Wii mini, or: Unnecessary console redesigns 101

Exclusive to Canada until at least 2013.

Top-loading disc drive, no WiFi connectivity, no Gamecube ports, no SD card slot. No pack-in title, either. Oh, and it's $100. So, even for the parents looking for the cheapest console possible for their brats... you're better off buying a non-gimp Wii used.

Looks kinda cool in a very 70's/80's way, but still. Who is the target audience for this?

It's like a redux of the Game Boy Micro.

Only thing I can think of - kill Wii production, replace it with this thing to make the distinction between the consoles more visible? But... why? Why not just un-fuck your marketing?

Why does this console exist? Who are they trying to sell it to? Who is actually going to say "Well, I hadn't owned a Wii, but now that it's shittier, that's too good to turn down."?

Maybe the plan is to sell it at cost in developing countries, to open up a market for software? But then why the fuck are they selling it in Canada?

That would be the reverse problem. Smoky Bacon potato chips are unquestionably things that should exist. The Wee Miini is the opposite of that.

Does it have a wired Ethernet port? I can understand the other cuts. Mostly. But I don't understand not having network connectivity of any kind.

No. Remains to be seen whether or not it's compatible with the USB Ethernet adapter; my guess is that they've pulled the shop/messagebox/etc. out of the system menu, though.

People who want a Wii and don't mind a smaller, cheaper one? It's not shittier in any way that matters to a typical Wii buyer.

...The Wii has supported 64MB/128MB/256MB NAND chips for ages. They've never shipped one with even less storage on the board, but they could have.

Five bucks says this one is finally using those. Which makes sense, mind you; for saves, even 64MB is enough to last you forever.

And the problem here is that it's not substantially cheaper; you can get a used non-mini Wii for $80 CN.

I did read the thread. I just reread the thread trying to see what I missed. I still see fuckall about wired connectivity, only WiFi. Did I miss it somewhere? Or are you talking about your own unsupported assertion that lack of network connectivity was a design goal, in which case go fuck yourself?

To play devil's advocate here, Nintendo forgets that the Ethernet adapter exists often enough...

Was there a particular reason you couldn't answer the question the first time? Cramps?

One does not simply ask Charles to answer the question the first time.

^^^ edit: the Xbox 360 did exactly that. And Nintendo has always been Internet-dumb.

That seems like a missed sales opportunity. That means no Wii Shop sales, including Virtual Console games, which are pretty much pure profit.

On the bright side, maybe this might result in some purchases of the $5 copies of Sin & Punishment 2 that are literally everywhere. Right? Right?

I'm going to go hang myself now.

I want to play Rhythm Heaven enough that I might conceivably get one of these someday, even though I really don't want a Wii.

Dolphin doesn't work very well with Rhythm Heaven

Given that the Xbox 360 wireless adapter was was available at launch, I'm unclear on the distinction between "left out" and "didn't support out of the box," as well as why it's worth making.

I did read that, but I am skeptical that "parents who didn't buy a Wii for this reason" is a larger revenue stream than "as-yet untapped eShop customers." Sadly, we have no resolution available for either claim at this point since both positions are based on gut feelings.

I see Charles point, but I think it's mostly moot. I'd guess that their are two types of parents, ones that are internet savvy enough to want to control their kids access to the net and realize the wii can be connected to the internet, and parents who have no idea that the wii can even be connected to the internet in the first place. The first group can reasonably stop their children from going online with a wii easily already. The second group has no idea that they might even want to.

EDIT: As for its missing presence, I'm guessing WiiWare and online sales for the Wii are absolutely dismal.

I can't disprove Charles' theory, just as he can't prove it, but for this to be worth doing Nintendo would have to calculate that enough parents would buy this and not the existing model, for this reason, to justify both a. foregoing eShop sales, including Virtual Console games, and b. retooling lines of production to produce this new model. I am skeptical that these things are true.

I think it's more likely that Nintendo believes a stripped down, less feature-filled model will revitalize flagging hardware sales enough to justify those costs and lost revenues.

Seriously, everything about this product has a very simple, reasonable explanation. I know you guys like to slam Nintendo as much as possible, but doesn't the Wii U give you enough opportunities to do that?

I think it's mostly sad they're giving up on the eShop stuff. The 2d, casual games that are easier for indie devs to make, would've had a great audience on the wii.

I wouldn't call not including the eShop on a late-in-life refresh of their outgoing console giving up on it. After all, the previous model Wii that does support it is still for sale and their new console also supports it.

That tells you nothing at all about their reason for removing network connectivity, your speculation about which is the entirety of the subject of discussion. Is it really necessary to be this smug and condescending while being this dumb?

One does not simply assume Nintendo will do things that make any sense.

You're the one who picked this fight, shitbird, not me. I should've put you on ignore ages ago, I'll do that now I guess.

Get a room, you two.

So, is cutting costs and producing a product with a reduced sticker price but higher profitability really not the reason? Cause that's the first thing I thought of.

They cut the Wii down to its bare bones and are seeing how well it might sell. I doubt there was much conscious thought about the networking and the store beyond "we can save production costs by not including a wifi chip."

Most likely, and I wouldn't be confused at all if this was $70.

It's the price point I don't get; they're competing with all the product they already have in the marketplace, and at $100 it's not a favorable comparison.

It's $50 cheaper than the only other available SKU. Admittedly that comes with a game but unless you intend on getting SMB Wii that may not be much of a selling point for you.

That's not Nintendo's problem.

Nintendo's problem is that they've shipped a ton of consoles, and many of those have re-entered circulation; their price is too high to compete with used product, and cutting features to get to this price point doesn't help them there.

Oh no it won't play all 2 e-shop games worth playing.