Post by Max "Snow" Andershi on Sept 14, 2006 23:24:06 GMT -5
Earlier today, NoA held a press conference to announce new details on the Wii, including a launch date! A walkthrough with details on the many aspects announced are as follows(Including details for the Wii's international release as well):
Release Date:
US - November 19th, 2006
UK - December 8th, 2006
AU - December 7th, 2006
JP - December 2nd, 2006
Release Price:
US - $249.99
UK - €249 / £179
AU - $399.95
JP - ¥25000
Package Contents:
1 Remote Controller
1 Nunchuk attachment
AC Adaptor
A/V Cables
Sensor Bar
Sensor Bar Stand
Console Stand
2 (AA?) batteries
Wii Sports pack-in game (Wii Sports sold separately in Japan)
System Dimensions:
8.5" x 6" x ~2"
Specs:
As of right now, no concrete specs have been announced officially, so there is nothing to report, but if anything gets published, I'll add it here later.
Extra features:
The Wii will also support four remotes at the same time, and will have an SD card slot in the front to allow people to use a photo viewing and editing software that is available on the console. The system also has four Gamecube controller ports and two Gamecube memory card slots in order to make playing Gamecube games easier. In addition, the system will have two USB 2.0 ports which can be used for an adaptor to hook the Wii up to the internet, or for other purposes that haven't been touched on as of yet. However, it has been confirmed that only flash memory will be available for use as storage, with a potential for considering larger, USB-driven devices in the future.
Software:
15 launch titles have been announced, the full list being The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, Trauma Center, Madden 07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, Rayman: Raving Rabids, Red Steel, Barnyard, Cars, Avatar, Blazing Angels, and Far Cry: Vengeance. In addition, it has been announced that 15 more games will be released by the end of the year, bringing the total number of games up to 30. First-party titles will cost $49.99 and will be region-encoded, while third-party developers have the choice of setting their own price. This will translate to around €49-59/£34-39 for the European market.
Wiiconnect24:
The Wiiconnect24 service is a constant connection to the internet, even when the Wii is turned off. What this means is that Nintendo can potentially send out game demos or firmware upgrades while the system is off, making it so that you don't need to wait in order to get some important upgrade. This will also allow other functions of the console to get updated information for when you turn them on, streamlining the process for everyone.
Menu Interface:
When the Wii loads up, it will bring you to a GUI where you access the different sections of the Wii's functionality, also known as Channels. You select one using the remote and can then play around within the channel you've chosen. Here's a run-down of the different channels.
Disc Channel:
The Disc Channel is where you play whatever physical media has been inserted into the Wii, whether it be Wii software or Gamecube software. Most likely the games will have some sort of logo show up in the channel window when inserted, like Gamecube discs had in the Gamecube BIOS screen.
Mii Channel:
In the Mii Channel you will be able to create custom avatars for yourself and your friends. Through a rather detailed set of options, you can customise gender, hairstyle, hair colour, facial features, a few accessories, clothing colour and even relative height and weight. The characters that you create here will be stored on your machine, and you can even save them onto the Wii controller in order to take them with you to a friend's house. Potentially, these avatars will be the characters that are rendered when playing games such as the Wii Sports titles, and stats could even be tracked in games, though no firm details have been given.
Photo Channel:
The Photo Channel is one of the main uses of the SD card slot in the console, as it allows you to not only view pictures in both single and slideshow modes, but it also works as a photo editor, which will let you draw and add images to photos, as well as likely changing aspects such as colour balance, or potentially give it a sepia tone. You can also create mosaics from photos, and in the slide show mode, you can back the photos themselves with an MP3 that is also stored on the SD card.
Forecast Channel:
The Weather Channel uses the console's internet connection to give free local forecasts, plus a chance to see the forecasts of major cities around the world. You can see daily and extended forecasts for your region, and then browse around a draggable globe to see the weather in other parts of the world.
News Channel:
The News Channel is a free service that allows you to look at various news articles, divided into multiple categories, updated using the console's internet connection. Once you access an article, you can scroll through the text as well as zooming in and out using menu options.
Wii Shop Channel:
The Wii Shop Channel is where you will be able to purchase Virtual Console titles using Wii Points, which are acquired by either purchasing them with a credit card or buying a prepaid Wii Points Card which you then redeem into your account. In addition, you can also use points to download the Opera web browser used in the Internet Channel.
