought i might run into trouble because of the wiimote?

The system has a sensor bar to orient the controller in space so no worries!

[Princess-Isabela]

the misleading concept on these boards by some people is that they are calling Wii a Gamecube 1.5 - in my opinion this is a truly next generation system, its not a gamecube, its not anything else, this is the problem - next generation for many people means - better graphics, which is kind of sad.
I own 360, will own PS3 and of course Wii(which is the system I'm most excited about), and hopefully people will start to see what potential Wii will hold within(Virtual Console is the another reason - playing Super Mario World Yoshi's Island, Super Mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario 64, Paper Mario, Paper Mario 2, Super Paper Mario on the same system!, hopefully Dracula X for PC-Engine - how cool that would be?)
I cant wait, $250 is great price for Wii, buying on day one with Zelda Twilight Princess, Metal Slug Anthology, maybe Red Steel or Excitetruck.

[geneshifter]

I cant wait, $250 is great price for Wii, buying on day one with Zelda Twilight Princess, Metal Slug Anthology, maybe Red Steel or Excitetruck.

Another vote for Zelda and Metal Slug Anthology

:-P

[Daniel Thomas]

Hear, hear! I've been pointing out Metal Gear Anthology on V. It looks like SNK Playmore has really come up with a good formula for classic games. It's important that this title becomes a hit, or at least sells reasonably well. Not only would it encourage more 2D classic games on Wii, it may force Nintendo to adopt more realistic prices for its VC lineup. Why bother paying $10 a pop when you can get a quality compilation disc for $40?

As to VC, I'd have to believe that at some point in the future, Nintendo would move towards a monthly subscription fee, instead of charging per-game. I'm not sure how that would break down, in terms of royalties, and it may not happen if gamers adopt the current iTunes setup.

I think what Nintendo needs to do is offer new incentives, like Microsoft's Live Arcade. $10 for a N64 game seems a bit steep, especially since it's sitting on my computer for free. But if you add in online multiplayer - BOOM! That's a deal. Emulators offer online play, so there really isn't a technical problem that couldn't be overcome.

The only problem that I can think of is competition with the current Wii lineup. If we can all play Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 online multiplayer, would we be as eager to embrace the new Wii Mario Kart? Would we even be buying as many new games? Give me online matchups of Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Herzog Zwei, Super Bomberman 2, Mario Kart....I think that would suck up all my game time.

I don't know why no one in the "videogame press" has bothered to ask about this. Certainly there's someone, somewhere who has answers, or at least someone in authority who would listen to ideas.

[Anthony1]

$10 for a N64 game seems a bit steep, especially since it's sitting on my computer for free. But if you add in online multiplayer - BOOM! That's a deal. Emulators offer online play, so there really isn't a technical problem that couldn't be overcome.

The only problem that I can think of is competition with the current Wii lineup. If we can all play Super Mario Kart and Mario Kart 64 online multiplayer, would we be as eager to embrace the new Wii Mario Kart? Would we even be buying as many new games? Give me online matchups of Contra, Gunstar Heroes, Herzog Zwei, Super Bomberman 2, Mario Kart....I think that would suck up all my game time.

I don't know why no one in the "videogame press" has bothered to ask about this. Certainly there's someone, somewhere who has answers, or at least someone in authority who would listen to ideas.



I agree with you 100 percent. In another thread, talking about which Wii games are online, I specifically was asking if Nintendo is going to be smart enough to make sure that some of the VC games will have online mutiplayer. Especially something like Super Mario Kart or Tecmo Bowl. That would be the real draw for me. I doubt I'll be buying any of the VC games, primarily because either I already have the real cartridge, or I have the rom on my PC or PSP, if I really wanted to play it, but the thing that would get me to actually buy it would be online mutiplayer. I know that this can be done on the PC via emulation as well, but I would just prefer to do it on the Wii, with more players available to play and most likely a smoother experience.


The point you bring up about it creating too much competition for the current Wii games is a good one, because online Super Mario Kart would be tremendously compelling for me. As would many other Super NES two player games, like Zombies Ate My Neighbors and Contra 3: Alien Wars and stuff like that. Imagine 2 player F-Zero, with no split screen. (I'm not sure if F-Zero even has a two player mode with split screen, but I would imagine that they could add a 2 player online mode, and not need to involve any split screen, plus it would be pretty sweet to also have the option of controlling your F-Zero hovercraft with the Wii-mote similar to Excite Truck.

[Garry Silljo]

primarily because either I already have the real cartridge,

How can this be? you don't buy games, you only rent. Oh yeah, you're a god damn liar that's how. I thought you were just annoying but it turns out your a god damn liar too. I apologize for underestimating you.

[Anthony1]

primarily because either I already have the real cartridge,

How can this be? you don't buy games, you only rent. Oh yeah, you're a god damn liar that's how. I thought you were just annoying but it turns out your a god damn liar too. I apologize for underestimating you.



