Rumor: Wiimote retail box unveiled [update 1]

by Blake Snow { Oct 1st 2006 at 11:30AM }

Well it looks like the Wiimote retail box has been unveiled by who knows how on Flickr via a NeoGAF forum post. Another homey in the same thread seems to back up the Flickr image with another shot of the retail package (pictured lower left). We realize it's just an accessory box but are trying to stay consistent with every single unveiling of such an elusive console. If a single Wii is dropped from a shipping pallet come November, rest assured we'll cover it here.

[Thanks, Kurt]

[Update 1: Added speculative headline after being quick to suggest the above as being final Wiimote retail boxes. As both commenters and forum members point out, the above images are of promo Wiimotes given out at the Wii press event in Japan, therefore, Nintendo is likely and could easily change consumer retail versions.]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

strider_mt2k @ Oct 1st 2006 11:33AM

I don't know what they're doing, but the Wii sure seems like the most interesting of the lot.

SpeZek @ Oct 1st 2006 11:34AM

The box looks very Apple to me.
Clean lines, clear display...
Ooooo...Wiimote!

Huzzah!! @ Oct 1st 2006 11:36AM

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoo!!!!

s256 @ Oct 1st 2006 11:40AM

Looking sleek. Nintendo's new look is amazing. :D

Tooley @ Oct 1st 2006 11:54AM

Yeah, it looks like something Apple would put out.

Hiro Protagonist @ Oct 1st 2006 12:06PM

I don't blame you guys, I cover my wii too.

Cheers.

daver @ Oct 1st 2006 12:07PM

wii
is
on

amazon.ca for pre order and is taking orders !!!!

the price is 334 CAD !!! Price gouging bastards.

John @ Oct 1st 2006 12:08PM

Oh a box.

Should I be excited now?

...

pandafresh @ Oct 1st 2006 12:17PM

hmm..seems so..familiar, whatever, i think im gonna go eat an APPLE now, maybe go outside for a run, listen to my IPOD, you know.

potato @ Oct 1st 2006 12:24PM

$40 right there

meekar @ Oct 1st 2006 12:24PM

I'm loving the Apple-esque packaging.

mike @ Oct 1st 2006 12:24PM

i just hope no one refurs to a peice of plastic and it's packaging as being "sexy."

Will @ Oct 1st 2006 12:31PM

Man, look at that sexy packaging. And that wiimote is just BEYOND sexy.

Mac User @ Oct 1st 2006 12:33PM

You Just Did.

whitefinger @ Oct 1st 2006 12:34PM

Um, these are just the free non-functional wiimotes that people got at the NYC press event aren't they? I would think that the real ones will be in blister packs.

G Funk @ Oct 1st 2006 12:36PM

No more annoying blister packaging?

daver @ Oct 1st 2006 12:37PM

sex up your life with super sexy nintendo packaging.

in all honesty the japs have no flare with designing a little machine when their biggest and it seems only inspiration is an american corporation
contrast that with the flare of their games compared to the dulllll american efforts and you have a company, a jap company, trying to appeal to american lard, which is their sole marketing aim.

Eric @ Oct 1st 2006 12:39PM

The lower left is from the Japanese press event last month. They handed it out as souvenirs to the press.

Jason @ Oct 1st 2006 1:00PM

Someone please explain to me how this looks like Apple's packaging. It looks more like a box that you put a watch, necklace, or fancy pen in. Apple boxes actually look cool and have a more expensive material

Smallshinyant @ Oct 1st 2006 1:24PM

To my untrained eye, anything thats super white and comes in a black box looks apple. Wii is pretty exciting. But which way do i go.. psWii or xboxWii60. Infact who am i kidding i can only afford one. Its gonna be straight replacment for my broken 360 with another 360.
...Being a brit, im not intrested in a company that thinks europe is not worth launching a product in.
...Paid stupid money for a massive HDTV, and want to be able to play HD content on it. (sorry wii maybe next year)
...I therefore want to be able to watch HD-DVD's vs Blue Ray because as it stands HD-DVD are getting the better reports and greater title numbers.
...And finally XboxLive is just getting better and better, XBLA is throwing out some pretty good titles.

And after all that, this is not the right comments to of said all this. Still looking forward to going round a friends to play the wii though.
Anyone for tennis?

Adam Johnson @ Oct 1st 2006 1:31PM

Nintendo has ripped on Apple so much recently that I'm suprised they havent been sued by Apple's design firm. I really dont cared but I must admit that it makes their stuff look like bootleg Apple products that you'd find in Hong Kong or something.

bill pullman @ Oct 1st 2006 1:34PM

to get things started off on the right foot, can we use the correct names of the products in question? ie: NOT calling it the "Wiimote".

Night Elve @ Oct 1st 2006 1:35PM

It looks so Apple.

John @ Oct 1st 2006 1:36PM

Too bad the wiimotes are 60 bucks :(

Its soo pretty.

Andrew @ Oct 1st 2006 1:51PM

I'd spend $40 on that.

Finally; something videogame NOT in blisterpack.

Babylonian @ Oct 1st 2006 1:54PM

THIS IS NOT THE FINAL PACKAGING. The guy who posted the second picture (in the lower-left corner of the article picture) said in the same post:

"I doubt the controller is going to come in a cardboard box like this. To easy to just open up and steal. Unless they keep them behind the counter/glass like systems and games."

This is just the way the hollow Wiimotes were handed out at the Japan Wii press conference. This is not, I repeat, NOT the retail box for the Wiimote.

