NoA won't put the Mario Galaxy OST CD up on Club Nintendo, but they'll print up a batch to give away for free with  new batches of Wiis for the 5 people who don't own one by now.  They won't bring over the Operation Rainfall games, but they'll bring over a Wii that has no reason to exist.

Ugh, NoA just continues to find ways to irritate me.

But this new Wii raises profit margins by $7.38 per unit and is guaranteed to sell since it will be the only Wii unit on the shelf come Xmas.

I doubt that, considering the Wii hasn't been flying off shelves this year, so retailers probably have a nice stockpile of GCN-enabled Wiis they still have to get rid of.

So NoA's been so ineffective at giving people a reason to buy Wii software that they're now bringing over this neutered Wii just so they can make pocket change on the fraction of people who don't own a Wii by now.  Great.

So pretty much if I want a Wii to have after WiiU I should go ahead and get one.  GCN BC should be the only reason to own a Wii really after WiiU.

Why not just buy a GCN?

Wireless.  I have a Cube with a network adapter.

I would be more receptive to a black version of this console if NoA was gracious enough to give us Xenoblade, Last Story and Pandora's Tower.

There's nothing good about this revision from the perspective of consumers. I doubt anyone cares about the GCN compatibility one way or another at this point, because those who do already have a Wii and/or GCN. What does suck though is that it forces the console to be positioned horizontally and that is something that will matter to a lot of people.

So Nintendo managed to shave off less than $8 in manufacturing costs? That's great for Nintendo, but it does nothing for consumers. If that ends up translated into a price drop and/or better bundle deals then it would be a good thing for consumers, but right now its nothing but a negative thing.

Be better if they at the very least released it in a color that we didn't already have.

Ooo, I would've really liked to have the soundtrack CDs.

Just be clear, that is just a number i pulled out of a hat. Don't take that as fact.

They probably saved that much just by changing the drive type from one that has to accept small DVD. But I imagine the GC ports only costed them about a $1 or $2 per system anyway.

That does it, I am keeping my Wii, despite how beat up it is.

Don't forget about the stand that's a good Postage Stamp at least.  Plus they can schedule up the Mold destruction because the storage is very expensive.

It's stuff like this that makes me hope that my Wii never dies out or anything.

It's stuff like this that convinced me holding onto an old GameCube was a good idea, even though Wii is (was) backwards-compatible.  ;)


Although I don't love this news, it doesn't really deserve much reaction. Nintendo probably could/should have made the switch earlier since most people owning Wii consoles never use the GameCube functionality anyway. Those who are interested in GameCube gaming should already have the means to play - after all, games and controllers and accessories have all been scarce for a while and we're very close to the next generation of Nintendo consoles.

Whoa! So much negativity. There's one line in that press release that makes all of it null and void.

Unlike NoE, NoA's not getting rid of the good system. They're just selling another SKU in tandem to the current one. I don't see an issue with that.

Its the same price and some little boy or girl will get jaded because of it.

Though my biggest issue is...
We got this instead of marketing for a new game or just about anything else except and NoA set of Bonusses.
It doesn't serve any real niche at all except to jade someone.
Its not a new size.
Its not a new color.
Doesn't address something like the ROD.
Doesn't address internal space issue.

It just seems like a huge waste of time and effort on everyone's part for a system that should cost next to nothing compared to when they started to make it to now anyway.

We all know the WiiU is probably going to be here next year.  If not a new model of cheap hardware should be the least of Nintendo's worries.  They don't need to sell more handles.  We need more blades.

I find it a little strange that it comes with NSMBW, but the (previously unreleased in NA) soundtrack to SMG.

Does anyone think the new Wii revision really can't be positioned vertically? Or is that just because they took the stand thing out? If its the later then as long as you keep your old stand you could still be able to do this thing vertically, and 3rd parties might step up and offer their own replacement stands. But on the other hand its also possible the new Wii simply will not work in that position, or if it does it might be harmful to it, so if that's the case then you probably shouldn't do it that way.

I'm just wondering which of those two is the case.

I actually never used the Vertical stand that came with the Wii really.  I had a really cool one that glowed and had a fan in it to cool my Wii plus a place for 2 nunchuks and 2 Wiimotes.  I currently don't use that.  Mines just sitting vertical on its side.

Looking over this thread it really appears that NOA has been such a fuckshow this year they really can't do anything without attracting some criticism.  Their big sin has been inactivity.  They just haven't done dick all, leaving finished games in limbo with nothing else being released in the meantime.  So now, NOA emerges, but what they have seemingly spent the last six months doing is not of any value to existing Wii owners.  In fact what they have done comes across like a scam since this variation of the Wii is an inferior product.