If you are paying $29.99 for old SNES and NES carts, then you need to find a better supplier! LOL

[Garry Silljo]

primarily because either I already have the real cartridge,

How can this be? you don't buy games, you only rent. Oh yeah, you're a god damn liar that's how. I thought you were just annoying but it turns out your a god damn liar too. I apologize for underestimating you.



If you are paying $29.99 for old SNES and NES carts, then you need to find a better supplier! LOL

Where the hell did you get that price from? I never threw out any numbers or even said I was buying at all. You just can't stand not having a valid comeback so you'll through out anything.... pathetic.

[Anthony1]

Where the hell did you get that price from? I never threw out any numbers or even said I was buying at all. You just can't stand not having a valid comeback so you'll through out anything.... pathetic.


Dude, I've said a million times already that I have a rental only policy for any game above $29.99. And to be totally honest, that's more for new games, because I've gotten some Neo-Geo AES games that have cost me more than $30, but that's just because I can't rent Neo-Geo AES games at the places I rent games at. I pay $3.50 per month to rent Xbox 360 games, and I can pay $3.50 per month to rent Nintendo Wii games and $3.50 per month to rent PS3 games, or PS2 or Xbox 1 or GameCbue. So I will rent games for extended periods of time. Like I've been renting Oblivion for like 5 months now. At only $3.50 per month, I don't mind renting something long term. I've examined the economics of it, and it just doesn't make sense for me to buy a game unless it's $29.99 or less. This has alot to do with the fact that I will play a game alot for 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 months, but I normally don't play them longer than that, I usually move onto something else. So that is the whole breakdown on my "Rental Only" policy. If a game is $29.99 or less, then it might, with the key word being "might", it might make sense to actually buy it. But sometimes even in that case it makes sense to rent it. But at $19.99 or less, then it really makes alot more sense to buy it.

As for the SNES and NES and N64 games, I have tons of loose carts for those systems, and I can pull them out and play them when I want, thus I don't have a very compelling reason to be downloading VC games. But if they do add multiplayer functionality to them, then that could really change things for me, and I would definteily pay $8 for Super Mario Kart download if they add multiplayer to it.

[Garry Silljo]

Where the hell did you get that price from? I never threw out any numbers or even said I was buying at all. You just can't stand not having a valid comeback so you'll through out anything.... pathetic.


Dude, I've said a million times already that I have a rental only policy for any game above $29.99. And to be totally honest, that's more for new games, because I've gotten some Neo-Geo AES games that have cost me more than $30, but that's just because I can't rent Neo-Geo AES games at the places I rent games at. I pay $3.50 per month to rent Xbox 360 games, and I can pay $3.50 per month to rent Nintendo Wii games and $3.50 per month to rent PS3 games, or PS2 or Xbox 1 or GameCbue. So I will rent games for extended periods of time. Like I've been renting Oblivion for like 5 months now. At only $3.50 per month, I don't mind renting something long term. I've examined the economics of it, and it just doesn't make sense for me to buy a game unless it's $29.99 or less. This has alot to do with the fact that I will play a game alot for 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 months, but I normally don't play them longer than that, I usually move onto something else. So that is the whole breakdown on my "Rental Only" policy. If a game is $29.99 or less, then it might, with the key word being "might", it might make sense to actually buy it. But sometimes even in that case it makes sense to rent it. But at $19.99 or less, then it really makes alot more sense to buy it.

As for the SNES and NES and N64 games, I have tons of loose carts for those systems, and I can pull them out and play them when I want, thus I don't have a very compelling reason to be downloading VC games. But if they do add multiplayer functionality to them, then that could really change things for me, and I would definteily pay $8 for Super Mario Kart download if they add multiplayer to it.

Alright, my mistake then. I heard you say a million times about a rent only policy, but this is the first time I can recall that any numbers were affixed to it. I'm sure they exist somewhere so I won't ask you to provide the exact instance. I don't feel like looking for them either. I retract any earlier comments I made regarding this policy and any contradictions that I thought I had seen.

[jajaja]

the misleading concept on these boards by some people is that they are calling Wii a Gamecube 1.5 - in my opinion this is a truly next generation system, its not a gamecube, its not anything else, this is the problem - next generation for many people means - better graphics, which is kind of sad.

Nintendo said themself that Wii isnt a nextgen console, but a newgen console hehe. The console itself isnt really nextgen tho, only the controller.

[Princess-Isabela]

the misleading concept on these boards by some people is that they are calling Wii a Gamecube 1.5 - in my opinion this is a truly next generation system, its not a gamecube, its not anything else, this is the problem - next generation for many people means - better graphics, which is kind of sad.

