Nintendo Announces Wii Details
Nintendo is set to take over the game market November 19
Nintendo will be invading the market November 19 when the Wii launches for $249.99, with a goal of selling four million units by the end of the year.
The Nintendo Wii will be available for the holidays, hitting store shelves November 19 with a price tag of $249.99 U.S.
At a press conference in New York yesterday, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said Nintendo's goal is to sell four million units before the end of 2006, keeping a constant flow to minimize stores running out of stock, something Xbox didn't manage to do.
Although Nintendo's biggest goal with the Wii seems to be to attract more non-gamers to gaming, the system is going to have something for everyone.
At a press conference in Japan, also held yesterday, 104 different titles were showcased.
"The widest range of launch titles ever," said Fils-Aime.
For the older crowd, the Internet connected Wii will be able to download classic NES, SNES and N64 console games.
"It's a great way to get 30 and 40-year-olds back in gaming," said Fils-Aime.
The games can be downloaded by spending Wii points, which can be obtained online or by purchasing a 2000 Wii point card for 20 dollars at a retail outlet.
NES games are 500 points while SNES and N64 games cost 800 and 1000 points respectively.
The Wii will also has features meant to act as a "pied piper" to get non-gamers playing the games.
One of those is the Mii channel. On the Mii channel, players can create an avatar of themselves, their friends or anyone else which can then be inserted into Wii games that support the Mii channel.
There's also the ability to view photos off an SD card, along with getting headline news, weather and a web browser on your TV screen through the Wii.
Then there's the already heavily discussed Wii controller that senses motion, allowing players to
act out the game, whether it be throwing a bowling ball or firing a bow and arrow.
The Wii will be going head-to-head with Sony's PlayStation 3 for the holiday season, but being less than half of PS3's price tag, it's clear which system will be bringing more new gamers on board.