Please, Joystiq, next time read the words around the posts, instead of just freaking out as soon as you see a picture of something Wii-related.

Kestrel @ Oct 1st 2006 1:56PM

I love Apple! I mean.. Nintendo.

darryl @ Oct 1st 2006 2:05PM

What a revelation! You guys must be bored.

Next revelation: Replacement A/C power cord, retail packaging! OMFG!

gamerhenry @ Oct 1st 2006 2:10PM

I love the new look also. Looks clean crisp and professional ;) In my opinion Nintendo is definatly taking a step in the right direction. I also dont mind the price at all. It was once thought to be incredibly cheap which was nice but there is always taht old saying "you get what you pay for". Now its still relitivly cheap but at least its enough so you feel a little better about your purchase ya know.

Mohan @ Oct 1st 2006 2:14PM

Very much like Apple...good job Nintendo.

P.S. Please open a Nintendo World store in California.

Adam Johnson @ Oct 1st 2006 2:15PM

Considering how fun and revolutionary the controller will be, $60 isnt that big of a deal. 360 controllers are $50 and there is nothing special about those at all.

Pedro Van Faulk @ Oct 1st 2006 2:23PM

I would just like to point out that the wiimote is NOT $60. It is 40. 10 dollars cheaper than the xbox controller. The add ons are 20 bucks, which makes the wiimote + add on 10 dollars more expensive than the 360 controller.

jackass caller @ Oct 1st 2006 2:32PM

the designer for the wii is the same designer for the apple, jackass.

1up_clock @ Oct 1st 2006 2:35PM

I know this isn't the final packaging of the controler itself, but I just want to give a little critique, anyway.

Hmm... Sleek, simple, smooth, I like it. It looks like something more designer-ish than what I've come to expect from most game companies, which is nice and pleasing to the eye. And simply putting just the name of the console on the side evokes a certain level of class one would find on a, in a way, "upper-class" product, such as a watch, jewlery, over-priced pens, etc. It's also consistent with the packaging of the console itself, trying to bring more attention to the product and not the company behind it, which, to me, sounds like a way to lure in irate gamers/fanboys of rival companies by saying, "Just forget, for a moment, that Nintendo is making this. Just clear any preconceptions and think if the name attached to this bad boy makes any difference in the world. Just try it out, maybe you'll like it." which could equate into a very smart business choice. Also, the choice of a cardboard box is a heck of a lot better than the infuriating packaging for the Gamecube's stuff, which I swear is impossible to open with your bare hands. The small box design also makes it much more stackable and easier to display and have more on a single shelf then the humongous blister packaging.

However, it might need more information for the casual gamer that they're trying to lure in, such as what it is, what it's capable of, and maybe, just maybe, a little "suggestion" along the lines of "Oh, hey, you might need the Nunchuck accessory, hint hint." Also, it's gonna need a plastic case on the opening to protect from thieves and other scoundrels. And, Nintendo, since this looks like some pretty cheap-to-produce packaging material, is it possible you guys could lower the price of the controller by, say, $5 or $10? Just asking is all.

Wulkar @ Oct 1st 2006 2:37PM

looks smexy

DJ @ Oct 1st 2006 2:49PM

You have a better name for it, Mr. Pullman? What's wrong with Wiimote?

I hope that's the genuine packaging, because hot DAMN it is sexy. Everything about this console is sexy. We've still got what, six weeks? I can't wait.

JimJimBinks @ Oct 1st 2006 2:49PM

If I was to ever have sex with a robot, I hope it's extremities would look like the Wiimote

Night Elve @ Oct 1st 2006 3:32PM

@ 37. JimJimBinks

Ok your statement is pretty disturbing. Why in the earth you would be thinking in the possibility to have sex with a Robot?

1up_clock @ Oct 1st 2006 3:34PM

"What a revelation! You guys must be bored.

Next revelation: Replacement A/C power cord, retail packaging! OMFG!"

Darryl, your flames just get lamer and lamer.

B33 @ Oct 1st 2006 4:04PM

Now your controller comes damaged and scratched with Nintendos new Wii packaging. Spending $40 never felt like such a waste.

jackass caller @ Oct 1st 2006 4:10PM

darryl must be bored enough to poke his head in here and cough up some 10 year old remark (which is pretty impressive for an 8 year old)

nothing dude @ Oct 1st 2006 4:16PM

the "B" in B33 stands for bitter.

JimJimBinks @ Oct 1st 2006 4:17PM

@38 Ever since I was a kid, and Topps released the C-3PO with giant erection trading card. (Look for it on snopes.com... if you dare!)

funkonaut @ Oct 1st 2006 4:18PM

This is obviously not the retail packaging because extra Wiimotes come with a built-in game: Wii Play. Kinda hard to include a DVD disc in such a small package.

Wii keyboard @ Oct 1st 2006 4:32PM

We have to start a petition for N to finally reveal the Wii keyboard or tell us that we can use USB keyboards. Wiimote box - not that crucial.

friedgreenmushrooms @ Oct 1st 2006 4:58PM

@44. "This is obviously not the retail packaging because extra Wiimotes come with a built-in game: Wii Play. Kinda hard to include a DVD disc in such a small package."
Posted at 4:18PM on Oct 1st 2006 by funkonaut

You're a little confused. Wii Play comes with a Wiimote, not the other way around. Otherwise, anybody who wanted three extra controllers would be stuck with three copies of the same game.