In a surprising turn of events, it would appear that the Canadian website for Best Buy has let slip an advertisement for preordering a new, smaller version of the Wii called the "Wii mini", slated to release on December 7th.

This is quite the surprise. A new, boxy Wii just in time for the holidays. If the price is right, it might just be something rather lucrative for Nintendo. I was not expecting them to do anything more with the Wii platform, as they seemed to be trying so hard to just push the Wii U as the big new thing, but I guess they really want the Wii to have some legs. I'm curious to hear all of the details on what's included. As a cheap little Netflix and gaming box, I can definitely see its appeal for some time to come.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/home.aspx

What are your thoughts on it? Might a smaller, cheaper Wii finally get the little guy into your home?

Soooo... it's decided that "Wiinii" is it's true name, yes?

@ShaggE said:

Soooo... it's decided that "Wiinii" is it's true name, yes?

I've already heard "Wee Wii", and I'm afraid that may be the early frontrunner.

A wee Wii.

Man, another Wii I won't buy, they are just throwing them out all over the place.

@TruthTellah said:

@ShaggE said:

Soooo... it's decided that "Wiinii" is it's true name, yes?

I've already heard "Wee Wii", and I'm afraid that may be the early frontrunner.

Yeah, that's ten times better. I am fully behind pushing the Wee Wii agenda.

Looks cute!

Wow, it looks about as small as...the regular Wii?

but the wii is already small and inexpensive, what's the point in having a slightly smaller one? It's not like I'm carrying it around.
welp- as if people weren't confused enough over whether the Wii U is a new console or just an accessory, here's another variable. Might've bin a better idea to launch this a few months ago.

Doesn't this just give people less of a reason to buy a Wii U?

I wonder if Amazon will have it in stock since they love Nintendo hardware so much that they just won't let anyone have them other than themselves.

I'll only buy it if it's the size of my thumb.

@GS_Dan said:

Doesn't this just give people less of a reason to buy a Wii U?

Some people just won't be willing to spend $300 on a games console and probably don't care about owning the newest games.

If you've still never owned a Wii, I'd say that this is very much worth picking up for the handful of excellent games that were on there.

Wii-Nii lol, how small can this thing be, the regular Wii is about the size of my first CD Walkman.

A smaller Wii with the ability to easily move it around from place to place is a great idea (and I think if it sells well then third parties will offer a screen that clips onto the small console so you can play it in hotels or even outside etc...) but I can't for the life of me see why they are releasing it in the same holiday season as they are releasing a completely new console (especially one in which people are already finding trouble figuring out what the WiiU is).

God Damnit Nintendo - this should have either been released 6 months ago or 6 months from now - not less than a month after the WiiU came out.

This ^

I prefer Wiinii and what the fuck is Nintendo doing?

@TruthTellah said:

@ShaggE said:

Soooo... it's decided that "Wiinii" is it's true name, yes?

I've already heard "Wee Wii", and I'm afraid that may be the early frontrunner.

@Sanj said:

A wee Wii.

Sweet, if the price is right I might finally get to play Super Mario Galaxy

WiiM!!Nii

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/380694/wii-mini-price-is-9999-new-images-reveal-flip-open-disc-tray/

Here are some more pictures of it; also no internet connectivity or compatibility with Gamecube games or controllers.

@Pablo_biffy said:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/380694/wii-mini-price-is-9999-new-images-reveal-flip-open-disc-tray/

Here are some more pictures of it; also no internet connectivity or compatibility with Gamecube games or controllers.

Well, that sucks! :(

The first Wii is so tiny. How can it get even smaller?

but the wii is already small and inexpensive, what's the point in having a slightly smaller one? It's not like I'm carrying it around.
welp- as if people weren't confused enough over whether the Wii U is a new console or just an accessory, here's another variable. Might've bin a better idea to launch this a few months ago.

Man, Nintendo is desperate.

with the billions of wii's that got sold finding a cheap secondhand one is not a problem. and the wii was hardley massive.

do like the colour though

It's a neat looking model. If it didn't lack support for internet, Gamecube games, and likely the modability of the regular Wii, it might be a worthwhile purchase for people don't already have a Wii. Another thing to consider is that without internet connectivity, there is literally no way to get Virtual Console or WiiWare games onto this thing.

@Wikitoups: How exactly do you use Netflix when you can't connect to the internet?

Edit: Isn't the regular Wii $99? Why would you pay the same price for this gimped version?

It might have, but the WiiU is out now so...

if no network or pack in $99 is insane.

broken wii replacement for the small subset of users that were not using it as netflix box

I don't see a sd slot either so hacking options are going to be slim

This is great, there have been so many times where I've thought "you know, my Wii is great, but if only it were a little smaller."

@Daiphyer said:

Man, Nintendo is desperate.

Nintendo have like 10 billion dollars sitting in the bank. It's because of moves like this, they know a cash cow when they see it. This'll sell like hotcakes.

mmm... hotcakes.

@Wikitoups said:

@I_smell

but the wii is already small and inexpensive, what's the point in having a slightly smaller one? It's not like I'm carrying it around.
welp- as if people weren't confused enough over whether the Wii U is a new console or just an accessory, here's another variable. Might've bin a better idea to launch this a few months ago.

it has a netflix app if the price is right you could have it as a inexpensive netflix box for a old tv (ex one for kids) other than that...a cheap box to play wii games? hell theres someone who will probably hack it to play emulated games.

