Wii Launch Details

In case those of you that follow the gaming world did not already know, official Revolution (Nintendo Wii) details have been announced. There was a lot of good news involved in the announcement, and some outright bad news included as well. I personally believe the good outweighs the bad, but here's a breakdown of the situation:

Good News:

• Launch Date for US Territories: November 19th, 2006
• Launch Price for US Territories: $250
• System will include "Wii Channels", which will allow Photo Editing, News updates, Weather Forecasts, and more
• System will include pack-in game "Wii Sports" which contains Baseball, Tennis, Golf, and two previously unannounced sports: Boxing and Bowling
• First party games will be region free
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be available launch day
  
• Select Virtual Console games will be available from day one
• Nunchaku controller add-on included in the package
  

Bad News:

• DVD Movie playback capability has been removed completely
  
• The console will only be available in white
• Only 1 "Wii-mote" controller comes in the package
• Classic controller not included
• Pricing on additional controllers: $40 for Wii-mote, $20 for Nunchaku, $20 for classic controller
• "Wii-mote" controller uses AA batteries, no rechargable battery pack available nor announced at this time
  
• Web browsing capabilities not built in like previously reported. Purchasing the Opera Browser add-on separately is required
• Virtual Console Pricing: $5 for NES games(!), $8 for SNES games, $10 for N64 games

Other News:

• Console will not launch before PS3, despite Nintendo's original claims
• Not necessarily Revolution related, but Zelda: TWP for Gamecube has been pushed back to December, with no stated reasons
  

So there you have it, the information on the Revolution (Nintendo Wii). Sources for the above information will be included at the end of the post. You may note that I listed the pricing for the Virtual Console games as a bad news point. This is because purchasing a game that came out the year I was born should not cost $5. I'm still glad that they didn't go above $10 total, but I think they should probably drop the pricing by about $2 for each set. I'm also deeply saddened that Nintendo removed their original touted feature of DVD Playback, as that would definitely make the unit much more appealing to the mass market, whom they're directed at. Also, what on earth is up with only 1 remote and no rechargeable battery pack? For a console that is supposed to be all about playing together (Hence the allusions to "We" in the new name), that's an incredibly odd move. Regardless, there's a lot of good news out there, and I will most likely be getting one at launch, unless they announce they'll have a black unit within 90 days after launch. I'm looking at you, DS Lite.

All of this information was gathered from both Gamespot and IGN, you can find the reference news items at the following links:
http://www.gamespot.com/events/wiilaunch/story.html?sid=6157575
http://www.gamespot.com/events/wiilaunch/index.html
http://wii.ign.com/articles/732/732730p1.html
http://wii.ign.com/index/news.html

Also, I know I haven't posted my Exit review yet. Things have kept coming up. It should be up soon.