The worst thing is that this revision is entirely for the benefit of Nintendo.  Localizing those games?  That benefits Nintendo customers.  But this?  This only benefits Nintendo themselves so it naturally is a priority for NOA.  Cutting manufacturing costs is more important than releasing actual games.  The priority is to attract the last few stragglers that have not bought a Wii yet.  The existing Wii owners are of no concern.  Get the new customer, neglect the existing one.

The issue of Nintendo winning back core gamers with the Wii U is of less importance now.  Over this last year I think Nintendo has poisoned their image with EVERYONE.  The question isn't "will the Wii U meet the needs of core gamers?" but rather "will Nintendo support the Wii U in the long run?"  The last thing you want is for people to associate you with not supporting your product for a decent period of time.  Sega built up this reputation with the 32X and Saturn and it sunk them.  Nintendo in 2011 is the company that abandoned the Wii before a successor came out and dropped the DS is favour of launching an overpriced handheld successor with practically no games.  2011 is the year of Nintendo not supporting their hardware with games.

Does anyone know if the CD is going to be the actual soundtrack or just one of their 6 track specials? If the later I do not think it is worth getting upset over.

Judging from the box art, it looks to be the full 2 disc soundtrack.

Yes., but what the NoA PR neglected to mention, was that the new SKU has also removed CD playback in addition to GC support, so you will have to use your old Wii or any other device capable of playing disc of any kind to actually listen to it.

I am completely joking in this post. So don't take it seriously

Truth be told, I didn't know the original Wii couldn't play CDs.

Of course, that's probably because I haven't listened to a CD since about 2005 or so.

Why are people worried about GC support in 2011 when the original Wii and Gamecubes are still available all over the place (for low prices!)... ?

Oh right, cuz gamers looooooove complainin'!

If we ain't complainin' (or trollin') then we ain't happy.

That's what I said. But it doesn't only take that away, it also takes away the ability to stand the system vertically which is something some people might care about.

The only possible positive thing this revision might offer is it might possibly be more durable and less prone to breaking down or malfunctioning compared to the original Wii model. Since all the GC stuff has been stripped out I guess the design is more simplified and there's less stuff that could potentially break down, so its possible it could be more durable. But then again, if cutting manufacturing costs was the objective Nintendo might have cheapened things and cut corners inside the machine that we don't even see, so it might end up being even less durable. So it could go either way, and I guess the only way we will know is months from now when Brandogg starts doing repairs on these things. If he starts seeing a lot of these show up in his shop then we can surmise the redesign is shittier in terms of quality.

My Nintendo fanboyism is begining to reach a crisis point. I am starting to question my faith as to whether Nintendo even has the fortitude to compete in the world of HD systems considering the way they carry themselves with the mediocre Wii system. Hell, a year ago I was all syched for the Wii and DS and their successor systems, but after the failure of Operation Rainfall, the lack of quality Wii titles after Skyward Sword and this half assed attempt at trying to stream line a console that was outdate five years ago is just pushig me to the breaking limit. Honestly, I would be willing to splurge on this cosnole on the condition that th Operation Rainfall titles be released in America next year. If not, I wil keep my Gamecube enabled Wii and flip Nintedo (of America) the bird after Skyward Sword is out and then not buy a new system or software new until the launch of the Wii U.

The problem here is that this new model drops functionality without reducing the price. I believe this happened with the GameCube when it removed the component output, and it was lame then, too. If I remember rightly, the NES and SNES revisions launched at a lower price than the previous model, which was the way to go.

Removing the Gamecube ports just makes Super Smash Bros. Brawl even more annoying to play. I'd only consider getting the new model if I could get it for less than $100 and to add the Homebrew channel for The Last Story and Xenoblade. I don't think I have the time or money for any of that.

I'm still confused.  Unless there's some kind of homebrew/piracy that uses it, any GCN titles that used the Broadband Adapter/Modem can be played (in online/LAN) modes on the Wii... ?

Nintendo should at least bump up the internal memory on the revision from 512mb to... well, anything higher than that. 1GB is hardly anything these days, yet even that is TWICE what the Wii has, and its not like 1 or 2 or even 4gb flash memory is expensive these days. Heck, I doubt it would cost anything more in terms of manufacturing cost than the existing memory capacity used. At least if Nintendo did that there would be one positive things for consumers out of it.

