Nintendo To Launch Wii Mini—But Only In Canada
Just $99 for a Wii? Now it’s our turn in the US to look north with green-eyed jealousy. Nintendo announced it will release a compact size of its original Wii—the Wii mini—Dec. 7. The Wii Mini will sell for just $99, but only in Canada.
Nintendo will use the same processor to power the Wii Mini as the original full-sized model, but it will not include Internet access. What it does offer is a redesigned package, including a red and black matte finish as well as a matching red controller and nunchuk. But why do only Canadian gamers get it? Nintendo is mum on the issue.
“Perhaps is a quiet, limited relaunch is a good thing,” ABC’s Dan Milano told the Christian Science Monitor. “saving less knowledgeable parents and relatives from picking up the wrong ‘new Wii’ and causing Christmas morning disappointment.”
Possibly, as more American youngsters will probably be expecting Santa to leave the new Wii U under the tree this year. And Nintendo likely doesn’t want to detract attention from its next-generation console before competitors Microsoft and Sony hit the market with their newer models next year. Plus, the full-sized original Wii can be purchased for just $120 now. But the small release of the Wii Mini is likely to make Nintendo collectors go wild with envy and EBay prices to skyrocket.
As Forbes notes a Facebook entry: “The idea of owning “that one weird Wii they released only in Canada in Christmas 2012″ appeals somehow.”
