Nintendo to whirl out Wii on Nov. 19
Company to ship 4 million units by year-end
By George T. Chronis 9/14/2006
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Nintendo’s console is priced at $250. | SEPT. 14 | Nintendo Co. Ltd. will launch its new Wii console on Nov. 19 in North America at $250.
The system will launch in Japan on Dec. 2 for 25,000 yen, with a European debut expected near the latter date.
The Wii comes bundled with Wii Sports, the console’s innovative movement-responsive controller, a Nunchuk controller accessory for action games, free built-in WiFi connectivity and a built-in Web browser.
Launch titles include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Excite Truck. Upwards of 30 first- and third-party Wii titles are scheduled for release by Dec. 31, plus the GameCube catalog of more than 500 games is playable on the Wii. Nintendo will likely ship 4 million units worldwide by the end of the year. Sony will airlift no more than 2 million PlayStation 3s by Dec. 31, and Microsoft is expected to ship 3 million to 5 million Xbox 360s during the holidays.
Nintendo had waited to reveal its launch plans for the Wii until it became clear how many PlayStation 3s Sony Computer Entertainment would actually ship during the holidays. Reports indicated that Nintendo had sufficient production capacity of the less technically sophisticated Wii to launch in October, and for as little as $199, had it chose to do so.
However, with Sony shipping only 500,000 PS3s on Nov. 17 in $499 and $599 SKUs, it was safe for Microsoft Entertainment to keep its Xbox 360 packages at their original $299 and $399 price points to maintain revenue and for Nintendo to launch the Wii at $250. Both firms expect retailers to sell plenty of Xbox 360s and Wiis to disgruntled consumers unable to find PS3s.
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