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[Alcibiades]

I'm not so sure about that. The older $99.00 model without GameCube controller support was removed from all store shelves in Canada in favor for this model. The original Wii model still exists, but it is only available as the black NSMB Wii bundle which costs $150.00 at retail. If you live in Canada and still want an original Wii without the NSMB pack in, your only bets are to check Ebay, or order one from an American retailer.

I swear, this model only exists to just push people into paying more money for the non gimped NSMB Wii bundle version.

I've seen people on this forum complain about Nintendo not playing "Santa" in the past. Well... from their point of view, there's no money to be made in playing Santa, they would rather play the role of Scrooge instead.

Didn't know the older models had been removed from shelves - that does change the equation. In the U.S. they only have bundle versions, no barebones. $130 for Wii Sports or Just Dance so there is no $99 version here and there never was.

I'm surprised Canada had such a low-priced model to begin with. Wiimotes seem to be $45 and Nunchucks $25 - making a spare Wii system (regular or newly gimped) just $30 more. The price disparity between a Wiimote + Nunchuck and Wii systems in the U.S. is way more than 30 bucks.

 

[burst]

$100 for late 90s/early 00s tech.

 

[MrBS]

No component?

 

[Pooya]

Who in Europe is going to import one of these things without knowing exactly what it is? I know Eurogamer's readership is not exclusively European, but still... it's a limited product most people won't be able to get anyway... a teardown? it just isn't something I'd have bothered with to this extent if I were them.

You think this will remain in Canada forever? They didn't make this model just for the very very small market of Canada, this is going to be distributed everywhere next year, there is no if about that.

 

[mrklaw]

Aren't component cables pretty rare? Maybe Nintendo realised that nobody outside of gaming forums was using component and so just dropped it?

 

[Pooya]

Aren't component cables pretty rare? Maybe Nintendo realised that nobody outside of gaming forums was using component and so just dropped it?

are you serious? no, they are not rare, pretty much any TV supports component, even the newest models, maybe not for HD resolution.

Wii U supports component, with same Wii cable.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Lol.I remember people in the last thread defending it when asked why they won't buy a regular Wii that comes with a game instead.

He's probably upset they're critiquing Nintendo no matter what the reason instead of letting people be aware of how shit this redesign is.

Duhurrr hurrrr yeah. Of course. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

The kind of people who read digital foundry already know this thing is shit. Even before we learned the omission of component, the press release essentially said to the hardcore enthusiast - "don't buy one of these"... from my point of view its a shame, especially to hear its not as small as it initially looked. Reviews I can understand, there is the remote risk that someone might import one as a collectors item or something, but an import from Canada, the only territory selling it, and a full teardown - reeks of a site with more money than sense and nothing better to do. I suppose this is what DF do though.

 

[BocoDragon]

Aren't component cables pretty rare? Maybe Nintendo realised that nobody outside of gaming forums was using component and so just dropped it?

For all we know, that could be true. The masses don't care about getting good picture quality on something like a Wii.

 

[Amir0x]

Who in Europe is going to import one of these things without knowing exactly what it is? I know Eurogamer's readership is not exclusively European, but still... it's a limited product most people won't be able to get anyway... a teardown? it just isn't something I'd have bothered with to this extent if I were them.

Duhurrr hurrrr yeah. Of course. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

The kind of people who read digital foundry already know this thing is shit. Even before we learned the omission of component, the press release essentially said to the hardcore enthusiast - "don't buy one of these"... from my point of view its a shame, especially to hear its not as small as it initially looked. Reviews I can understand, there is the remote risk that someone might import one as a collectors item or something, but an import from Canada, the only territory selling it, and a full teardown - reeks of a site with more money than sense and nothing better to do. I suppose this is what DF do though.

Any game related news is worthy of discussion. I'm not really sure why you think they should arbitrarily draw a line over what game news to talk about, since this is undoubtedly game news and this is undoubtedly something nobody else has done yet.

You can say it may be redundant, whatever, but it is informing customers. And to boot, more than just people in Europe read Eurogamer. I know I do from time to time. Those people may even be Canadians.

No matter how you slice it, this is an article that was interesting to read and has the potential to inform some of their readers, since not everyone reads press releases.

 

[Marco1]

Is there a reason why the couldn't have thrown a HDMI connection on there?
Would it really have bumped the cost up much!

 

[Ushojax]

Aren't component cables pretty rare? Maybe Nintendo realised that nobody outside of gaming forums was using component and so just dropped it?

There probably is some truth to that. Most people plug in the cables that come in the box and that's it. Most people do not care about cables and never will.

Not that I defend the removal of the component option.

 

[Allan Holdsworth]

So the only reason to get this would be for collector purposes. It's pretty bad value compared to the $130 one.

