*Possible* Wii Europe Price + Launch Date

[Warlock]

http://wii.ign.com/articles/731/731722p1.html

Keep in mind this is for Europe only (hoping that launch date is later than the US/Japan one :P) and not 100% official (trade magazine, not Nintendo themselves) so it may be wrong. But it's the closest thing to a date/price so far.


Nintendo will release the Wii in Europe by 24 November for £149, according to games industry trade magazine MCV. The paper also claims there will be enough consoles to cater for demand both at launch and during the busy Christmas period.

I did a quick check and £149 ~ $180. So a $200 or less price point seems really likely.

The release date seems wrong in the "we will launch before PS3" aspect, but then again, it's Europe so maybe Nintendo doesn't have a worldwide simultaneous release with this.

[erm2003]

Europe isn't going to see the PS3 until 2007 correct? So even if Nintendo does push back the Wii date to late November in Europe they will still beat out Sony by at least a month if not more depending on Sony's actual release date.

Hopefully the date in North America will be earlier than that to counter Sony's release here.

[Warlock]

Europe isn't going to see the PS3 until 2007 correct? So even if Nintendo does push back the Wii date to late November in Europe they will still beat out Sony by at least a month if not more depending on Sony's actual release date.

Hopefully the date in North America will be earlier than that to counter Sony's release here.

Yeah, *if* this is accurate (it's just a trade magazine - not Nintendo) I hope the date is at least Europe-only.

[Orion]

You'll know for sure this Thursday night.

[Darth Marsden]

I hope it's true! £150 would be a dream come true for me... I could actually afford that.

[Modus Ponens]

I'm telling you, guys, it's going to be $170 for SURE!

Edit: Yes! Wrong thread! I ROCK.

[MottZilla]

You were wrong, check the other thread. ;p

[Orion]

There's an article on IGN saying now that it will release in Europe in March. I dunno how reputable their source is, but, it would make sense with the PS3, and also piss off a few people. Glad I don't live in Europe.

Either way, we'll know for sure later once that European press deal rolls around.

[MottZilla]

They say that the source is known for not being the brightest and may just be confused or misinformed. I would be surprised if the PAL launch frame isn't within a few weeks of the US/Japan launch.

[dadio]

We`ll know for sure in a few hours when the official announcement is made.. but I have my fingers crossed tightly for that November 24th release, that would be great! However.. how likely is it that it would launch in Europe before Japan?.. with Japan being the last place to get it? Extremely unlikely I think.
I reckon a mid December launch for Europe. (if that March 2007 Sony-esque launch date is right then it looks like I`ll be taking a short trip to America:)
Quick question for anyone paying attention to Wii tech:
the system`s games are region free, which is great.. but what about output from the console itself? Do we have a PAL/NTSC switch anywhere by any chance? (I doubt it.. but just curious)

[MottZilla]

Very unlikely. You will either buy a NTSC or PAL system and that'll be the standard you have to deal with.

[Cloral]

Offical release date for Europe: December 8th

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157699.html

[Warlock]

http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732728p2.html


IGN: Is the plan to keep Wii games region free? How about the online service - will users be restricted to UK content, or will they be able to dip into say Japanese services if they prefer to?

David Yarnton: The Wii will be region-coded.

IGN: There was a report we had out of the US…

David Yarnton: No that was a mistake… games and online services will be region coded.

So ya, sorry to burst your bubble on that. Blame IGN for being the morons that spread that false rumor to begin with :P

BTW, that article also hints that Metroid will have an online mode now (the guy says it will, then apparently someone stepped in and said "That's not been officially confirmed yet" which is just a fancy way of saying "Shut up you douchebag! You're spilling the beans too early!")

[Orion]

So ya, sorry to burst your bubble on that. Blame IGN for being the morons that spread that false rumor to begin with :P

Pretty sure it was a quote from Perrin Kaplan or however you spell her name, and it was she that was misinformed. IGN wasn't the only site that posted the news that the Wii was region free.

[dadio]

Disappointing. Region free would have been really nice (I hop back & forth between Ireland & Japan regularly & it would have worked out ideal for me..) damn.. & I`m *sure* there will be much better "free" & "special" retro games & stuff for download exclusively for Japan..:shakeno: (similar to their great Club Nintendo stuff) Ah.. region coding.. lame.. very lame indeed Nintendo. Well, I suppose at least us Europeans are getting the thing this year!
(I was afraid they were gonna push it back to March).. think I`ll book that later on.

[erm2003]

I don't know a whole lot about the region coding, but I was thinking maybe the Wii will have this because they will also be releasing a DVD adaptor for it as well. Do they need this so that the regional DVDs will play correctly through the Wii?

[MottZilla]

No DVDs will play on Wii, and it seems Nintendo may or may not sell something to enable DVD playback. Regional locks on DVD movies would likely be retained.

[vegeta1215]

I don't know a whole lot about the region coding, but I was thinking maybe the Wii will have this because they will also be releasing a DVD adaptor for it as well. Do they need this so that the regional DVDs will play correctly through the Wii?

They do it for a number of reasons, but the DVD thing isn't it. Besides, Nintendo already announced that Wii will not have DVD playback. (unless that was a screwup by someone too) http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732730p1.html

[erm2003]

I missed that update but I have to say that it's probably a smart move. Most people do have DVD players and I know that is not a reason why I am interested in purchasing a Wii. Thanks for the update.

[ctrl-alt-delete]

Glad to hear that the Europe users will not have to wait a lifetime to discover the Wii. Nintendo is making a lot of smart moves this generation.