As with the PS3 thread, this will have a lot of info (including previews for Wii launch games), so please wait while I get everything posted. Some general info regarding the Wii: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii http://wii.ign.com/launchguide/ http://wii.ign.com/articles/733/733464p1.html As with the PS3 Thread, there will be two spoiler buttons. The first one contains a bunch of general info regarding the Wii, while the other one contains some info about the launch games (think of the first post I make in (p)review threads). Spoiler Basic things first. The Wii will be released in North America on November 19th, December 2nd in Japan, and December 8th in Europe. The US price for the Wii is $249. Included with the system is the game Wii Sports, which I’ll talk about later. Along with that, you get one Wii-mote, one nunchuk attachment, a Wii stand, an AC adaptor, a composite audio/video cable, a sensor bar, a sensor bar stand, and two AA batteries for the controller. Unlike the situation with the Xbox and 360, the Wii should be in much better supply when it launches. I can’t recall if Nintendo has made official numbers about how many Wiis will be available on November 19th, but I believe there were reports that about 1M would be available in NA (~900K would go to the US). Do note that just because they are shipping more than their competitors, the Wii will still be in relatively low supply considering the high demand. The Wii has 2 USB 2.0 ports and one port for SD memory cards (which you can use to save games or upload/download media to/from); however, the Wii comes with 512MB of built-in flash, so isn’t necessary to have one of these (unless you want to transfer data I guess). Since the Wii is backwards compatible with the GC, it also has ports for GC controllers (4) and memory cards (2). Unlike the 360 and PS3, the Wii does not support HD, supporting only up to 480p; it does support 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. You can connect it to your TV with component, composite, or S-Video cables. Component cables are different from the GC component cables, and you have the option of getting them from Nintendo directly or from Best Buy, Circuit City, or Gamestop. The Wii comes with WiFi built-in. It does not have an Ethernet port. If for some reason you cannot use a wireless connection, Nintendo will be selling an Ethernet Kit for the Wii that you can use. I believe you can also use the USB WiFi dongle they released for the DS. What’s up with the controller? The Wii-mote is “…a one-handed controller that uses a combination of accelerometers and infrared detection (in conjunction with the sensor bar) to sense its position in 3D space.” Basically, it can sense pretty much any motion you make with it. In the game Red Steel for example, you can use the Wii-mote as a sword, swinging it to attack your enemies. Or you could use it as a gun, aiming and shooting at them instead. Unlike the PS3’s SIXAXIS controller, the Wii-mote does have force feedback (rumble). The controller also has a built-in speaker, which can be used in several innovative ways; in Red Steel, you must listen to the speaker to see who the “killer” is in one of the multiplayer modes (which is pretty cool IMO). Finally, each Wii-mote has 4KB of memory which stores personal settings for the player IIRC. At the base of the Wii-mote, there is a port that allows you to connect it to another controller, such as the nunchuk. What is a sensor bar? This is a sensor bar: The sensor bar is part of the reason why the Wii-mote can detect motion the way it does. The aiming of a gun that I described earlier requires the sensor bar in order to work; it basically will track what the Wii-mote is doing in order to use that motion for games. The sensor bar is about 20 cm long, and comes with a stand. What other controllers can I use? Along with the two main controllers already mentioned, Nintendo will also be releasing a “Classic Controller,” as seen below: As you can see, it resembles some of the past controllers, like a NES/SNES/GC hybrid. The main purpose of this controller is to allow the player to play classic games, current games, as well as multi-platform games…basically a way to play games that use traditional controls (such as fighting games). The controller will retail for $20 in the US. The only other official controller I can remember off the top of my head is the “Zapper” controller, which is basically a controller shaped like the classic NES light gun: There will most likely be more controllers in the future as needed. So I can play old-school games on this thing right? Which ones? A bunch of them. NES games, SNES games, N64 games, Sega Genesis games, and even TurboGrafx-16 games. The list of games announced so far is rather large, so I’ll just post a link to the Wikipedia entry about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Console_(Wii) In addition to those games, the Virtual Console service will also allow you to download and play new, smaller-budget titles. NES games will cost $5, TurboGrafx games will cost $6, SNES and Genesis games will cost $8, and N64 games will cost $10. Nintendo, like Microsoft, uses a point system when buying these games ($20 = 2000 points IIRC). How much will games cost? $50 seems to be the norm, just like current-gen games. Yea! Here’s what the games look like: More here: http://wii.ign.com/articles/744/744777p1.html Do note that, despite previous reports, Wii games will not be region free (those from Nintendo or from 3rd parties). Probably not a big deal for anyone here though, just bringing it up since NOA mistakenly said this was the case in the past. How big is the Wii? It is about as small as the PS3 is large. Some great comparison pics: Since it has USB ports, can I use a USB HDD? I don’t believe you can, or at least Nintendo hasn’t officially said you can. We might have to wait for a manual to go online or something like that. Does it play DVD movies? No, although Nintendo has expressed interest in releasing a future revision that might support it (probably in Japan only). With pretty much everyone having a DVD player, this isn’t really a big deal. What are Wii Channels? These are: They’re based around the concept of TV channels basically (weather, news, etc.). There are 8 main channels IIRC: Disc Channel, Mii Channel, News Channel, Forecast Channel, Photo Channel, Wii Shop Channel, Internet Channel and Virtual Console Channel. Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Channels You can also check out some videos of some of the channels at Youtube (for example, search for the “Mii Channel”). Pretty cool stuff. What’s the online service like? Nintendo is using the same online service they implemented with the DS (Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection), along with some changes of course. It is free to use this service, and all Nintendo games will be free; technically, 3rd parties have the option of charging for online play, but I think you can just call the online service free (like the PS3’s online service). Unlike the DS, you won’t have to mess with multiple friends codes for every game. Each system has a ID number which you will use to communicate with other friends (add these numbers to the address book). More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Wi-Fi_Connection#_note-4 Unfortunately, you won’t be able to play games online until sometime in 2007. Along with all that, there is also WiiConnect24. The Wii consumes very little power, and Nintendo is encouraging people to leave it in standby when not in use. The system never sleeps (as Nintendo puts it), so when you leave it in standby, the Wii will attempt to find any software updates to download. For example, someone can visit your town in Animal Crossing without you ever being present. There are some other uses for this feature, as well as some things that Nintendo may not want to reveal quite yet. So what does the launch lineup look like? Like this: Metal Slug Anthology Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz GT Pro Series Avatar: The Last Airbender Rampage Total Destruction The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy Cars Happy Feet Barnyard Rapala Tournament Fishing Word Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Madden NFL 07 Red Steel Splinter Cell Call of Duty 3 Rayman Raving Rabbids Marvel Ultimate Alliance Need For Speed Carbon Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam Excite Truck Monster 4X4: World Circuit Trauma Center: Second Opinion Wii Sports (which is included with the system) All of those games are currently scheduled to be out on launch day. By the end of the year, Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2, Blazing Angels, Far Cry Vengeance, Super Swing Golf, and Elebits will be released (along with some other games). Basically, there will be a ton of titles available for the Wii. Wait a minute…Zelda TP is a Wii title? I thought it was coming out on the Gamecube? It is, although not until December. Nintendo is releasing 2 versions of the game, one for the Wii and one for the Gamecube. Of course, the Wii version takes advantage of the Wii controller (sword swinging, bow and arrow control, etc), as well as the greater horsepower of the Wii (better graphics, 16:9 widescreen support). What is Wii Sports? Wii Sports is a collection of simple sports games that take advantage of the Wii controller. The sports confirmed to be in the game include boxing, golf, baseball, tennis, and bowling; as you can imagine, you can use the Wii controller as a tennis racket, a baseball bat, or whatever in these games. Along with taking advantage of the controller, Wii Sports will use the Mii feature, and probably the WiConnect24 (for leaderboards and stuff). Anything else? One cool thing is that you can freely download the Opera web browser for the Wii, which, like the PS3’s web browser, is fully functional. You can check out sites like Youtube, Google Video, ESPN, etc. Unfortunately, this will only be free to download up through the summer of next year (June IIRC). After that, it will no longer be free to download. A video of the Wii interface and how the Wii reads Wii/GC discs: <object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NjeQGUHDj7I"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NjeQGUHDj7I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> Spoiler The Wii has a bunch of titles coming out this year, but a lot of them are just kids games that I don’t think most of you need to see previews/reviews for. I’m going to give previews for pretty much all the games that aren’t based on a movie, TV show, or anything like that. If I don’t list a date, then that means the game should be out on launch day (according to Gamespot anyway). Metal Slug Anthology (Compilation) Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Party Game) GT Pro Series (GT/Street Racing) Rampage: Total Destruction (Action) Excite Truck (Racing) Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam (Skating) Need For Speed Carbon (GT/Street Racing) Monster 4X4: World Circuit (Rally/Off-road Racing) Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Simulation) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (AWESOMENESS!) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Action RPG) Madden NFL 07 (Football Sim) Wii Sports (Sports) Rayman Raving Rabbids (3D Platformer) Red Steel (Action) Call of Duty 3 (Historic FPS) Splinter Cell Double Agent (Modern Action Adventure) Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII (WWII Flight Sim) 12/5 Far Cry Vengeance (Modern FPS) 12/5 Super Swing Golf (Golf Sim) 12/12 Elebits (3D Platformer) Q4 2006 It seems like some of these games have not been previewed by Gamespot (or probably IGN), so I apologize if these previews don’t include any impressions from the game. Some of them do have preview videos at Gamespot, which you can find in the links I gave above for each game. Plus, I suppose you could find videos at Youtube. Feel free to ask any questions you have about the Wii. I doubt I came close to addressing everything in this post. Outside of maybe a few questions, I'm sure that either myself or someone else on the board can answer any questions that people want answers to. Also, as with the 360 and PS3 thread, I think it would be a good idea to use this thread as a way to help each other find Wiis when they go on sale. I will try to keep an eye on information that would be helpful to those in Houston or other regions. I can't promise that I'll find anything, but if you guys want me to keep an eye out on Wiis in a certain region (maybe Austin for example), just let me know. Some of those sentences sounded kind of awkward.