Nintendo said themself that Wii isnt a nextgen console, but a newgen console hehe. The console itself isnt really nextgen tho, only the controller.

exactly - next/new gen ~ appropriate word for Wii, not something degrading value of the system like one and half just because its weaker in power then its competitors if any.

[Icarus Moonsight]

the misleading concept on these boards by some people is that they are calling Wii a Gamecube 1.5 - in my opinion this is a truly next generation system, its not a gamecube, its not anything else, this is the problem - next generation for many people means - better graphics, which is kind of sad.

Nintendo said themself that Wii isnt a nextgen console, but a newgen console hehe. The console itself isnt really nextgen tho, only the controller.

Funny I thought Wii was a next gen console because it is Nintendo's next generation hardware succeding the GameCube. Silly me.

Really though, saying that Wii isn't next gen because of a perceived lack of graphics power only reveals how shallow and single minded one is. I can not understand this "take" at all.

I think the idea of modified VC games to support online multiplayer is a damn good one. If Nintendo hasn't thought of it already they really need to take a hard look at it. I hope the guys who wrote code for them documented and commented code well. If they did it wouldn't be very hard to "update" the VC stuff to do online MP. Some games may not have to be altered much that were multiplayer on the original system, but split screen games would be a bit more complicated and have to be reworked for full screen play. Or at least I'd think so. Hell if they added a leaderboard system for single player games that would be sweet. When there is a lack of a score they could use time. Give some gusto to speed run games like Zelda, Metroid, Castlevania and Metal Gear. I hope they designed VC to be flexible enough to do all this, really I do. Maybe the limited release of VC games (30 at launch, 10 more a month) suggests they are doing this already. Hell I'm sure they could have dumped the archives online and had most if not all their library avaliable at day one if they were going with straight ports.

Y'all can't see me but, I'm crossing my fingers... and my eyes, and toes...

[Icarus Moonsight]

Forgot something regarding VC games. Will Nintendo have the balls to translate games to be played in regions where the game was never released? Dragon Quest V & VI spring to mind... and Alcahest... Oooo Sin and Punishment *swoons* and oh hell, I could go on, and on and on some more.

*crosses legs* and cause crossing your legs is kinda girly *crosses testicles too* LOL

[geneshifter]

Forgot something regarding VC games. Will Nintendo have the balls to translate games to be played in regions where the game was never released? Dragon Quest V & VI spring to mind... and Alcahest... Oooo Sin and Punishment *swoons* and oh hell, I could go on, and on and on some more.

I'll add one: Star Ocean (super famicon)

I've FINALLY been playing this on my PSP since the de_jap guys translated it and I love the story just like the other games in the series. I would love to play it on a big TV instead of my PSP.

[jajaja]

the misleading concept on these boards by some people is that they are calling Wii a Gamecube 1.5 - in my opinion this is a truly next generation system, its not a gamecube, its not anything else, this is the problem - next generation for many people means - better graphics, which is kind of sad.

Nintendo said themself that Wii isnt a nextgen console, but a newgen console hehe. The console itself isnt really nextgen tho, only the controller.

Funny I thought Wii was a next gen console because it is Nintendo's next generation hardware succeding the GameCube. Silly me.

Really though, saying that Wii isn't next gen because of a perceived lack of graphics power only reveals how shallow and single minded one is. I can not understand this "take" at all.

I havnt tried Wii myself, but from the screens and videos i've seen the gfx doesnt look that much better than GC. Afaik "next generation" means the 1 step up or how i shall say. The gfx on Wii isnt exactly 1 step up if you know what i mean. The controller is tho. Therefor, i would count it as a next-gen system, even if Nintendo themself doesnt call it that hehe. It belongs in the "PS3-360-Wii" group.

[ianoid]

Alot of whining going on here, but most of the gamer/collectors here will eventually have all the consoles- launch or 10 years down the line. That being said, I haven't been more excited about a launch ever. I'll pre-order or whatever I can do to get a Wii console at it's earliest. This looks like one of the coolest innovations since Dual Shock controllers.

You can bet that only one controller will be packed in. And I'm happy for a pack-in game, at least with respect to stratefy, unlike some around here. I think Nintendo is making the right move for the general population.

The pack in title may actually be your $29.99 title- it probably won't have the depth of your regular sports titles. I would consider it a small expense in the cost of the launch price. This early in the product cycle, you're paying for hardware.

Just about every console sold these days has one controller and no component outs. The companies hope to improve their profits at launch with sales of all the full price bells and whistles. They have to enjoy it for a year- at which point used product and 3rd party product elbows them out a bit.

I think that PS3 will be considered high end. The price is overly exclusive for Johnny American Buyer. I'm really hoping the eventual war is 360 vs. Wii, and that will hardly be a war. More like a peaceful coexistance and competition. PS3's stuggling in the background should be enough to keep 360 and Wii on it's toes. I'll buy a PS3 eventually, but unless they have some killer app I don't know about, there could be no hurry.