This is never going to happen, but if Nintendo allowed controller emulation through either the Wii slim USB ports or new Classic Controllers for each Virtual Console then I would be interested in this new version of the Wii. However, I prefer to play my Genesis VC games with an actual Genesis controller thanks to a Gamecube port adapter, so unless there is a way to bypass this, I am going to pass, or atleast for now that is.

I think the reason some of us have a problem with this is that Nintendo of America has been so incredibly complacent in the last year or so.  It's the end of the Wii's lifespan.  The focus should be announcing new software to tide people over until the next system, not releasing inferior new versions of existing hardware to try to cater to an extremely small new audience.  This Wii does not need to exist.

And on a personal note, I've been literally begging Nintendo to release these soundtrack CDs on Club Nintendo since the service began.  Hell, if I had to pay real money on that website to get these OSTs, I would.  But it's a real slap in the face for me after all that pleading to see these things just thrown in to these new Wii bundles, especially since the game bundled with this Wii is New Super Mario Bros. Wii, NOT either of the Mario Galaxies.  It just feels like a big "**** YOU!" to the fans by Nintendo of America, since only the fans will care about that soundtrack and they can't have it without buying another Wii.

Would something like this work?

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Wii-4--Virtua-Retro-Adapter/dp/B003KMWMOW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1318398576&sr=8-9

That adapter is the same one that I am currently using. If I were to buy this new Wii then that adapter would become useless. Now, if I could find an adapter like this one that uses a USB cable instead of a Gamecube one then I would be set. Also, I would recommend that you buy that adapter for yourself. It is great and really substitutes the controllers for you. Lastly, it says four-in-one on the box, but it can actually use the Master System and Commodore 64 controllers on the Genesis port due to thme having the same port hole.

Secondly, I found a website where a guy converts older controllers into USB or Gamecube cables. He is a little on the pricey side, but the reviewers of his work say that his quality can not be matched. He offered to convert my TG16 controller cord into an NES one for about $40, so I would save up if you are interested.

http://infiniteneslives.com/products.php

What if you took that same Gamecube port adapter you have and then plugged it into this?

http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Joy-Box-PS2-XBOX-Adapter/dp/B000RLWF7I/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1318400692&sr=1-2

You would then have two adapters linked together which might or might not work, but you could try it out and see what happens.

It all depends on whether Nintendo opens up the USB ports on the Wii slim. This is one reason for why I like the Wii U having two USB ports in the front. This leads me to beleive that Nintendo intends for them to be used for accessories such as controller adapters (which they will sell to you).

I may sell my Wii and keep my GameCube when the Wii U comes out, that way I can play everything on 2 systems instead of 3. (assuming they allow transferring of VC/WiiWare games)


I did the same when I got my 3DS, sold my Lite but kept my GBA SP, so I can still play everything all the way back to the original GB, but only requiring 2 handhelds to do so.


What I do not get with this new Wii though is how it's not on the side, making it practically indistinguishable from a Wii U system.
Part of some long term ingenious plan that we don't know about, or just stupidity?


Only time will tell I guess...

Nintendo has gone on radio silence since E3. It's possible that they might completely redesign the Wii U model they showed. They should. Wii U should look nothing like the Wii.

That's exactly the point I'm making.  The only thing that makes this system unique from what is already out there is being gimped and the Galaxy OST.  This is a terrible move on NoA part and out of all the crazy thing people take legal action on I think this one actually makes sense because you'll be paying for services not delivered.

Agreed.  It needs something to make it Thematically distinct.

While this doesn't directly translate to a price cut, let's face it - Wii is EOL hardware.  We're going to start seeing price drops on it.  I'd bet someone a copy of Mario Kart 7 that we'll be seeing Day-After-Thanksgiving sales on this new Wii Configuration that will, effectively, make the hardware $99 (or less).

Specifically this Hardware alone?
My prediction is that there will be Black Friday specials that will put any Wii Bundle to $99.  Same with the DS.

Possibly.  My guess is that the "old" hardware will be phased out and by this time next year, you won't really see them new.

Like how Nintendo never "officially" discontinued the Wii Sports Resort-less bundles or the Wii Sports/Sports Resort bundles.  They just kinda stopped making them.  With that said, I can see the possibility of using Black Friday to fire sale the older inventory.

I would hope by Black Friday next year finding a non-used Wii would be terribly hard because the WiiU will be sitting in its place.

