Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming: Nintendo Wii: Japanese press conference

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Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Nintendo Wii: Japanese press conference

Two weeks after the Wii launches in the U.S., Japan will see a slightly cheaper ($213) Nintendo Wii on December 2. The slightly cheaper price might be due to the absence of the U.S.-bundled Wii Sports, which will separately for 4,800 yen (around $41).

According to Bloomberg news, 16 titles will be available from 10 publishers at launch, and will range in price from 4,800 yen (~$41) to 6,800 yen (~$58). One of those titles will be The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (6,800 yen/~$58). By the end of 2006 27 games should be available in Japan.

Nintendo also revealed details on its virtual console and downloadable games (via the "WiiConnect24" service). NES games will cost 500 yen (~$4.25); SNES games will cost 800 yen (~$6.80); and N64 games will cost 1,000 yen (~$8.50). No pricing for TurboGrafx, MSX, or Sega Genesis games, which will also be made available. Games can be bought by credit card or prepaid point cards (like Xbox Live Marketplace does). 30 vritual games will be available at launch, with up to 60 by year end.

Probably more significantly, Satoru Iwata (Nintendo of Japan prez) said virtual titles will grow by 10 per month -- exceeding Xbox Live Arcade's current weekly releases. Microsoft's not going to get the Nintendo first party titles, but it seems like they'd be smart to approach and mine the same TurboGrafx, MSX, and Sega games, and extend to publishers like Hudson Soft. This'd be a win-win for the IP holders (more channels) and Microsoft, plus it's a standard marketing technique -- differentiate your product, and make your competition's differentiation, "not so much"...

On the feature front, the Wii will support avatar customization for every user (though not every game will support it. This is another example of Nintendo one-upping Microsoft on a feature Microsoft introduced (or at least teased as a possibility).

The Wii will also have photo editing and viewing functionality, and can take photos off of an SD card.

A news and weather channel were confirmed, as was Web browsing (a la the Opera browser base, similar to the Nintendo DS, which will also support Flash animations), and message boards.
The Wii will come with the "Wiimote" controller and corded "nunchaku" attachment and estra "Wiimotes" will cost 3,800 yen (~$32), extra nunchakus will go for 1,800 yen (~$15). The controller for playing classic games on the Wii will be sold separately for 1,800 yen (~$15), but for a limited time consumers who purchase a 5,000 point (5,000 yen/~$42.50) Wii-point card will receive a classic controller for free.

The console itself will also come with a wrist-strap for the "Wiimote", a power cord, a standard A/V cable, a sensor bar, stands for the console and sensor bar, and AA batteries.

Let's see what the U.S press release reveals in a couple of hours, but Nintendo seems to be firmly back in the saddle.

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SOURCES: Gamespot.com, joystiq.com, kotaku.com, Xbox.com, IGN, GameInformer, Official XBox Magazine, CNN, gamesindustry.biz, and others.

Adam Creighton, Computer and Video Gaming (Subscribe)

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Nintendo Wii: Japanese press conference

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