[comrade]

Will I be able to buy some VGA Wii cables on launch? Any word?

[Anthony1]

Will I be able to buy some VGA Wii cables on launch? Any word?


Probably not. In fact, I don't think the 360 VGA cable was available right away either. Supposedly not every single Wii game will be 480p, Nintendo isn't requiring that, so there might be a problem with that as well, from a VGA standpoint. If you can somehow get your hands on a XRGB2 or XRGB3, you can almost assuredly use a Nintendo D Terminal cable for the Wii from Japan, but that's alot of drama just to get the thing working in RGB. At some point, I'm sure a 3rd party will try to make some type of VGA Adapter for the Wii, but it could be more of a cheap transcoder than anything. (Like many of the PS2 ones that you can buy). They do have transcoders that will take a component signal and covert it to VGA, but those aren't cheap either. We are just going to have to wait and see on this.

[Wavelflack]

Good grief. It seems that everyone at DP is simultaneously beginning their menstrual cycle.

[boatofcar]

I just want to say that if the Wii gives me free online Tecmo Super Bowl, I will never have to buy another system, ever.

Is any of this online-multiplayer-of-old-games talk actually substantiated anywhere?

[j_factor]

I'm pretty disappointed in the price. I think it's $50 too expensive. And especially with those comments from Reggie about profitability... it seems a little insulting that they're jacking up the price so that they can make more of a per-unit profit, when no one else does that.

On the inflation thing... look again at those prices of Nintendo consoles adjusted for inflation. You see a clear pattern, the cost is going down each generation. Nintendo is now bucking that trend. Technology is supposed to get cheaper over the years anyway -- look at the original price tag of the first IBM adjusted for inflation, and you'll see a price few would pay for even a fancy PC today. The fact is, even adjusted for inflation, Wii is more expensive than Gamecube was. That seems to go against their hype of bringing in nongamers and all that. They're expanding their audience by being more expensive?

360 and PS3's price tags are moot. Nintendo was supposed to be going out on their own with this one, not competing with MS and Sony, going after the casual gamers and the nongamers and etc. To defend Nintendo with "well PS3 is still $600 OMG" belies that, IMO.

Besides, even Sony isn't marking their consoles UP for profit. Yeah, I already mentioned that bit, but it really bugs me. It wouldn't bug me if it was $199 and they still made a small profit on each console, but that they're now upping the price for the purpose of unit profits is really annoying.

The other thing that still bugs me, and I know I'm repeating myself, is all their hype about bringing in new people to gaming. I think this pricing (along with a few other things) goes against that hype. If they really want to do that, they need to be cheaper, not only compared to their competition, but compared to themselves in the past.

When they first revealed the controller, I was very excited. Excited not only for the possibilities in new gameplay experiences, but also excited for Nintendo. It seemed like a bold move, a new Nintendo. Anyone else remember when Brain Training and other budget priced, "non-gamer" games hit DS in Japan and caused crazy demand/sales? Nintendo was like, "see, this is what we're going to do with Revolution." And now that the Wii launch is approaching, it looks like every single game will be $50, and the only game that replicates that kind of appeal at all is Wii Sports. How is Nintendo going to duplicate the success of the DS if their console only pays lip service to what's made DS so successful? It's true that DS didn't have those things at launch, but DS also didn't do shit at launch, and I thought they wanted to do it right out of the gate this time.

I think the bottom line is that Nintendo just isn't being aggressive enough. They should've announced the pricing at E3, right after Sony. They should've made it $199 with two controllers and Wii Sports. They should've made the controllers cheaper. They should've developed a Wii equivalent of Brain Age and had it ready for launch. They should've lowered their licensing fee and made a huge announcement about it. They should've lowered the price of games to $40. And they should (perhaps they will) kick off their new console with a huge marketing blitz.

If Wii were doing all of those things, the war would be over before it began. They would've sold every unit they could produce for a long time, and would be well on their way to dominating the market quickly. And I think all of those are things Nintendo could've afforded to do. Instead, they're being almost lackadaisical in their approach.

I'd always considered it cynical when people were saying that no Nintendo console has outsold the previous, and the same will likely happen again. But how many converts does Nintendo really expect to win over with this? The controller was supposed to be an aspect of the overall package that attracts people to the system, but instead it seems like they're resting on the controller as their sole selling point. Even if the Wii does end up outselling Gamecube, I don't see Nintendo truly expanding and pulling out of their little corner (which is something I was foreseeing a few weeks ago). If they do, it will only be because of fuckups from the other sides (MS/Sony).

