Whee! It's Wii! Ok, is everyone over the name now? Good. Because there are some exciting occourances over at the Nintendo camp. Let's take a look.
First of all, this is the new format. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, look for a new post. Rather than trying to comment on every single bit of new in the industry (there are tons of places that probably do it better anyway), I'll be making large, general posts that cover a couple topics. There may be other mini updates as well, so be sure to keep checking!
The big news of today is that Reggie Fils-Aime has been promoted to President of Nintendo of North America effective immediately. This is pretty exciting news. He is after all the man who has basically convinced the world that the DS works and we do in fact need even smaller GBAs. Since he first appeared at E3 three years ago, he has been electric in the gaming scene. Now he has the job of convincing the world that the Wii will work too. My concern is that his presence at E3 next year will be diminished since he is out of marketing. Hopefully he'll still come out to take some names and kick some ass.
For even more good news from Nintendo, it appears the Wii will cost you no more than $250. This is excellent news. It's also what I guessed for the system, though I also strongly feel that they may go for $200. Why do I say this? If you take a look back, every single Nintendo home console (NES, SNES, N64, and GCN) has launched for $200. Seems a shame to break tradition. I can only assume that the prices for Wii games will match that of the current gen. So hopefully I won't be shelling out $60 for Twilight Princess (this remains my strongest beef with the 360). And further more, Sony is really screwed. I can buy a premium 360 and a Wii for almost the cost of a PS3. You make the decision. No really, I'll wait.
But, as the old addage goes, just to remind you it's Nintendo, they've gone ahead and screwed a few things up too. We all know that the Wii will not support HD and I've come to accept it. However, it has also been announced that it will also not support Dolby Digital 5.1. Now this shouldn't be too much of a surprise. After all, the Gamecube didn't and I honestly didn't expect the Wii to either. But then they announced that little speaker in the controller. Personally, I'm a nut for surround sound. Nothing beats sneaking around in a game and
hearing something creep up behind you. So when I discovered I'll actually hear my arrows travel from my hand to the TV, I cried tears of positional audio joy. Such attention to audio made me believe that they would put the 5.1 in. Alas this is not to be. We'll still probably get Dolby Pro Logic II, but I had really hoped for true digital surround. It just seems contrary to the whole emphasis on positional sound in the remote. Oh well, it's better than nothing (and still going to be really freaking cool).
What is even more distressing is the word that there will only be 6 million consoles on hand world wide. And that is from launch until March 31, 2007! That's really not a lot of consoles. I'll certainly be putting my money down on one, as I do not feel like waiting in line 12 hours again (which I did for my 360). This shortage is distressing, and it means two things. Once again, little Johnny won't be getting that shiny new Wii he wanted for Christmas (and he certainly won't be getting a PS3). However, he may end up with a shiny new Xbox 360 instead. This doesn't hurt Nintendo as much, as people are a bit more apt to have $250 available in the Spring. But $600? Good luck Sony.
And don't even get me started on those jerks who buy up all the consoles from actual gamers who want to play them so they can sell them for double the price on Ebay. People like that are why console launches are the disasters they are.
So that's what's up at Nintendo. Now that I've set this new schedule, I'll be breaking it on Monday since it will be Memorial Day and I'll be home grilling. Maybe there will be a bonus post on Tuesday. And there will also be a nice surprise later tonight if all goes well. But you all have a fun holiday weekend and I'll talk to you later.
