Nintendo "crushes" final Wii secret rumor, Borat style

by Blake Snow { Nov 8th 2006 at 11:55AM }

Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime denied lame rumors in an interview with Cnet that "one final secret" remained prior to the Wii's November 19 launch. "No wonderful secret" exists in the eleventh hour, at least from what the bossman knows. The Nintendo exec continued by saying he's been packing a final Wii production unit for the past two weeks working on his Wii Sports skills. Hearing Reggie say "Wiimote" with 2:52 remaining in the interview is the coolest thing I've heard all week.

Fils-Aime was also consistent with his words differentiating Ninty's strategy from the "living room hub" approach held by both Sony and Microsoft. "It's going to be tough" to get a Wii because demand is so high, said the Regginator. "There has never been a product launch with 4 million units, ever." Stat-boy, can you confirm?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando @ Nov 8th 2006 12:02PM

Hi... anybody know if instead an SD Card to increase the storage capacity of the Wii, can use and External USB HardDrive or an USB Flash Memory???

JodyAnthony @ Nov 8th 2006 12:02PM

I hope they make Wiimote the offical name.

Michael McGuire @ Nov 8th 2006 12:09PM

They can't make it the official name, thanks to this:

http://www.weemote.com/

I'm surprised he actually used the term. I wouldn't expect it to be common.

JodyAnthony @ Nov 8th 2006 12:11PM

Fernando,

As of right now from what I've read, USB storage won't work, only SD cards. If that is true (I'm not sure), I assume they can 'unlock' the USB ports for storage later on with firmware updates received either via WiFi or via game discs (ala PSP UMDs)

Fernando @ Nov 8th 2006 12:15PM

I hope that they release a firmware update so we can use an USB storage device, they are very cheap in contrast with an SD Card (2GB SD Card vs 120 GB HardDrive for almost the same price)

Bakabaka @ Nov 8th 2006 12:16PM

Hahaha, when I watched the video clip, the ad at the bottom said it was sponsored by Sony.

Izuna Drop @ Nov 8th 2006 12:17PM

Is it just me or does Reggie look like the real life model for Donkey Kong?

JodyAnthony @ Nov 8th 2006 12:18PM

"Is it just me or does Reggie look like the real life model for Donkey Kong? "

hahaha, I always thought the same thing

Robert Jung @ Nov 8th 2006 12:21PM

"Is it just me or does Reggie look like the real life model for Donkey Kong?"

You know he's gonna kick your ass for that... ;-)

--R.J.

James Spiers @ Nov 8th 2006 12:27PM

Reggie reminds me of the Australian Rugby League player Willie Mason...take a look http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/6116642.stm or here http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41062000/jpg/_41062664_aus270ap.jpg

SK @ Nov 8th 2006 12:37PM

Nice PTI reference. 5 stars for you.

SoxFan13 @ Nov 8th 2006 12:55PM

Michael McGuire-- Of course they can. The name of the system is Wii, hence "wiimote." Not "weemote."

mykie @ Nov 8th 2006 12:55PM

#5 Fernano:

If you can find an external 120gb hard drive for $40, please let me know where.

It's been stated in the past that the Wii should be able to use USB storage devices, but then again it was also supposed to be able to play DVDs.

Kamalot @ Nov 8th 2006 12:59PM

"Is it just me or does Reggie look like the real life model for Donkey Kong?"

Gotta be the tie. :)

ck @ Nov 8th 2006 1:02PM

Where's Tony Reali when you need him? I'd like to see Joystiq steal some segments from PTI & Around the Horn - Buy or Sell, Over/Under, Toss Up. Like is Nintendo going to sell 4 million units at the end of the year (over/under)? I think this would be great for discussions and you could throw in a poll for good measure. Honestly, there's nothing wrong with stealing, especially in the entertainment industry.

Kn1ves @ Nov 8th 2006 1:09PM

I don't understand the Borat comment. I'm off to watch the movie, wish me luck

http://illusivedesigns.net/kn1ves

ejflex @ Nov 8th 2006 1:11PM

CK #15

I agree. Why not... Sony does it all the time?

And def nothing wrong with some PTI.