Maybe I'm only really pissed about the price because they took so damn long to announce it, and with that kind of time and buildup they should come out with an announcement that blows us away. $250 isn't terrible by any means, but when you have all that price-related hype, you should deliver with a price point that is exceptional. Maybe my expectations are too high. But I do still think, from a non-personal point of view, that this is a mistake. I don't think Wii will live up to its promise.

If this post seems schizophrenic, it's because that's the nature of my feeling towards the Wii. Exciting and disappointing; a hope and a letdown. Both daring and lethargic, brilliant and retarded at the same time.

Now. With all that said, I may still buy a Wii early on, maybe even at launch (which would be a first for me). But only because the initial lineup looks so damn good to me. I could see this being another Saturn, in that I adopt a console and adore its library, while being continually pissed at the company that brought it.

I guess the only other thing I can say is, we'll see.

[Spycee]

They should've made it $199 with two controllers and Wii Sports. They should've made the controllers cheaper. They should've developed a Wii equivalent of Brain Age and had it ready for launch. They should've lowered their licensing fee and made a huge announcement about it. They should've lowered the price of games to $40. And they should (perhaps they will) kick off their new console with a huge marketing blitz.

No, you're wrong. They should've made the Wii for FREE, with four wiimotes, the sports compilation AND Zelda TP. AND they should've included a 10$ in the box, so we can buy another game (because of course ALL the games should've been 10$).

;)

If Nintendo make a big profit at 250$, it's fine with me if that helps them to continue to do what they're good at : innovation. They are in business to make a profit and that's ok for me. They (successfully) tried to offer something cheaper than the others that would still be fun.

What I find funny is that many people who are angry at Nintendo because of the 249$ are people that bought more than one PS2 because it broke, and some bought up to 5 PS2 @_@ Talk about a company making a lot of money from the gamers LOL

I don't understand why it should have been 199$ without the sports game. Maybe 229$, but not much less, it's clearly not a 50$ game. And at 20$, I would've bought it anyway.

Hi, my name is Spycee, and I'll buy a Wii on day one :cheers:

[sirhansirhan]

Besides, even Sony isn't marking their consoles UP for profit. Yeah, I already mentioned that bit, but it really bugs me. It wouldn't bug me if it was $199 and they still made a small profit on each console, but that they're now upping the price for the purpose of unit profits is really annoying.

I think that generally speaking you make your points very clear and well (though I do not agree with them), but this one seems particularly glaring to me. It isn't nearly as bad as it used to be, but remember when Best Buy would sell whatever was hot and new each week at way below what they themselves were paying for it, so as to drive people in the store? It sounds nice, but it is a far too aggressive business practice in reality, and absolutely fucks every other retailer in the process--not just independents, but everyone. Maybe this isn't the best example, but I was a manager at a Borders when Harry Potter 5 came out, and while we were only making pennies profit on each copy sold (on what was to surely be our best-selling book of the year; exponentially so, even), we lost an assload of customers to Target and Best Buy who had it priced below cost, and these customers even got the idea that our pricing was ridiculous, despite that we were A) making almost no profit, and B) would have been driven bankrupt if our best-selling item of the year was sold substantially below cost.

The point is, that is what Sony and Microsoft are doing now. I'm all for letting Nintendo make a profit out of me if it keeps them in business. Back in the worst of the Best Buy selling-under-wholesale days I'd knowingly and willingly pay up to $10 more for a DVD/whatever on the day of release, just to support the retailers who I actually like, instead of some shit splat chain that fucks its employees, fucks its customers, and fucks the economy.

[Bronty-2]

The point is, that is what Sony and Microsoft are doing now. I'm all for letting Nintendo make a profit out of me if it keeps them in business. Back in the worst of the Best Buy selling-under-wholesale days I'd knowingly and willingly pay up to $10 more for a DVD/whatever on the day of release, just to support the retailers who I actually like, instead of some shit splat chain that fucks its employees, fucks its customers, and fucks the economy.

Amen. Only reason nintendo is healthy as a company right now is because they aren't giving away their product, unlike the other two. If everybody gives away and loses an assload of money on hardware in an attempt to purchase market share, you sooner or later end up with only one company in the industry because the others go bankrupt or get out of the industry to focus on something more profitable.

It's exactly what sony is doing with the ps3. They are giving away a blu ray player to try to win blu ray / hddvd market share. And they could be fucking themselves over in a big way if their plans don't pan out.

I'd rather have three healthy companies making reasonable profits - better for everyone in the long run.

[Bronty-2]

I'm pretty disappointed in the price. I think it's $50 too expensive. And especially with those comments from Reggie about profitability... it seems a little insulting that they're jacking up the price so that they can make more of a per-unit profit, when no one else does that.

.

I'm surprised at the reactions. Personally I was expecting 229 with no pack in, so 249 with wii sports is fine by me.

There was no way it was ever going to be 199, you people were dreaming. If they start at 199 at launch, where do they go from there? They leave themselves no room for the inevitable price cuts later on.