The name should change to something without Wii in the name. I've said that before, and probably will say it again. Up until the time it launches they have an opportunity to change it. Once they launch it however, its set and can't be changed ever. Wii U is both stupid and confusing to consumers, so that's two very good reasons why it should be changed.

Actually, I'm hoping the shelves are completely empty. If the Wii U is sitting on shelves on black friday that would be a terrible thing. If it doesn't sell out for the first few months of its existence then it could be deemed a failure and Nintendo may be forced to slash the price on it just like with the 3DS.

But if the Wii U is sold out, old Wii stocks may be placed on the shelves where it was, and my concern is with the similar name many consumers (mainly parents) who don't know any better are going to grab the Wii as a gift when really what little jimmy asked for was the newer and better Wii U. If that happens its going to be Nintendo's fault for not giving it a more distinguishing name and appearance.

You're preaching to the choir. I've been saying all of that about the name since E3. I'm still pretty partial to "Nintendo Stream" or even something as boring as "Nintendo 6."

If they can suddenly number Mario Kart with a 7, they can call it Nintendo 6.

Did that happen with the DS Lite too? I haven't seen any in a while.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rumor/26132

That is a rumor about the DS Lite being discontinued.

I've heard the rumours but there was never any official word on it. The last official thing that happened was that the DS Lite was dropped to $100, which may have been done to sell off the remaining stock. So I was wondering if anyone else has seen them around, which would give some indication if it was actually discontinued or not.

Nintend6

the little circle is the o

That's actually pretty slick. I like it!

That's what I was getting at. I believe I wrote an unnecessarily long post on that before. It's boring, but it gets the point across.

"Nintendo 6" is kind of a goofy name when a past Nintendo console was called the "Nintendo 64".  It's basically the same format except one refers to a sequence of consoles and the other to the amount of bits the CPU had.  Hell there is only one character different here.

One thing to note is that Nintendo loves it when the name of the system allows for lazy names for the games.  They loved it when everything was Super ______ or ______ 64.  The Gamecube didn't allow for that so they had to get creative.  Nuts to that.  The Wii made it easy by just just appending "Wii" to the end of titles just like appending "Advance" or "DS".  Nintendo 6 won't allow that.  They can't call it Super Mario 6 without confusing the hell out of everyone.

I liked the old Revolution name.  I would suggest a look and name completely different from the Wii.  The Wii brandname is shit.  Talk all you want about how successful the Wii was but it was clearly seen as the casual console.  Nintendo shouldn't want to be pigeonholed to any specific demographic.  They should want their name to be associated with "videogames" so that anyone of any age, any gender and any level of interest should see it as a brand that suits their needs.  I say make it black, make the exterior look more like a generic piece of electronics and pick a name that brings to mind "entertainment".

Don't emphasize "fun".  "Fun" is associated with children and families.  Yes, videogames are fun but what people really want is entertainment.  Entertainment can be scary or sad.  Horror movies aren't really fun per say.  Neither are sad songs.  But they're entertaining so people like them.  "Fun" is like happy-go-lucky rainbows and marshmellows.  Although entertainment is fun, adults typically don't think of the term that way.  "Fun" is seen as harmless stuff or kid's stuff.  Videogames can be happy and harmless or dark and disturbing.  They can make you think, make you cry, make you laugh, pump up your adrenaline or relax you.  Videogames are broad and any decent videogame system should reflect that.

Isn't "Sex" the Latin term for the number 6?

Therefore, I propose the console be named "Nintendo Sex".


......or if that is out of the question, then "Nintendo VI" would also work.

Kind of like DS and 3DS.

I'm struggling to understand what you're getting at here when you already pointed out how Gamecube didn't allow the use of lazy titles. Clearly, they wouldn't use "6" as part of the any game title because they can't. They seem to like doing that but obviously, as history shows, they don't have to. Sony has just been stick numbers at the end of their brand for 2 whole generations and will probably continue to. I don't see why Nintendo shouldn't just because of Nintendo 64. We're (console) generations removed from it. No one is going to get confused which is the important part. "Nintendo" is the brand that Nintendo should be pushing. It means something, people can pronounce it, people recognize it and it's a strong brand. Just call it "Nintendo" and boom, done. "Nintendo 6" is lazy but it works. "Nintendo Stream" lets you know the most important thing about the console (streaming to the controller). The name doesn't have to be elegant. It has to get the point across and it might as well not sound stupid.

Sony already beat Nintendo to it with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. They even made it sound skankier.