 

[Rich!]

Aren't component cables pretty rare? Maybe Nintendo realised that nobody outside of gaming forums was using component and so just dropped it?

Back at Blockbuster, we were pretty much encouraged to sell component cables with every single Wii, using the better picture quality as a selling point. I know GAME were the same.

Not rare at all in the UK, really. Even so I guarantee half the people who own a Wii use the shitty RCA ones because they don't know any better. Or even care. Most customers didn't want to buy the component cables - they were fine with the basics.

Take my girlfriends dad for example. He has a brand new, 3D enabled Panasonic plasma that cost near a grand. EVERYTHING is linked through his VCR, which is connected via composite through a SCART adapter. Not even kidding. Its fucking horrendous.

And no matter what we all tell him, he refuses to believe that he could be doing it better any other way. He would love a Wii Mini.

 

[radioheadrule83]

Any game related news is worthy of discussion. I'm not really sure why you think they should arbitrarily draw a line over what game news to talk about, since this is undoubtedly game news and this is undoubtedly something nobody else has done yet.

You can say it may be redundant, whatever, but it is informing customers. And to boot, more than just people in Europe read Eurogamer. I know I do from time to time. Those people may even be Canadians.

No matter how you slice it, this is an article that was interesting to read and has the potential to inform some of their readers, since not everyone reads press releases.

Actually, you're right, that's fair enough. I can't say I found it interesting to read, but you're right, it may serve to warn someone I guess. Proceed, GAF..

 

[CrunchinJelly]

It blows my mind that they removed component support and support for the USB Ethernet adapter.

 

[Jburton]

They pulled component support from the PAL GameCube too.

Pinch those pennies, Nintendo!

Although known for quality software their hardware has been cheap from N64 onwards.

 

[DonMigs85]

Reminds me of the SNES 2.0 losing support for S-Video lol.
Still ridiculous they cut component support though. I guess they wanted to make it as simple a toy to set up as possible.

 

[Yuripaw]

I'm curious, even though it doesn't have wifi, if someone were to plug in an usb ethernet adapter, would it work online then? Or does it just not any support in the OS for online, and wii shop.

 

[Alcibiades]

Take my girlfriends dad for example. He has a brand new, 3D enabled Panasonic plasma that cost near a grand. EVERYTHING is linked through his VCR, which is connected via composite through a SCART adapter. Not even kidding. Its fucking horrendous.

Don't know if things have changed much, but a couple of years ago it was not uncommon for people to think that coaxial signals from the cable company and regular old DVD through RCA were giving them awesome HD quality on their new flat screen. The young adult male with disposable income is a little more savvy of course, but on the whole I've found that people don't care about picture quality. I've got 30+ geeky/nerdy-type friends and I think maybe 2-3 care about HD and are the type that would bother to get component cables for Wii. Even a lot of hardcore gamers don't care - as long as they could play the latest DDR or Street Fighter thats all they cared about.

 

[DonMigs85]

I'm curious, even though it doesn't have wifi, if someone were to plug in an usb ethernet adapter, would it work online then? Or does it just not any support in the OS for online, and wii shop.

That was explained in the OP!

 

[Yagharek]

I'm not claiming credit for this line, but a poster on another forum said this:

Still looks like a McDonalds burger box, except when i eat McDonalds i can get wifi

 

[Jburton]

I'm curious, even though it doesn't have wifi, if someone were to plug in an usb ethernet adapter, would it work online then? Or does it just not any support in the OS for online, and wii shop.

It is in the OP, they gimped the OS as well as the hardware.

 

[Rich!]

Don't know if things have changed much, but a couple of years ago it was not uncommon for people to think that coaxial signals from the cable company and regular old DVD through RCA were giving them awesome HD quality on their new flat screen. The young adult male with disposable income is a little more savvy of course, but on the whole I've found that people don't care about picture quality. I've got 30+ geeky/nerdy-type friends and I think maybe 2-3 care about HD and are the type that would bother to get component cables for Wii. Even a lot of hardcore gamers don't care - as long as they could play the latest DDR or Street Fighter thats all they cared about.

Going by the amount of people who refused to buy HDMI cables for their 360s and PS3s, even though they were dirt cheap kinda proves that a lot of people just don't give a shit.

Hopefully the forced HDMI set up with the Wii U will force people to change their ways...and Sony and Microsoft had better add in an HDMI cable as standard with all of their next consoles too.

 

[NinjaBoiX]

I'm not claiming credit for this line, but a poster on another forum said this:

The wifi comment is pretty funny, but as it doesn't, nor has it ever, looked like a McD's burger box, the joke kind of falls apart. He obviously was just dying to get the wifi joke in, by hook or by crook.