[geneshifter]

I'm pretty disappointed in the price. I think it's $50 too expensive. And especially with those comments from Reggie about profitability... it seems a little insulting that they're jacking up the price so that they can make more of a per-unit profit, when no one else does that.

.

I'm surprised at the reactions. Personally I was expecting 229 with no pack in, so 249 with wii sports is fine by me.

There was no way it was ever going to be 199, you people were dreaming. If they start at 199 at launch, where do they go from there? They leave themselves no room for the inevitable price cuts later on.\

Look, a lot of people were thinking this based upon Reggie's statements about bringing it to the masses and how it was the most affordable Nintendo ever. Plus, the Wii name thing, about bringing gaming to everyone. Then, they show us what we'll be getting for $250 and it's a game that plays several people but the bundle only comes with 1 stinking controller?

Also, Nintendo has a track record of releasing their consoles at $199 forever, you probably know. PLUS, when Nintendo had been asked about the possible price some time ago, they criptically said for us to look at the past launches and we would get the idea. So, I feel all this emotion about the price is their own fault.

[Bronty-2]

I suppose that's true, you make some good points, so perhaps I was a little offbase in saying 199 was dreamland. But personally I didn't expect 199 for a second. Besides, you have to remember that these are global companies. 199 USD ain't what it was before Dubya took over, for better or for worse (that's an argument for another time but the fact is the USD has declined). To the extent that nintendo's costs are in yen, it takes more USD to break even/ make a profit than it used to.

[Bronty-2]

I suppose that's true, you make some good points, so perhaps I was a little offbase in saying 199 was dreamland. But personally I didn't expect 199 for a second. It isn't the 1990s anymore. Besides, you have to remember that these are global companies. Their costs and revenues go beyond the US dollar. 199 USD ain't what it was before Dubya took over, for better or for worse (that's an argument for another time but the fact is the USD has declined). To the extent that nintendo's costs are in yen, it takes more USD to break even/ make a profit than it used to.

[Bronty-2]

I suppose that's 8-) true, you make some good points, so perhaps I was a little offbase in saying 199 was dreamland. But personally I didn't expect 199 for a second. It isn't the 1990s anymore.

Besides, you have to remember that these are global companies. Their costs and revenues go beyond the US dollar... 199 USD ain't what it was before Dubya took over, for better or for worse (that's an argument for another time but the fact is the USD has declined). To the extent that nintendo's costs are in yen, it takes more USD to break even/ make a profit than it used to.[/quote][/quote]

[Bronty-2]

I suppose that's true, you make some good points, so perhaps I was a little offbase in saying 199 was dreamland. But personally I didn't expect 199 for a second. It isn't the 1990s anymore.

Besides, you have to remember that these are global companies. Their costs and revenues go beyond the US dollar... 199 USD ain't what it was before Dubya took over, for better or for worse (that's an argument for another time but the fact is the USD has declined). To the extent that nintendo's costs are in yen, it takes more USD to break even/ make a profit than it used to.

[comrade]

I recently bought a tv that outputs in 540p and 1080i. I'm pretty sure the Wii only outputs 480. Am I gonna run into problems?

[s1lence]

I recently bought a tv that outputs in 540p and 1080i. I'm pretty sure the Wii only outputs 480. Am I gonna run into problems?

540p? O_O

[Trebuken]

I recently bought a tv that outputs in 540p and 1080i. I'm pretty sure the Wii only outputs 480. Am I gonna run into problems?

I doubt it. Your TV will likely scale the image or upconvert if your lucky. Might give you black bars....but I doubt it. I think the Wii games are expected to be widescreen, may have an impact as well...

540 p is a resolution that does not come up with TV's much, sounds like an LCD.

Later,
Trebuken

[comrade]

I recently bought a tv that outputs in 540p and 1080i. I'm pretty sure the Wii only outputs 480. Am I gonna run into problems?

I doubt it. Your TV will likely scale the image or upconvert if your lucky. Might give you black bars....but I doubt it. I think the Wii games are expected to be widescreen, may have an impact as well...

540 p is a resolution that does not come up with TV's much, sounds like an LCD.

Later,
Trebuken

Well the tv is a widescreen.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Toshiba_26HF66_CRT_TV_26/4507-6481_7-31884746.html?tag=nav

There it is if you need to see proof.

(off topic question*) Will this tv play xbox 360 games correctly? I know they output at a native 720 and 1080i, right? :roll:

(this is all for my husband so any help is appreciated)

[Trebuken]

Theat Toshiba TV will play everything fine. Built in HD-Tuner is a nice addition too.

Later,
Trebuken

[cyberfluxor]

I could have sworn I submitted a response to this yesterday. Oh well.

