Were you planning on buying a Nintendo Wii U game console this holiday season? Well, you might want to think about the Wii Mini. Unfortunately, the stripped-down version of the gaming system will only be available in Canada (at least at this point) on December 7.
This is indeed rather odd, as I would have expected the Nintendo Wii Mini to hit other countries as well over the next few weeks, especially during holiday season.
The Canadian price for the Wii Mini is $99.99, which is roughly $50 cheaper than the normal Nintendo Wii. The Mini does have a couple caveats you need to be aware of – which will likely dissuade core gamers from buying the no-frills version of the console.
The biggest downside to the $99 Wii Mini? It lacks Internet connectivity. Meaning, there will be no playing online games or streaming digital content from Netflix. As you can see in the photograph, the new console is red with a matte black center. It also comes with a red Wii remote plus and a red nunchuck controller. This cut-rate console also ditches Nintendo GameCube backwards compatibility in favor of a lower price.
“There are games in the Wii library for every type of player,” explained Nintendo exec Ron Bertram. “Wii Mini is a great gift for the holidays that brings everyone in the family together to play. Wii Mini has a mini price, but it’s all about big fun.”
As noted above, the official launch date for the console is December 7 in Canada. It’s too bad Nintendo cut Internet connectivity from this little console. It’s difficult to imagine that tossing in a Wi-Fi chip would have added that much to the price. If the Wii Mini was able to stream Netflix and other online TV, it could have been a very interesting and successful set-top box.
