Wii mini revisited (U.S.)
checked out my stock report for the truck coming in tonite and saw Wii minis with Mario kart. thought it was odd so I checked the website........
http://www.walmart.com/msharbor/ip/3...81640&veh=mweb
Wii minis for the U.S. apparently. I'll post a pic of they come out before I go home.
formatting is all jacked up because I'm on my phone
Last edited by Niku-Sama; 11-10-2013 at 12:18 AM.
I bought the Canadian one awhile ago. Its shit. Don't waste your money.
It's a no frills Wii for the budget minded consumer that can't afford next gen hardware. Good move on Nintendo's part since 4 million Wii's were sold last year and it has outpaced the Wii U all this year. This should keep the system afloat for a while yet and seems well constructed and likely will be more durable than earlier systems if for nothing else losing the slot loading disc drive.
But for the typical Digital Press user, its only likely worth will be for collecting purposes. Unless someone doesn't want download games (Which isn't out of the realm of possibility on a 7 year old console) and wants to play on a tv that lacks component inputs, this is just a downgrade from the current revision for the knowledgeable gamer that appreciates things like having the best video quality.
It has its place but not for the type of user around here. But Nintendo needs to restart their Nintendo Selects program to complement this if they really want to capitalize on budget Wii sales. A lot of great Wii games like Super Mario Galaxy 2 are largely unavailable at retail and some like Skyward Sword are still expensive when they are located.
Last edited by Leo_A; 10-25-2014 at 07:07 PM.
Well it won't collect as much dust as the original Wii, what with having less surface area.
But you can buy a used Wii for like $50 that's compatible with everything...
Nintendo doesn't get anything out of that.Originally Posted by Tupin
There's still a viable market here and Nintendo is wise to continue serving it. And the features that have been cut frankly are of little concern to the average individual purchasing one of these in late 2013 seven years after the initial release of the system.
And they do have a more fully featured Wii still available new for the knowledgable customer that cares about things like component video and it has been recently confirmed by NOA as remaining available (although I suspect the Wii Mini will exclusively take over in North America by next year just like it recently did in Europe).
Last edited by Leo_A; 11-09-2013 at 10:23 PM.
The first place that I'd wager many of them would go to would be Gamestop, and they would undoubtedly push used product.
I don't see many parents buying a used gaming console for their child in lieu of something that's brand new. But perhaps I'm wrong on that.
Regardless, Nintendo doesn't get anything directly from such a sale. That's the reason this exist. It provides Nintendo an avenue to compete with used hardware in order to directly benefit from such consumers considering a modestly priced piece of electronics seven years into its lifespan. Without the Wii Mini, they'd be locked out and frankly some of those customers just wouldn't buy a Wii at all if they only had used options.
An awful lot of people wouldn't consider gifting something that's used (Especially if it wasn't something collectible) and the Wii does most of its business during the Christmas season. Without modestly priced new hardware, a good proportion of these customers are just going to walk away and consider something else.
In part because of this, I bet Nintendo still sells over 3 million Wii's this fiscal year despite sales that are far down halfway into this fiscal year from a year ago when the Wii pulled 4 million units sold (Although it's still outpacing the Wii U through both quarters so far). A new $99 Wii packed with Mario Kart Wii is an attractive proposition to customers I wager.
Last edited by Leo_A; 11-09-2013 at 10:35 PM.
that coupled with the fact that's its time for the end of life cycle system shrink. I bet people said the same thing about the NES and SNES when those systems changed the hardware, each one lost something in the hardware change and this is the wii's shrink, it loses wifi basicly, big woop.
I could see the parents with sheltered children buying it so their kids cant get on the interwebs to learn bad habbits about ponies and clopping and all that jazz....cats
I took pics but, meh a lot of you guys are being lame about the subject
The average customer for this doesn't know about the state of its limited online capabilities or care. And frankly any parent with such a concern that does any investigating probably would quickly deem the Wii's limited online capabilities as of very low concern.
But I suppose a few customers might be buying this specifically because it lacks internet capabilities. But by and large the people that will be buying this are going to do so because it's new, it's Nintendo, it's a Wii, and it's a good value. A $99 brand new Wii with Mario Kart is going to be an attractive proposition for the minority of potential customers they've yet to reach at higher price points. That's why it exists.