Perhaps you haven't seen the posts yet...but it doesn't have WiFi capabilities...

@WalkerD said:

It's a neat looking model. If it didn't lack support for internet, Gamecube games, and likely the modability of the regular Wii, it might be a worthwhile purchase for people don't already have a Wii. Another thing to consider is that without internet connectivity, there is literally no way to get Virtual Console or WiiWare games onto this thing.

@Wikitoups: How exactly do you use Netflix when you can't connect to the internet?

Edit: Isn't the regular Wii $99? Why would you pay the same price for this gimped version?

The regular Wii did get a price cut recently, but it only went down like $20 or $30, and I believe the current price is $129.99. Which was suspicious, but I guess now we know why they didn't just drop it all the way down to $99.99.

Anyway, I agree with everyone else that it's totally insane of Nintendo to launch this less than a month after the WiiU. Talk about market confusion. They could've at least waited until January.

I just have to ask...... Why would they do this when they just launched a new console? Why didn't they think of this like three or four years before the Wii U became more than an idea? I have a feeling this thing is going the way of the Game Boy Micro.

Is there seriously no wi-fi in this thing?

Heres another article with some more pictures:

http://www.slashgear.com/wii-mini-official-99-99-canada-exclusive-sheds-internet-27258445/

I almost thought they could make this work if they started selling disc games on the eShop (and maybe used that for the free pack in games) but nevermind with no network support.

Also supports "most Wii accessories" probably means no USB either. Potentially no SD. Not sure what Nintendo is thinking.

Press release references all the top Wii games and their prices so looks like no pack in either.

@Video_Game_King said:

@TruthTellah said:

@ShaggE said:

Soooo... it's decided that "Wiinii" is it's true name, yes?

I've already heard "Wee Wii", and I'm afraid that may be the early frontrunner.

@Sanj said:

A wee Wii.

Yes! I love that you made this reference because that's exactly what was playing through my head.

For fucks sake, why no internet connectivity?! I was totally tempted to buy this to play a tonne of Virtual Console.

Seems an odd time to release this right along side your new console.

Wtf are you doing Nintendo?

The design is cool, I like it. No internet seems a little crazy.

It looks pretty cool. Removal of internet connectivity isn't all that surprising. It's an easy way to cut cost, and I imagine that a pretty low percentage of Wii consoles have ever been connected to the internet at all.

...but why the hell would they do this? There's already market confusion about the Wii and Wii U, and it seems like the last thing they should be doing is introducing yet another model. Confused parents everywhere are about to disappoint a lot of kids that were hoping to have a Wii U under the tree.

@msavo said:

Is there seriously no wi-fi in this thing?

http://www.nintendo.com/wiimini/what-is-wii-mini/#/whats-in-the-box

@Chaser324 said:

It looks pretty cool. Removal of internet connectivity isn't all that surprising. It's an easy way to cut cost, and I imagine that a pretty low percentage of Wii consoles have ever been connected to the internet at all.

...but why the hell would they do this? There's already market confusion about the Wii and Wii U, and it seems like the last thing they should be doing is introducing yet another model. Confused parents everywhere are about to disappoint a lot of kids that were hoping to have a Wii U under the tree.

kids below a certain age are likely to not notice a difference.

i think nintendo is releasing it because it serves as a stopgap product to get nintendo some reliable revenue until the wii-u gets some legs of its own.

it will take a while for that console to reach its peak but once developers get used to the idea of developing for the wii-u it will probably sell better among the enthusiastic crowd, assuming nintendo delivers on its self-generated hype

@thedj93: I don't think it's a bad idea, I just think it's bad timing. A smaller console that is cheaper to produce and sells at a lower cost can be crazy profitable (just ask Sony), but I think it's poor timing to release it at the same time as a new console that a lot of people are already confused about. However, maybe Canadians are smarter than dumb Americans, so maybe they can handle it better than us.

Man, Christmas is going to be hell for the moms trying to find the correct console for their kids.

E: In Canada that is...seems weird to make it Canada exclusive thou, bet it'll come out everywhere else not too soon.

@Chaser324 said:

@thedj93: I don't think it's a bad idea, I just think it's bad timing. A smaller console that is cheaper to produce and sells at a lower cost can be crazy profitable (just ask Sony), but I think it's poor timing to release it at the same time as a new console that a lot of people are already confused about. However, maybe Canadians are smarter than dumb Americans, so maybe they can handle it better than us.

dude I AM canadian, but yeah i totally agree. if this was out at the same time last year i would be more interested in buying it. actually who am i kidding i wouldn't have bought it then haha fuck that, motion controls arent for me

I kind of want to buy one just because it looks so awesome, it's a pretty ridiculous and oddly timed product, though.

The point seem to be to have SOMETHING or ANYTHING that is a Wii under the tree....that is similar to Sony and MS plan as well.  You just get people in your eco-system and worry about them getting the 'right thing' later.   In 2006 when I walked into a shopping mall, the MOST purchased and carried around item was a PSTwo.  That didn't hurt Sony or confuse people, having both systems for sale in Sony's  area just got more people in the PS eco-system. 
 
The real question is what's the market for a Wii Mini?  Are kids or fans going to ask for one on the Santa list?  Having it hurts very little, but selling it remains a question.

This is really bad timing on Nintendo's part, even if it only concerns Canada. Hopefully, it won't come out anywhere else...