Spoiler Metal Slug Anthology No previews that I can find, although there is a video at Gamespot demonstrating the game. Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/supermonkeyballbananablitz/story.html?sid=6159450 GT Pro Series http://www.gamespot.com/wii/driving/gtproseries/news.html?sid=6159522 Rampage: Total Destruction No previews. Excite Trucks http://www.gamespot.com/wii/driving/excitetruck/story.html?sid=6160739 I think this game supports custom soundtracks, which is pretty cool. NFS Carbon No preview. Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/tonyhawksdownhilljam/story.html?sid=6156501
Spoiler Monster 4X4 http://www.gamespot.com/wii/driving/monster4x4worldcircuit/story.html?sid=6159708 Trauma Center: Second Opinion http://www.gamespot.com/wii/puzzle/traumacentersecondopinion/story.html?sid=6157693 Zelda: TP http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/thelegendofzelda/news.html?sid=6161057 (4 Pages) Marvel: Ultimate Alliance http://www.gamespot.com/wii/rpg/marvelultimatealliance/story.html?sid=6159384 Wii Sports http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/wiisports/story.html?sid=6160088 (Boxing Hands-on)
Spoiler Madden 07 http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/madden07/news.html?sid=6158903 Rayman Raving Rabbids http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/rayman4/story.html?sid=6159835 Red Steel http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/redsteel/story.html?sid=6159914 COD 3 http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/callofduty3/story.html?sid=6159455 Splinter Cell DA http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/splintercell4/story.html?sid=6161166 Blazing Angels No screens or previews at Gamespot. Far Cry Vengeance No preview. Elebits http://www.gamespot.com/wii/action/elebits/story.html?sid=6156419 Super Swing Golf http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/sukattogolfpangya/story.html?sid=6161053
I have my pre-order paid off and will be picking it up at midnight launch Sunday. I'm not getting any extra games until closer to Christmas. I bought this as a gift for my son and if I get Zelda or Another game I am going to feel the need to really try it out before he gets it. So I am going to prevent temptation by not getting any games until December. I will hook it up one day next week and play Wii Sports but I'll have to do it when my wife is away.
Nice. I have my preorder with Amazon.com (the 45 minutes they had preorders back on Sept 15th) and it's paid off (by cleverly buying/paying for and then using an Amazon Gift Certificate on the order )
My girlfriend and I both have ours reserved at a local Gamestop. We will both go there Saturday night to pick it up. I'll be getting Red Steel, Zelda and Excitetruck. She'll be getting Rayman, Super Monkey Ball and Zelda. I get the Wii in the morning and an Aerosmith concert at night. Whoo!
So yeah, there will be a new version of the Wii coming out next year that will play DVDs if you absolutely want it to have that feature: http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20061113005275&newsLang=en Edit: Not sure if the following article was written after the one I just linked to, but they're reiterating the fact that this is probably a Japan-only thing: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=21030
so who has pre-ordered and who is still looking to pre-order? to anyone that knows of retailers that are still taking pre-orders please list!
Does anyone know if Wii's will have many first release hardware problems like the 360 and PS3? I know that generally all first release consoles have problems but from what i remember, it seems like Nintendo never really has any problems with their systems.
PS3 isn't out in NA yet, so no one knows how reliable or unreliable it will be. There's a good chance it wont even have half the problems the 360 did. Nintendo used to have great quality control, recently it's been dipping. My first DS developed a few problems. Cracked hinge (common), lower screen slighly yellow (common), and touch screen malfunction (less common). THe second DS I purchased had 5 bad pixels so I returned it. My latest DS seems to be ok so far, but I've only had it for a couple of months.
The Wii is essentially a Gamecube hardware-wise, so I would hope it wouldn't have too many problems with overheating, bad chips, or things like that since they've had years of experience mass-producing the hardware. I suppose there could be some reliability issues with the sensor bar, the Wii-mote (or other controllers), or something like that, but I don't think those would really be a big deal (probably covered by Nintendo's warranty anyway, so they'll ship you a free replacement or something).
My girlfriend's birthday is saturday, so part of her birthday we'll spend waiting for gamestop to open at midnight to pick up my wii...with zelda of course. not too many of the other launch titles seem like they're going to impress, but I am flirting with the idea of picking up rayman: raving rabbids.
RC I have a job for you. I want to see the Wii specs and the GC Specs. Do you know of a website where I can do it side by side, or at the least 2 sites where I can look at both? I just have a curiosity about it and I know you can probably find it faster than I could. Thanks
I got my first taste of Wii today. I took my sister to a doctor's appointment and went over to the Gamestop on Bellaire and Buffalo SPDWY while I was waiting. You just give them your drivers license and they hand you a Wii-mote. They only had Excite Truck though. It was pretty fun, but it takes time to get used to.
Wikipedia is always nice for things like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamecube#Hardware_specifications http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii#Technical_specifications Not side by side, but close enough for now (especially since you could put them together on a BBS post I guess). When the specs were first released for the Wii, IGN had an article that compared them, but it isn't all that different than what's in the two Wikipedia entries (just together in a few paragraphs).