Frankly, people this late in the game tend to not care about premium features. They want to pop a disc in and just play with a minimum of fuss and investment and don't care about things like backwards compatibility. And this should do a fine job of that and push the Wii into 2nd place on the all-time console sales list in the process.
Last edited by Leo_A; 11-10-2013 at 04:12 AM.
It's barely smaller, but actually has more surface area due to the beveled sides. The textured surface will help hold onto that dust as well.
You know if they hadn't totally fucked it over by removing support for the USB ethernet connector and especially component cables, it would probably be okay even without wifi and SD cards. But they did, so there ya are.
Seriously, composite only? In 2013?
Last edited by BlastProcessing402; 11-10-2013 at 04:45 PM.
This isn't meant for the category that Digital Press users and such fall into. So assuming it saved them money, it makes sense. But if it's like the SNES Mini's S-Video elimination with just a copper trace or two missing which is a negligible savings for what you lose, shame on them. I don't understand why the USB ethernet capability is gone with a USB port though. Perhaps it allowed them to downgrade to a cheaper spec of USB port?
Component connections are on the way out and composite remains ubiquitous and is starting to be the only standard definition input on some newer HDTV's. And the typical customer for a console seven years into its lifespan is hardly going to go out and purchase an aftermarket cable and probably doesn't even know the difference between composite and component.
And those that do tend to value such things already own a Wii. And if they need to replace it, they're looking at a Wii U or a more fully featured used Wii. But for the very casual buyer or the parent buying a new console for their 8 year old, it was never going to be hooked up with anything but the included cable anyways.
These features are gone for a reason. It's not ignorance on Nintendo's part. It's knowledge of what their customers at this point in the Wii's lifespan want and will likely utilize. Everything that's not essential to that plan goes to cut cost due to price being the #1 reason someone would consider this purchase today.
Last edited by Leo_A; 11-12-2013 at 04:40 AM.
thinking back on what people said about buying a Wii that's comparable with every thing.....
keep in mind that if you buy a regular Wii now it won't play everything either. it's been about 2 years since Nintendo took game cube compatibility out of the systems available on store shelves
I really don't see why people are bitching so much. it's not any different than systems in the past and for what ever reason once they aren't available any more people want the shrink down version. I missed buying a shrink down version nes and snes so I'm going to avoid that and get this. I doubt it'll be for sale the whole year before they stop both qui and Wii mini and just go Wii u.
I haven't seen Nintendo with that many products on retail at the same time ... no doubt the consumers are confused with that. Nintendo should clear up a bit its offerings and hopefully help the customer understand more the WiiU console which is a very good product that they haven't learned how to market it.
I bought a the Canadian Wii Mini because I didn't think that the console would come out in the U.S. and less chances for a Mexican release .. but I was wrong, It was released 2 months ago in Mexico and its very easy to find one and the retail price is 1,999 pesos (approximately . 150 usd)
Las calles no son basurero, POR FAVOR TIREN LA BASURA EN SU LUGAR !!!!
Component isn't (just) standard definition. And yes, they're cheaping out on ports on new TV's, but there's still usually a component input (sometimes shared with composite).
Point is, there's just no reason to disable the existing cables out there from working with it.
It's probably saving them money by not supporting component. Even though it's the same multi-out port, surely there's some internal circuitry that was able to be eliminated. Otherwise why do it?
And I didn't say that component was just for standard definition. But the Wii sure as heck is only SD/ED so if you're going to support one type of cable on the Wii, it makes perfect sense to select the one that can directly connect to virtually every television set that has been produced over the past 15 years and many that were produced before that.
And there are definitely increasing numbers of HDTV's coming out that lack component as HDMI increasingly becomes standard. Some started doing what you mentioned but now they're starting to pop up without even that and with just composite. I saw several recently that lacked anything at the rear except HDMI and only had a front composite jack for standard definition compatibility. So it seems as if it's following what happened to VGA in recent years which was another HD capable technology that earlier HDTV's often supported but few do so today.
I bet we're only about 2 or 3 years away from seeing HDTV's starting to pop up just with HDMI without even a composite input. And if 4K doesn't take off, perhaps in a few years they won't even have an internal scaling chip if 1080p ever becomes standard for television broadcasts.
Last edited by Leo_A; 11-13-2013 at 06:45 PM.
Lol!
My Wii has been banished to the living room to serve Netflix duty and the mini apparently can't even do that so here in Robotopia it actually would collect MORE dust than the regular one does now...
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