Internet Channel:
In the Internet Channel, you can use the Opera browser in order to browse the internet using the Wii controller. The browser will be compatible with Macromedia Flash and AJAX programs.
Virtual Console Channels:
Once a Virtual Console game has been purchased from the Wii Shop Channel and downloaded, it will show up as its own channel on the Wii main screen. Each game will have its title screen in the channel window, making it easy to see which game is which, and choosing a game's channel loads the game.
Virtual Console:
Nintendo hasn't made official announcements regarding the Virtual Console's pricing scheme in the US, apart from it being based on Wii Points, but based on NoJ's conference on the Japanese launch of the Wii, it is estimated that NES games will cost about $5 apiece, SNES games $8 and N64 games $10. In addition, NoJ announced that 30 Nintendo and 30 TurboGrafx/Genesis (PC Engine/Mega Drive) games would be released over there by the end of the year, with 10 Virtual Console games coming out each month after that. In Europe they've announced 15 games in the launch window with 5-10 each month after that. Also, the potential for including Virtual Console games packed in with purchased Wii software and for Nintendo to perhaps send out Virtual Console games every so often for special occasions. Games will be tied to a user's account, meaning that if your system somehow malfunctions and you need a replacement, you'll still be able to play the games you purchased without buying them again.
Peripherals:
Wii controllers and nunchuks will be sold seperately, at about $40 and $20 apiece respectively, but another option may be available in the game "My First Wii"--known as "Wii Play" outside of Japan--a collection of minigames designed to help people get accustomed to using the Wii controller. The game itself will be bundled with an extra remote,leaving the cost of upgrading to another controller slightly lessened. Also, the Classic Controller will retail at about $20 itself, and it well-equipped for playing games on the Virtual Console, as it has a d-pad, a, b, X and Y buttons, two analog L and R buttons, two digital ZL and ZR buttons, two analog sticks, a start/+ button, a select/-(minus) button and a home button. Presumably the right analog stick will be used in place of the N64's C-buttons.
Nintendo have also launched a new official Wii website at Wii.com, with videos of the menu interface and various other pieces of info. Check it out if you like!
Well, that's all the info I have for now. I'll try and add new information if it seems really important, and if anyone is curious about something, they can feel free to ask me, and I might end up adding it here!
EDIT: Added the international title of Wii Play.
Release Date:
US - November 19th, 2006
UK - December 8th, 2006
AU - December 7th, 2006
JP - December 2nd, 2006
Release Price:
US - $249.99
UK - €249 / £179
AU - $399.95
JP - ¥25000
Package Contents:
1 Remote Controller
1 Nunchuk attachment
AC Adaptor
A/V Cables
Sensor Bar
Sensor Bar Stand
Console Stand
2 (AA?) batteries
Wii Sports pack-in game (Wii Sports sold separately in Japan)
System Dimensions:
8.5" x 6" x ~2"
Specs:
As of right now, no concrete specs have been announced officially, so there is nothing to report, but if anything gets published, I'll add it here later.
Extra features:
The Wii will also support four remotes at the same time, and will have an SD card slot in the front to allow people to use a photo viewing and editing software that is available on the console. The system also has four Gamecube controller ports and two Gamecube memory card slots in order to make playing Gamecube games easier. In addition, the system will have two USB 2.0 ports which can be used for an adaptor to hook the Wii up to the internet, or for other purposes that haven't been touched on as of yet. However, it has been confirmed that only flash memory will be available for use as storage, with a potential for considering larger, USB-driven devices in the future.
Software:
15 launch titles have been announced, the full list being The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Excite Truck, Trauma Center, Madden 07, Need for Speed: Carbon, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz, Metal Slug Anthology, Rayman: Raving Rabids, Red Steel, Barnyard, Cars, Avatar, Blazing Angels, and Far Cry: Vengeance. In addition, it has been announced that 15 more games will be released by the end of the year, bringing the total number of games up to 30. First-party titles will cost $49.99 and will be region-encoded, while third-party developers have the choice of setting their own price. This will translate to around €49-59/£34-39 for the European market.
Wiiconnect24:
The Wiiconnect24 service is a constant connection to the internet, even when the Wii is turned off. What this means is that Nintendo can potentially send out game demos or firmware upgrades while the system is off, making it so that you don't need to wait in order to get some important upgrade. This will also allow other functions of the console to get updated information for when you turn them on, streamlining the process for everyone.