I don't mind the system being $250 even if they toss in a sports game. It's a machine that does wonders and will have some great titles so a low balling price like that for entertainment isn't that bad. It'll have some very unique games I'm sure and things that'll entertain for hours just as well as for say a PS3 or Xbox360 title. I know there's a lot of Nintendo haters and dreamers but there's going to be some nice stuff that comes out of this system for sure so just keep an eye on it. :)

[Anthony1]

I recently bought a tv that outputs in 540p and 1080i. I'm pretty sure the Wii only outputs 480. Am I gonna run into problems?

I have a Sony HDTV that does 540p and 1080i. That's actually pretty coming with older HDTV's. If you give it a 480p signal, it will transcode it to 540p, so you don't need to worry about it. What you do need to worry about, is what it does with a 720p signal. For example, my crappy Sony takes a 720p signal and downconverts to 540p. So when I use my Xbox 360 on that TV, I have to make sure that I have the resolution set to 1080i. So just make sure you have things set to 1080i or 480p and you should be cool. Also, it's not a guarantee that your set downcoverts 720p to 540p like mine does, but if it's an older HDTV, then it might.

[Anthony1]

540 p is a resolution that does not come up with TV's much, sounds like an LCD.

Later,
Trebuken


Actually alot of older HDTV's do 540p and 1080i, the reason for that, is that half of 1080 is 540, so it's just a cheaper way for them to do it. Early HDTV tuners would do 540p and 1080i too, to make it more simple and cheap, and the early HDTV's followed that. The big downside with 540p, is that alot of these HDTV's would take a true 720p signal and downconvert to 540p, and you loose a ton of resolution when that happens. Sometimes I hook my 360 up to my older Sony HDTV, and I forget to change the resolution from 720p to 1080 in the 360's menu. And I'm sitting there, playing my 360, and it looks like ass. then I realize that I forgot to switch it back to 1080i, then once I switch it back to 1080i, it looks great again, lol.

The thing that really sucks is that 6 months after I bought my Sony, they changed that model, so that the new ones would take a 720p signal and upconvert to 1080i rather than downconvert to 540p. Unfortunately, I just missed that, so I'm stuck with this crappy one. Oh well, shiznit happens. Eventually I'll upgrade to a true 1080p model, and remember anybody that is buying a 1080p set, remember that only like 2 out of 10 1080p sets can actually accept a full 1080p signal from the HDMI input. The Sony SXRD's are ones that do the full 1080p signal, so when you have a PS3 game like Gran Turismo 1080p or whatever the hell they are calling that remake, with a Sony SXRD, you would actually get the full 1080p signal in it's true form.


(note: 1080p is pretty meaningless when it comes to movies, because movies are 24 frames per second, and it's kinda complicated, but just know that you don't need true 1080p input to take advantage of 1080p movies, but with PS3 games, that's a different story, and with 1080p "video", it's a different story)

[Princess-Isabela]

which model do you have?
and we'll see how PS3 will handle hefty 1080p, so far we've seen basically is ps2 game with slightly upgraded graphics in details(gt4), that 1080p might be just supported by 1/20 library like xbox and ps2 had(and what a coincidence - the only ps2 game that supports 1080i - is gt4!).
we'll see...

[sabre2922]

$249.99 is a good price WITH a pack in game.

Even though the big N stated over and over that the Wii would be under $250.00 US like a few others here I was really hoping for a $199.00 base console price....but well see.

Now the supposed price of the virtual console games NES to N64 is too expensive IMO.

[Daniel Thomas]

Don't worry. We'll just wait for the emulators to appear, and then burn a couple disks and use those.

If Nintendo offered, oh, I dunno, online multiplayer for VC, then I'd jump. Without it, no dice.

[playgeneration]

I think the price is far too much really, nintendo made big promises about being affordable to everyone and thts just not the case. The are supposed to be innovative, why not be innovative with more than just the controller?. Some people have said well if was $200 they couldnt have a price cut, but why should they have a price cut, its not the law that they should. It should have been cheap from the start, then people would have bought the console and a load of games at the same time, making nintendo more money in the long run. Now people will buy a console perhaps one extra game, and may not buy a second controller for ages since its so expensive.
I was really excited about the Wii after E3, but now the more i see the more im dissapointed. A lot of the things Wii promised, low price, innovative games etc are already being delivered by another console - PS2. I can see PS2 outselling the three next generation consoles for quite a while yet.

[studvicious]

I really can't understand why so many people are crying about the price. They said that it would cost no more than $250. Did you HONESTLY think that it would sell at some magic number waaaaaaaaaay below $250??

PS3 - $600
Xbox 360 - $400
Wii - $250

Put yourself in the mind of a parent buying a Christmas present for little Johnny. They see those 3 prices - which one do you think they'd pick?

Sorry it's not free. Here's a tissue.

