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No Wii jokes, I swear.

It's coming for you and your children, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.



So everything (pretty much) has been laid out on the table. The big things you need to know:
1. $250
2. Nov. 19th
3. Zelda (pictured above) at launch day

That's right folks, just in time for the holiday season you'll be able to get your grubby little hands on Nintendo's latest creation, the Wii. For only $250 you not only get the system and one controller/nunchuck combination, but also the game Wii Sports as well. My feelings on including a pack in game (something not done at launch by a system since the Super Nintendo) are mixed, especially when it appears that many of the games included on Wii Sports (Tennis, Golf, Boxing, Bowling, and Baseball so far) are of the fluffy filler variety. However at this point there's not too much I will be able to do about it. As for the price, I think it's right on target, although the option of $200 minus that game would've been welcome.

Other details to come out of Nintendo's NY City press conference include the Wii-mote and Nunchuck selling by themselves for $40 and $20 respectively. This seems a little high, as I was feeling more like $30 and $15, but whatever. Nintendo builds pretty much indestuctible stuff so I'm down. Also, it appears the Wii will not be able to play DVD's as was previously speculated by some. Again, no biggie here. You want DVD playback, buy a freakin Xbox 360 or PS3, or better yet use one of the damn DVD players you already own. On the downer side of things, at launch there will be no support for external hard drives to store online downloadable content, which mostly consists of the Virtual Console games. I don't think this is a big issue for most NES and Super NES games, but I have a feeling those N64 games take up a bit more space. And lastly, the nerds let out a cheer at the news that Nintendo made Wii games will be region free, and other publishers are likely to follow suit. This means if you feel like importing, it'll be that much easier.

On the game side, no big surprises. Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess will be available at launch, along with about two dozen other games. Thirty or so total games will be availbale by the years end, and several more by the end of the March 2007. What am I going to be playing on launch day(which I just realized is a Sunday)? Well Zelda is a given(duh). Other than that, I think there is a solid chance of me coming home with at least one other game, likely to be Red Steel(first person Yakuza themed shooter/sword-fighting game), Rayman Raving Rabbids(brightly colored platformer featuring several mini games and crazy ass rabbits), or Trauma Center: Second Opinion(Crazy surgery game that's a follow up to a steller Nintendo DS title).

So there you have it. After months of speculation, it's now time to start the real test of a gamers endurance: waiting patiently for a new system. I personally need to get a new TV before then, otherwise I'm gonna be pretty sad staring at all the other kids as they get to enjoy their Wii before I do. Let me know what you think about the big news.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Will there be virtual sword fights with the Red Steel game? I don't care too much about a virtual tennis racket. I want a virtual sword that lops off virtual heads. Zombie heads ideally.
1:57 PM, September 22, 2006
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