Menu Interface:
When the Wii loads up, it will bring you to a GUI where you access the different sections of the Wii's functionality, also known as Channels. You select one using the remote and can then play around within the channel you've chosen. Here's a run-down of the different channels.
Disc Channel:
The Disc Channel is where you play whatever physical media has been inserted into the Wii, whether it be Wii software or Gamecube software. Most likely the games will have some sort of logo show up in the channel window when inserted, like Gamecube discs had in the Gamecube BIOS screen.
Mii Channel:
In the Mii Channel you will be able to create custom avatars for yourself and your friends. Through a rather detailed set of options, you can customise gender, hairstyle, hair colour, facial features, a few accessories, clothing colour and even relative height and weight. The characters that you create here will be stored on your machine, and you can even save them onto the Wii controller in order to take them with you to a friend's house. Potentially, these avatars will be the characters that are rendered when playing games such as the Wii Sports titles, and stats could even be tracked in games, though no firm details have been given.
Photo Channel:
The Photo Channel is one of the main uses of the SD card slot in the console, as it allows you to not only view pictures in both single and slideshow modes, but it also works as a photo editor, which will let you draw and add images to photos, as well as likely changing aspects such as colour balance, or potentially give it a sepia tone. You can also create mosaics from photos, and in the slide show mode, you can back the photos themselves with an MP3 that is also stored on the SD card.
Forecast Channel:
The Weather Channel uses the console's internet connection to give free local forecasts, plus a chance to see the forecasts of major cities around the world. You can see daily and extended forecasts for your region, and then browse around a draggable globe to see the weather in other parts of the world.
News Channel:
The News Channel is a free service that allows you to look at various news articles, divided into multiple categories, updated using the console's internet connection. Once you access an article, you can scroll through the text as well as zooming in and out using menu options.
Wii Shop Channel:
The Wii Shop Channel is where you will be able to purchase Virtual Console titles using Wii Points, which are acquired by either purchasing them with a credit card or buying a prepaid Wii Points Card which you then redeem into your account. In addition, you can also use points to download the Opera web browser used in the Internet Channel.
Internet Channel:
In the Internet Channel, you can use the Opera browser in order to browse the internet using the Wii controller. The browser will be compatible with Macromedia Flash and AJAX programs.
Virtual Console Channels:
Once a Virtual Console game has been purchased from the Wii Shop Channel and downloaded, it will show up as its own channel on the Wii main screen. Each game will have its title screen in the channel window, making it easy to see which game is which, and choosing a game's channel loads the game.
Virtual Console:
Nintendo hasn't made official announcements regarding the Virtual Console's pricing scheme in the US, apart from it being based on Wii Points, but based on NoJ's conference on the Japanese launch of the Wii, it is estimated that NES games will cost about $5 apiece, SNES games $8 and N64 games $10. In addition, NoJ announced that 30 Nintendo and 30 TurboGrafx/Genesis (PC Engine/Mega Drive) games would be released over there by the end of the year, with 10 Virtual Console games coming out each month after that. In Europe they've announced 15 games in the launch window with 5-10 each month after that. Also, the potential for including Virtual Console games packed in with purchased Wii software and for Nintendo to perhaps send out Virtual Console games every so often for special occasions. Games will be tied to a user's account, meaning that if your system somehow malfunctions and you need a replacement, you'll still be able to play the games you purchased without buying them again.
Peripherals:
Wii controllers and nunchuks will be sold seperately, at about $40 and $20 apiece respectively, but another option may be available in the game "My First Wii"--known as "Wii Play" outside of Japan--a collection of minigames designed to help people get accustomed to using the Wii controller. The game itself will be bundled with an extra remote,leaving the cost of upgrading to another controller slightly lessened. Also, the Classic Controller will retail at about $20 itself, and it well-equipped for playing games on the Virtual Console, as it has a d-pad, a, b, X and Y buttons, two analog L and R buttons, two digital ZL and ZR buttons, two analog sticks, a start/+ button, a select/-(minus) button and a home button. Presumably the right analog stick will be used in place of the N64's C-buttons.
Nintendo have also launched a new official Wii website at Wii.com, with videos of the menu interface and various other pieces of info. Check it out if you like!
Well, that's all the info I have for now. I'll try and add new information if it seems really important, and if anyone is curious about something, they can feel free to ask me, and I might end up adding it here!
EDIT: Added the international title of Wii Play.
My mom said she probably won't help me in any way for getting this. So, I'll probably have to wait til next summer when I'll actually have enough money. =/
