Nintendo provided further guidance on the release of the Wii
on Thursday, including announcing a price and release date as well as
accessories to ship with the console. The Wii will launch first in the
United States on November 19, followed by a Japanese launch on December
2.
As expected, the console will retail for $249.99 USD. Each
package would include one wireless "Nunchuk" controller, as well as a
collection of five sports games on a single disc that would highlight
the movement-based use of the innovative controller.
"Wii breaks the wall separating players from non-players by delivering
the best game experiences for the most affordable price," Nintendo
president Reggie Fils-Aime said. "We believe the next leap is games for
the masses - young and old, gamer or non, alone, with a friend or with
the whole family."
Fils-Aime and other executives have repeatedly
stressed the family-based concept of the Wii, and are banking on that
fact to help separate it from the glut of next-generation consoles that
will flood the marketplace this fall. Features such as the Channel Menu
are an example of this.
The Channel Menu would make it easy for
both first time and experienced gamers to get most out of the console.
Navigating through the various channels allows the user pick games to
play, get news or weather, view and send photos, or create playable
caricatures of themselves to use in actual games.
In addition, Wii Points would work much like Microsoft Points in allowing users to download content to the console.
More
than 30 games are expected to be available by year's end, with many
available at launch, including "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight
Princess." All Nintendo-made games would retail for $49.99 USD. Wii
would also be able to play all GameCube games natively, the company
said.
At least one company, EA, said it is putting more support
behind its Wii developers than any Nintendo console since the Super
NES, and several others said the console's concept would open up the
video game market even further.
"The Wii is changing audience
interaction, opening up whole new experiences that have never been
possible in video games," Activision CEO Robert Kotick said. "The Wii
is likely to have a profound impact on the size, growth and overall
opportunities for the video game market."
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