No Wii in September, October not ruled out

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jul 6th 2006 at 2:55PM }

Nintendo has responded to a rumor -- sparked by CNN's speculation -- which suggests Wii will launch as early as September. A Nintendo spokesperson has stated, "There's no change in our plan to release the console in the last quarter of this year."

Of course, this response does not rule out an October launch, which would allow Wii a slight head start over PlayStation 3. And we know, according to American Technology Research, that final retail Wii units are already being manufactured -- units that will be ready to ship if October is indeed the launch window. But Nintendo still plans to wait until September to make the official statement regarding release and pricing. Stay tuned.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dracula Jones @ Jul 6th 2006 3:01PM

Mmm, I can already smell the fresh plastic.

J B Cougar @ Jul 6th 2006 3:13PM

Boo to the status quo.

Why can't these super powerful gaming companies just lay down a huge, unprecendented surprise that's not a price tag announcement of $600 once in a while?!

Auros @ Jul 6th 2006 3:23PM

@Cougar:

1 Word

DREAMCAST

Dracula Jones @ Jul 6th 2006 3:35PM

You mean Saturn?

Christopher7xii @ Jul 6th 2006 3:36PM

Cougar... I thought the name "Wii" was a pretty big announcement... As well as Final Fantasy XIII and XIII Versus were huge announcements... Then there's the whole GTA4 on X360 was well as the PS3, or Star Fox Assault in August (I mean what, we had like 4 months from when it was announced to it's launch?). Then there was also the news that the Wii wouldn't cost more than $249.99 which pleased the masses of people speculating price.

I mean, short of announcing Final Fantasy VII remake on PS3, a price drop to $200 for the bundle X360, or that the PS3 will come bundled old school with two controllers, all the wires, and a PREMIUM game... I can't imagine bigger news then tha prementioned.

Man... what ever happened to the days of launching a system with a game included and with two controllers. I miss those days.

~Chris

vidGuy @ Jul 6th 2006 3:48PM

Doesn't Nintendo hold some kind of games convention in August? Wouldn't that be a great place to announce the release date and retail price?

They said announcement by September, not in September. And quarter four could mean October 1st all the way to December 31st, though I, too, hold the expectation that they'll launch before PS3.

Guess: Wii on November 3rd for $199, with a package deal going for $249.

RUSKULL @ Jul 6th 2006 3:52PM

here's a question: If there are Wii units being manufactured now, wouldn't it's final secret have slipped by now?

RUSKULL @ Jul 6th 2006 3:57PM

Vidguy, the Tokyo Game Show is in September. A price and date is likley to happen there, as well as anything else they feel like announcing. Apparently it's going to be huge...the show anyway.

apoc06 @ Jul 6th 2006 3:58PM

I miss those days too chris712. Here's hoping that $600 actually buys some free downloadable XBLA style games [not demos] at least.

All I want from the wii is for the controller to live up to it's hype. Oh, and a few games that appeal to gamers beyond Mario, Link, Samus, Pokemon, etc...

the x360 has already played its hand, so no use wishing for much more. =

Oh well... Free, as in beer does not exist in this generation anymore.

LethaL ImpuLse @ Jul 6th 2006 3:59PM

@ RUSKULL

It's been rumored that Ninteno probably won't show up at this years TGS.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=3491

josh @ Jul 6th 2006 4:00PM

I do miss the days of a console having 2 controllers and a decent game packaged with it... that needs to come back!

vidGuy @ Jul 6th 2006 4:06PM

Thanks RUSKULL, don't know why I thought August. As far as the final Wii secret? My guess is that they'll confirm that any USB media option can be used as memory cards and storage for downloads. This would include external HDD (I've got one ready) and thumb drives.

They've said that multiple memory options are going to be available. We've only seen the SD slot on the Wii itself, unless you include the GC memory slots. They've also said that the USB slot can be used for any USB device (in some wordy, possibly inaccurate language, though). So allowing external HDD and thumb drives fits.

Plus, it doesn't magnify the possibility for piracy because SD is a standard that can easily be taken to a PC... so I'm sure they are working on some encryption and/or tying purchases to a user account.

Tom B. @ Jul 6th 2006 4:40PM

"Nintendo has responded to a rumor...."

There's a first. Isn't Ninty's standard response something like "Nintendo does not comment on rumors and speculation?"

dsub @ Jul 6th 2006 4:42PM

I'm STILL waiting for the phone call from EB to pre-order mine. By this time last year I'd already paid off my pre-ordered 360. I know my names first on the "to-call" list...I'll be mad if I don't get a phone call.

rmg @ Jul 6th 2006 4:42PM

They are going to do an apple. announce it and then say, BTW, its available now!!!111

/dream.