[suppafly]

I really can't understand why so many people are crying about the price. They said that it would cost no more than $250. Did you HONESTLY think that it would sell at some magic number waaaaaaaaaay below $250??

PS3 - $600
Xbox 360 - $400
Wii - $250

Put yourself in the mind of a parent buying a Christmas present for little Johnny. They see those 3 prices - which one do you think they'd pick?

Sorry it's not free. Here's a tissue.

Xbox 360 w/o hard disk: 290 US
Wii: 250 US

Its not like theyre giving them wiis away for free...I agree that 250 isnt CHEAP. Not expensive, but NOT cheap definitely

$199 Wouldve been very nice indeed

[Garry Silljo]

I really can't understand why so many people are crying about the price. They said that it would cost no more than $250. Did you HONESTLY think that it would sell at some magic number waaaaaaaaaay below $250??

PS3 - $600
Xbox 360 - $400
Wii - $250

Put yourself in the mind of a parent buying a Christmas present for little Johnny. They see those 3 prices - which one do you think they'd pick?

Sorry it's not free. Here's a tissue.

Xbox 360 w/o hard disk: 290 US
Wii: 250 US

Its not like theyre giving them wiis away for free...I agree that 250 isnt CHEAP. Not expensive, but NOT cheap definitely

$199 Wouldve been very nice indeed

You mentioned that there is no hard disk but you left out there is no pack in game and a wired controller. These factors make a big difference to some comsumers.

[Anthony1]

I really can't understand why so many people are crying about the price. They said that it would cost no more than $250. Did you HONESTLY think that it would sell at some magic number waaaaaaaaaay below $250??

PS3 - $600
Xbox 360 - $400
Wii - $250

Put yourself in the mind of a parent buying a Christmas present for little Johnny. They see those 3 prices - which one do you think they'd pick?

Sorry it's not free. Here's a tissue.


When you look at the Wii's price in comparison to the PS3 and 360, yes, it looks to be the cheapest and most affordable system. But the problem is, the comparison isn't valid. Sure they might all be video game systems, but that's pretty much where the comparison ends. Nintendo is charging $250 for it, because their focus groups tell them that they will sell enough units at that price and they can get away with it. They are going to make a very nice profit at that price. I can guarantee you they didn't make a profit when they sold the SNES, or the Nintendo 64 or the GameCube. They might not have taken huge losses on those systems, but they didn't make a profit on day 1. This is the first time they are actually making a profit on day 1. They didn't have to do that, but they feel that they can get away with it this time, and I don't blame them. They can get away with it. The reason they can, is because the PS3 is $600 and the 360 is $400. That allows them to get away with it.



But trying to compare the Wii to the PS3 and XBOX 360 is just not valid. The Wii isn't even next-generation hardware. Key word being "hardware". It might have a next gen philosophy, a next gen controller, but it's not next gen hardware. It's a souped up GameCube. Let's call a spade a spade. Just look at Madden 07 for the Wii. Heck Madden 07 for Xbox 1 looks better than that. So it's obviously not next-gen hardware. Of course that doesn't mean it won't be tremendously fun, and very enjoyable to play. But we are talking about the price of the unit, and whether or not the $250 is really justifiable. Personally, I don't think it's as great a value as it might appear to be. I'm going to buy one on day 1, but that's just because I'm a video game freak and I can't help myself. But it's not a really great value. It's not a horrible value either, it's just not a great value.


If the PS3 was $400 and the Xbox 360 was $300, I can guarantee you the Wii would be $199.99 or even less. But because those other two systems are priced so high, Nintendo can overcharge for the Wii and get away with it. Again, I don't blame them at all, they are out to make money,and they are going to do whats in their best interests. But as a consumer, and a cheap ass consumer at that, it doesn't mean I have to celebrate it :)

[Princess-Isabela]

Microsoft representative at Tokyo Game Show pointed out interesting thing:
Xbox 360 Core Pack with 2 games bundled there(Ninety Nine Nights and PGR3) will hit stores at 29,000 yens, which is close to being it $250!
they mentioned that 360 there, is being sold cheaper than Wii itself!
thats a great value(you're getting 360 system basically at below $200 level point!).
this is for Japan only though(they are doing that to boost interest in 360 there).

[kentuckyfried]

It's all frivolous spending anyways, it's not like buying milk or gas or insurance or anything :)

I'll be buying a wii, probably paying 300 canadian dollars.

[zerohero]

Well,


The 249 makes me think a bit longer about buying it at launch as many have said, but I probably will. It just sucks that the xbox is around the same price and can easily compete with the Wii.

All that said, the Wii will more and likely dominate this christmass.

[zerohero]

If I really bother you people so much, your best reaction would be to totally ignore me until I go away.

I've been trying that for about three years now. It doesn't seem to be working.

I dont get it? Since when did people start disliking him?