Izuna Drop @ Nov 8th 2006 1:19PM

R.J. -
Maybe... That is of course unless I decide to grow a big moustache and become a plumber... in red overalls.
: )

raid168 @ Nov 8th 2006 1:44PM

no secret? nintendo is a big lier,they will lose!!!

Rootbeer @ Nov 8th 2006 1:47PM

"You know he's gonna kick your ass for that... ;-)"

Pfeh. If he throws barrels at me I'll just jump over them.

Paulo @ Nov 8th 2006 2:14PM

Hahahahah lol. "Is it just me or does Reggie look like the real life model for Donkey Kong?"

I thought i was the only one who though that way.
He's a good guy, but there's no denying, if he carried a barrel around and used a red tie, we'd see an italian guy from brooklyn chasing him with a pipe hammer.

Rob @ Nov 8th 2006 2:40PM

Soxfan - no, Michael was right. They cannot use "Wiimote", in the US anyway, because Weemote is a registered TM and too similar. If Weemote was, like, a type of bouncy castle or tupperware range or whatever, that would be fine, but it's not - it's in the same TM class as the Wiimote, and Weemote got there first. Nintendo would be diluting the Weemote TM, and would clearly lose any legal battle. Just because they're spelled differently doesn't make it ok. Try calling a soft drink Pepsy and see if you get away with it.

GamerG @ Nov 8th 2006 2:40PM

Being devils advocate

4m at launch could be a sign that Nintendo want to sell as many as possible before the novelty wears off and people wise up to the fact you'll be lucky to get 2-3 good proper(non party) games a year!

John Lucas @ Nov 8th 2006 2:52PM

11 d@mn days.

Just 11 insignificant days.

And I get to put my hands on the Future of Gaming.
Time is a KILLER! LOL!

John Lucas

saboola @ Nov 8th 2006 2:57PM

..or 4 million at launch could be that Nintendo likes the sound of one billion dollars. Put your tin foil hat away.

Michael McGuire @ Nov 8th 2006 3:03PM

Thanks Rob, I was going to type all that up, but then scrolled down and saw you had already explained the legal concepts behind trademarks.

crono141 @ Nov 8th 2006 3:33PM

too bad...

Infil @ Nov 8th 2006 4:18PM

Reggie is my hero.

chimchim @ Nov 8th 2006 4:53PM

They could always buy the rights to call it the wiimote. It probably wouldn't be too hard to work something out but they likely wouldn't bother anyway since all they have to do is leave it off of packages and everyone will keep refering to it as wiimote regardless of whether or not it's official. Frankly, at this point I wouldn't even notice the difference if it's call Wii Remote, I would still think Wiimote.

lets just put the gun down and we go get me those fries @ Nov 8th 2006 5:37PM

these guys are geniouses, i really have to hand it to them "You know, it will be tough. The only thing I can tell a consumer is that it's going to be tough because the demand is so high, not because we've stumbled on the production." - reggie. that is genious considering there is no new drive, and that the wii is essentially and overclocked gamecube with a 729 MHz IBM PowerPC "Broadway" CPU and 512 mb flash memory (not hdd). for all of the "stumbles" sony has had in its execution of the mass production of the playstation 3, they will no doubt be manufacturing the most future proof console of the three competitors. at 250 there is no doubt 4 million wiis will fly off the shelves, but when one looks at the competition, you have to ask yourself why is the xbox360 400 dollars and the ps3 600, there is a good reason for it: the wii is lacking next gen specs. but hey maybe just maybe waiving a remote around strikes people as being funner, but i never remembered people clamoring for a motion sensing remote in the past 20 some odd years. cheers.

Jake @ Nov 8th 2006 5:45PM

@ 30:
"but i never remembered people clamoring for a motion sensing remote in the past 20 some odd years. cheers."

That's because the idea was never really conceptualized to a viable piece of technology that would be fun until recently. You had shitty ping-pong TV games and the like, and it just didn't work. But Nintendo did it right, and people are excited once again. I for one love the sound of the Wii, and agree with John Lucas that the next few days are absolutely meaningless. Come on 19th.

Dave @ Nov 8th 2006 8:45PM

I think Reggie looks like Willie Mason. A famous rugby league player in Australia. He's known for being a boofhead. He's been in trouble for group sex next to a hotel swimming pool in the past :) He likes getting into fights during games too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_league/international_and_australian/4475624.stm

He's the one on the right.