Eh, Nintendo should follow the DC Animated Universe's lead and call it the Nintendo Beyond ("Nintendo of the Future" in Europe.  ;) ).  :P: :

In all seriousness, though, I always liked the codenames of both the Wii and the GameCube: Revolution and Dolphin, respectively.

I actually liked the name "Gamecube." It described exactly what the console was: a cube shaped system that played games. Can't get anymore straight forward than that. The problem was that Nintendo put a handle on it and marketed indigo as the primary color. The name, in my opinion, worked.

I have said this tiresly until I am hoarse, but the Wii U should have been named "Super Wii" and its code name should have been "Evolution."

Super Wii Sports
Super Wii Play
Super Wii Fit

Well, you can keep saying it. Everyone will still think Super Wii sounds stupid.

It sounds better than "Wi U," which sounds more like "Pee-you."

I have yet to hear a name that sounds significantly better than Wii U. I also stand by my statement that it doesn't matter how terrible the name of it is if they get the hardware right to get third parties onboard and provide a high quality software lineup.

Why not just "Wii 2"?  Retains the "Wii" brand's equity while distinctly being described as the newest version.

As for the hardware revision, I recall a former co-worker berating me because I mentioned how I was a fan of the Playstation 3 system/games, and how he couldn't understand how I could be a devotee of a company that is so abusive towards their customers.  Mentioned that I should sell my PS3 and get an Xbox or buy more Nintendo games.

Frankly, this revision makes it seem like Nintendo has contempt for their fanbase.

If someone waited until this point to buy a Wii, do they really qualify as part of Nintendo's fan base?

I agree. The only problem is if Nintendo wanted to keep using the Gamecube brand name they would be forced to design their consoles in a cube form, so that wouldn't have worked with the Wii which is rectangular. Its a shame the Gamecube failed, but the name itself was fine and had nothing at all to do with the failure.

Designing the GC to look like a purple lunchbox was the worst thing Nintendo could have done. Because it was a purple lunchbox no one wanted to be caught dead with it. Going around with a purple lunchbox is the equivalent of wearing a pink tutu to highschool. So people tended to steer clear of it. Of course, I had the Platinum GC so mine actually looked cool and I wasn't embarassed to own it. That should have been the default color of the system from launch.

If you think about it the Wii is the exact opposite of the GC, because the GC had a cool name but crappy appearance but the Wii looked sleek yet it had the lamest name of all time.

It all depends on if Nintendo thinks they can get by with the Playstation 2/3 approach.  Otherwise known as the NES/SNES approach.

The Wii kept the GC backwards compatibility far longer than the PS3 did with PS2 BC. Plus as Insanolord pointed out, anyone who is only now just getting the Wii probably doesn't care or would even know about the GC stuff anyway. Sony pulling the plug on the PS2 emulation was a much worse slap in the face. Not to mention that Other OS and PSN business, but that's another story...

Backwards compatibility history, as I remember it:


Handhelds
GB Colour, fully backwards compatible with GB, even added new features to old games.
GBA, fully backwards compatible with GB, just looked a bit stupid with the carts sticking out.
GBA SP, fully backwards compatible with GB, now even more stupid with the carts sticking out even more.
GB Micro, removed all backward compatibility, including GB games, GBA accessories and GBA power cables.

DS Lite, fully backwards compatible with GBA and DS
DSi, Nintendo pulled the plug on GBA and peripheral support, added region locking
3DS fully backwards compatible with DS games


Consoles:
NES 2 - fully compatible with NES, actually made it region free apparently.
SNES -  no backward compatibility, except if you include the Super GB
SNES 2 - fully backwards compatible with SNES
N64 - no backward compatibility, except if you include the WideBoy
GameCube - no backward compatibility, except if you include the GB player
Wii - fully backwards compatible with GC
Wii Lite - no backward compatibility with GC
Wii U - fully backwards compatible with Wii

Also the GBA/DS approach, and currently the DS/3DS approach. I think it's a pretty safe bet that they'll go with it.

And yet it's still awesome. Huge battery life, tiny tiny size, and an amazing library (even if many of the best games are SNES ports). Here's hoping Mario Tennis wins the RetroActive poll so I get to bring my Micro out again.

Gamecube was a great name.  It described what it did and sounded coolish.  Wii not my choice but at least creative.  3DS fits much like Gamecube.  What you liked about the DS with 3D.  Wii U I really don't think fits those mold.  Its not the Wii.  Motion controls are not the focus in fact I argue its about as far away you could get and still be playing games.

Simply Wii U is its own beast and deserves to be treated as such.