32_Footsteps @ Jul 6th 2006 4:44PM

You know, I'm not saying it's going to happen at all. I wouldn't even bet money on it unless I was getting at least 1000:1 odds in my favor. But could you imagine if the "last surprise" for the Wii turned out that it was going to be packaged with two (or, let the choirs sing, four) controllers and a game for $249.99? I might just get one at launch just for the sheer nostalgia for when you could just buy one box, take it home, and play a multiplayer game for the system.

dsub @ Jul 6th 2006 4:46PM

"I do miss the days of a console having 2 controllers and a decent game packaged with it... that needs to come back!"

I totally agree. I remember when I got my first NES, it came with two controllers, the light gun, the power pad AND three games. I think companies would move ALOT more units if they packaged a premium game and some required extras in with the console.

I remember two christmas' ago when MS packaged all the XBOX's with NCAA 05/Top Spin. NCAA 05 was still a $50 game at the time. If I remember correctly MS OWNED the sales charts that holiday season.

Nintendo_Fanboy @ Jul 6th 2006 4:48PM

Or, for another suprise, they could make the Wii broadcast on a TV station, so there would be no wires to connect to your TV, just put it on channel 3!

vidGuy @ Jul 6th 2006 4:52PM

I've been dreaming of a package deal... it could really solidfy a stellar launch for Nintendo. Once again (though everybody here is probably tired of seeing it,haha):

$199
Wii Console
2 Wii Remotes
1 Wii Nunchuck (need it to play some launch games)
Wii Sports

$249
Wii Console
2 Wii Remotes
1 Wii Nunchuck
Wii Sports
512MB - 1GB SD card
VC controller

And, dsub, good luck when launch time comes. I'll have a route planned out to hit every electronics store in the city until I get a Wii!

NEC @ Jul 6th 2006 5:00PM

"final retail Wii units are already being manufactured -- units that will be ready to ship if October is indeed the launch window."

Those same units would be ready for a November or December launch as well.

RUSKULL @ Jul 6th 2006 5:11PM

LethaL ImpuLse: "It's been rumored that Ninteno probably won't show up at this years TGS."

Well thank goodness for "rumors" :P
Honestly it would make about as much sense as Nintendo not having a booth at E3. it's the last big show before the launch of their new hardware. they only get one chance to do something like this.

vidGuy: "As far as the final Wii secret? My guess is that they'll confirm that any USB media option can be used as memory cards and storage for downloads."

Thing is, Reggie has already spoken about this, so I would disregard this out as part of any new "secret" features. Although, I wouldn't rule out the possibility completely either. It's just that the way they make it sound, it's supposed to be as big a deal as the Wiimote and the speaker inide it.

But like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if they said "you can take your family photos from your digital camera, and crop your face onto characters!", which is not THAT big a deal if you ask me :)

Encodes @ Jul 6th 2006 5:58PM

The best bit about this news story is that doctor/random guy... praise be to the random guy! (constructive posts ftw)

Ianc02 @ Jul 6th 2006 6:26PM

If memory serves me correctly are Nintendo at Liepzig aug24-27 this year? Supposedly to announce the price and release date of Wii. Please somebody correct me if i am way off here?

idioteraser @ Jul 6th 2006 7:33PM

They will be showing games off at Leipzig. Nintendo used to have Spaceworld in August. Last time was in 2001.

vidGuy @ Jul 6th 2006 11:41PM

Ah! That was it, idioteraser. Too bad they got rid of it; would have been a great place to announce the final details.

RUSKULL, I'd say that's a good possibility, and personally something I would use. After all, most/a lot of digital cameras use SD cards, so getting your pic on the Wii is easy. Then, maybe you could cut out your face and design your character with software built into the Wii UI. Ultimate design? Use the rumored small bit of flash in the Wii remote to save your own special character, then automatically load that character for any game that'll use it.

I'm really anxious to see what Nintendo will come up with before launch. The trouble I've had is that, after the Wii remote design, it's been easy to think about all of these wild, interesting, fun things the Wii could potentially do... I've seen tons of posts around the net about functionality it 'could' have. I hope the actual console can live up to it... maybe not functionality-wise, but fun-wise.

Chris @ Jul 7th 2006 6:02AM

Diddy Kong Racing - that was announced about a week before it was released. and did incredibly well.

I always preferred mario kart though.

J B Cougar @ Jul 7th 2006 10:53AM

#15, i was IMing a similar comment to my friend the split second before I read your post. I think it would be an amazing idea, worthy of "final secret revealed" status. They could then launch it via a Nintendo online store or something (which would immediately crash from traffic).