Not a Rumor Anymore: Wii and 'Select' Games Are About to Become Less Expensive [UPDATED x2]

UPDATE Part Deux: We can officially nix the "rumor" part of this article. Nintendo has announced that as of May 15th, the Wii system bundle will drop to $149.99 at all major retailers. Additionally, Wii Sports is officially out of the bundle, replaced by Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Steering Wheel. An elaborate mock-up of what the package may look like in real life can be seen directly to the right of this paragraph that you are reading.

Additionally, Nintendo confirmed the legitimacy of the Wii Select line of newly budget-priced titles. The lineup officially includes Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports. Evidently, we'll have to wait a little longer for Super Smash Bros. Brawl to drop in price.

UPDATE: One, Nintendo has since told us they won't comment. No real surprise there.

Two, Nintendo World Report apparently has box art for these "Wii Select" games. They look legit!

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With the exception of the original PlayStation, I've been a fairly notorious early adopter of new console technologies. I'm guessing if you're reading a website like Giant Bomb, one so thoroughly dedicated to the gaming enthusiasts of the world, you probably don't spend a lot of time waiting around to buy your console of choice, either. That said, there are many people who wait years after a system's release to get on board. One need only look at the absurd number of PlayStation 2 systems that sold well after the PlayStation 3's debut for prime evidence.

Of course, one thing that always helps grease the late adopter's wheels a bit is a price drop, and ever since Nintendo's new console announcement came rumbling into legitimacy, people have been bandying about various rumors of a new $149 price for the now suddenly old-feeling system.

Kotaku took the story a step further last night, citing retail sources that proclaimed that, along with the system's slashed price, a new line of "Wii Select" titles would also be dropped to a price point of $19.99. Along the lines of Sony's "Greatest Hits" and Microsoft's "Platinum Hits" collections--not to mention Nintendo's old "Player's Choice" line--the Select line would be made up of particularly noteworthy titles from the console's lifespan. Kotaku states the new line will debut in May, with the initial title run consisting of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Super Sluggers, and Wii Sports.

== TEASER == Hold on, let me record scratch this story to a halt for a moment. Wii Sports? You mean the game that's been packed in with Wii consoles since jump street? Yes, apparently Nintendo plans to take that seminal sports waggler and put it on store shelves all by its lonesome. Replacing Wii Sports in the console package would be Mario Kart Wii. While that might seem odd, think of it this way: If you're a consumer and you want a Wii now, in 2011, what are you more likely to pick up alongside your console for an extra 20 bucks? Mario Kart? Or that Wii Sports game every other Wii owner on the planet currently owns? Right.

For its part, Nintendo isn't currently talking on the subject, possibly in the hopes of keeping some minuscule modicum of info from their upcoming E3 2011 press conference something even vaguely resembling a secret. We've contacted them for more details and will update if we hear anything. At the rate things are popping out ahead of the show, they may have to resort to putting Miyamoto in a Link costume and forcing him to perform a Zelda-themed musical number. Maybe something like this, only sexier?