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Wii

Wii Coming to China, South Korea in 2008

by Mike Thomsen - October 29, 2007, 8:52 pm EDT
Total comments: 6 Source: Reuters

Iwata promises expansion into new markets next year.

With Nintendo riding high on the Wii’s continuing rise into the stratosphere, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata recently announced plans to further expand its hardware distribution into both China and South Korea. While Iwata referenced the huge demand for the Wii that has continued to outpace Nintendo's increased manufacturing plans, he seemed optimistic about expanding the Wii's reach in the new year. "Our responsibility now is to deliver as many consoles as we can to existing markets," Iwata said. "But next year, I think we can bring the Wii (to China)."

The announcement is a significant one. Piracy has long been a major concern of Nintendo, and China is among the most notorious countries in the world for selling pirated software. Nintendo has experimented with ways of entering into the Chinese market in year's past, most recently with the iQue Player , a controller that connected directly to TVs and could play N64 games from purchasable cards. Iwata made no specific mention of how Nintendo would attempt to position the Wii in the Chinese or South Korean marketplaces with regard to price or number of units planned for shipment.

Expect more news in the coming months as Nintendo gears up for what could be a historic launch into uncharted waters.

Talkback

nickmitchOctober 29, 2007

So, I guess Nintendo has enough money to gamble the dice here. It should prove to be quite the successful venture. However, if Miyamoto keeps finding his game inspiration from his home life, then I fear that the nex big Wii title will be "Wii Swim in Money."

NWR_pap64Pedro Hernandez, Contributing WriterOctober 29, 2007

The Wii is doomed. The Vii is where its at!

KDR_11kOctober 29, 2007

Better than Emacs 360 any day!

scot00October 30, 2007

WTF I cant even find a WII here and there gonna start sending them to South Korea..Oh well..

I cant wait to try "Wii Swim in Money." LOL

-Scot00

UltimatePartyBearOctober 30, 2007

As long as Nintendo's making money off the hardware, I think they can deal with rampant piracy reducing their potential sales volume. It would be stupid to stay out of a market that big just out of fear of the piracy bogeyman.

nickmitchOctober 30, 2007

Nintendo's been able to deal with the piracy issue for some time now. They've actually gotten pretty good at it. That's the most risky part of this venture, but Nintendo has the money and skill to keep in to a minimum, even if eliminating it is out of the question.

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