 

[Psychotext]

The machine seems like an poor decision overall. They could have used it to replace the Wii and get a few more sales (and lower the hardware / shipment costs) before it stops selling completely.

With the missing functionality they'll never be able to do that though.

 

[Madao]

all things considered, $100 is too much for this thing. should be $70-80.

 

[Cheerilee]

The wifi comment is pretty funny, but as it doesn't, nor has it ever, looked like a McD's burger box, the joke kind of falls apart. He obviously was just dying to get the wifi joke in, by hook or by crook.

It's the side angles.

 

[spekkeh]

I could never justify 40€ in order to go from crap quality to progressive crap quality anyway.
However, HDMI out should now be standard, so its omission is inexcusable. But then pretty much the existence of this entire fugly brick that's barely cheaper than the prime version, is.

 

[Darklord]

I kinda want one the same way I want a virtual boy. Screw using it. I want this fuck up as a collectors item.

 

[VOOK]

Who in Europe is going to import one of these things without knowing exactly what it is? I know Eurogamer's readership is not exclusively European, but still... it's a limited product most people won't be able to get anyway... a teardown? it just isn't something I'd have bothered with to this extent if I were them.

I import Japanese games and most of my readers can't read nor play these games but I still cover them.

People want to know about this stuff.

 

[Neoriceisgood]

Why the hell does anyone on GAF want this again? This is obviously made to pander to the poorest /can't afford a proper console at all/-type of audience.

If you want a proper why, why not buy a regular wii? Or am I missing something crucial here?

 

[Rich!]

Why the hell does anyone on GAF want this again? This is obviously made to pander to the poorest /can't afford a proper console at all/-type of audience.

If you want a proper why, why not buy a regular wii? Or am I missing something crucial here?

What gave you the impression that anyone on GAF wanted one?

 

[Burai]

Why the hell does anyone on GAF want this again? This is obviously made to pander to the poorest /can't afford a proper console at all/-type of audience.

If you want a proper why, why not buy a regular wii? Or am I missing something crucial here?

It's baffling. It's like getting angry because Ford unveil a new entry trim level for the car you already own.

What gave you the impression that anyone on GAF wanted one?

The sheer amount of outrage?

 

[troushers]

This is like the hardware equivalent of Super Mario All-Stars - 25th Anniversary Edition. A baffling, barebones cash grab.

 

[Takamura-San]

This looks like a Chinese (no offense) Bootleg wii with 20 games preloaded and the system is the controller.

 

[Rich!]

It's baffling. It's like getting angry because Ford unveil a new entry trim level for the car you already own.



The sheer amount of outrage?

People have the right to be outraged at something regardless of whether they are going to buy it or not.

I guess.

 

[nib95]

No internet or component? Lol. Seriously wtf. Shameful release.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

"We can save two cents per unit if we remove the internet capability."

"Do it."

"And Component Cable support?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

 

[insin]

It's not for you.

This always seems to be the thing that grates the most with the entitled manchild subset of gamers.

 

[liger05]

Everytime I see this thing I think of dreamcast.

 

[Marche90]

Wow. You guys make me feel bad about not complaining of my Wii setup. I never bought the Component cables nor I wanted those, and I feel that it plays just fine on my HDTV. Figures...

 

[nib95]

Wow. You guys make me feel bad about not complaining of my Wii setup. I never bought the Component cables nor I wanted those, and I feel that it plays just fine on my HDTV. Figures...

Ignorance is bliss?

 

[SmokyDave]

This always seems to be the thing that grates the most with the entitled manchild subset of gamers.

I read this post and my eyes rolled so hard I'm now looking into my skull. Thank fuck for touch-typing.

 

[Kokonoe]

If the price was cheaper then there wouldn't be any real issues, but you can get a Wii with everything else for that price.

 

[H_Prestige]

Lol what a piece of shit.

 

[The Elite]

It's selling at the local Futureshop I frequent. I hope they are warning people that this thing can't use the Net/Netflix.

 

[Wiz]

They should just sell these in countries like China, India etc. Still confused as to why they chose Canada. And lol at some of the responses, was anyone planning on getting one of these (If they weren't so terrible)?

 

[Captain Smoker]

1.) Nobody here want's to buy one
2.) It's exclusive to Canada <---!!!


GAF: outrage

just lol

 

[zephervack]

Only way i could justify the price for this is if someone gets the homebrew channel running somehow, but im guessing no one is gonna bother, this being available only in Canada.

It would make a nice sort-a cheap emulation box.

 

[Htown]

Composite only?

What the hell?

Seriously, someone at Nintendo has lost their goddamn mind in the past two years.

This always seems to be the thing that grates the most with the entitled manchild subset of gamers.

Not as much as the slightest criticism seems to grate with the corporate ballwasher subset of gamers.