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Acid

Nintendo introduces the WiiMini

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http://www.thestar.com/living/technology/article/1293635--wii-mini-nintendo-announces-canadian-exclusive-console-for-holidays

The console, a smaller version of their older Wii, will be available in stores on December 7 for $99. Consumers should take care not to confuse it with the technologyWii U, the company’s HD console that launched less than two weeks ago.

The Wii Mini is an updated and smaller version of the hugely successful Wii system that launched in 2006, whose legacy was to bring motion control gaming into the home. Its success forced competitors to match that capability, launching systems such as the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move. The original Wii is also one of the smallest home consoles ever released


Hmm, shrinking a device, slapping Mini on it with the same tecnology and branding it as a new product...sound familiar anyone?

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The big difference between Nintendo and Apple is that Nintendo's products are half the price of its competitors and it actually innovates; whereas Apple's products are twice the price of the competitors and the only R&D they have going for them is in the marketing department.

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I think the part that struck me most was that it's going to be exclusive to Canada. I think if I wanted a Wii, I'd pay the price for a full one.

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The launch press release states the Wii Mini is a Canadian exclusive, adding: “No information is available about its potential availability in other territories in the future.”

Wtf!?

edit: ninja'd :(

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Gez said:

The big difference between Nintendo and Apple is that Nintendo's products are half the price of its competitors and it actually innovates; whereas Apple's products are twice the price of the competitors and the only R&D they have going for them is in the marketing department.

Well despite my Apple hate, at least when Apple scales things down the specs remain mostly the same (just slower due to heat requirements). When Nintendo downsizes they remove stuff. Sometimes they revise hardware by just removing features. The Wii Family Edition is the same physically, but lacks Gamecube compatibility. Now the Wii Mini supposedly won't have Internet capabilities as well. The only thing making them less evil than Sony is that Sony removes the features on existing hardware. :P

You could see this in past hardware from Nintendo. The Gamecube dropped the component video out, the SNES dropped S-Video (to make matters worse on this one, it's simple to reconnect the S-Video/RGB lines), the NES dropped composite, and I'm sure there are other examples.

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Why a Canadian exclusive? The "original" model never caught on with the Canucks, so Nintendo are doing what any tenacious business would do and repackaging it in the hope that people will buy it?

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Canada, eh? There must be something special aboot it.

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Clonehunter said:

Damn eskimo syrup drinking bear huggers.

I thought the Russians were bear huggers.

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Gez said:

...the only R&D they have going for them is in the marketing department.


Smartphones ~2007

Samsung


Google


Sony


<



>

Smartphones ~2012

Samsung


Google


Sony


Hmmm...

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Mr. T said:

Hmmm...

Apple did bring the smart phone to the consumer market by working with AT&T to bring the price of data plans down to reasonable levels. They also brought multitouch into consumer electronics. So like Gez said, the R&D is marketing. Finding out what consumers would buy and how to present it. Consumer demands has thus driven other phone manufactures to follow with similar devices.

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I wish Apple would start making game consoles too, but they seem to be pretty lousy so far at hardcore gaming (which is more often associated with rugged designs, not plastic and aluminium). And gamers aren't likely to spend so much money to buy that.

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You know what would happen in that event...
You'd basically have iPad hardware in an Apple TV case.

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I don't really understand the point. The Wii is a pretty damn tiny console already, and they're taking out some of the elements that made the Wii worth owning (Internet connectivity, ability to play Gamecube games). I'm one of the few people who still plays on the Wii regularly, and the ability to download games via Virtual Console and play Gamecube games are a major part of that.

Now, I know this isn't the first time Nintendo has redesigned and shrunk a console, but primarily, it's been with handheld consoles where it actually makes sense to want a smaller version. I still own an original DS, but the re-released version is much less bulky and feels better in your hands. What's the advantage of a smaller version of a console that isn't portable in the first place, though?

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Internet access and Gamecube compatibility are probably the least known and used features on the Wii due to the target audience - 'soccer mums' and their small children.

If you shrink the Wii and re-release it, you can potentially sell it as the latest hot Christmas gift to those who don't know any better I guess.

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Captain Toenail said:

Internet access and Gamecube compatibility are probably the least known and used features on the Wii due to the target audience - 'soccer mums' and their small children.


Oh I don't know, I know a lot of people who aren't really gamers ina sense who use the Wii to play Gamecube games almost exclusively, though I suppose it is because their soccer mums bought it for the siblings to jerk around with while she sold off the gamecube yet kept the games that they had for it.

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Mr. T said:

Hmmm...


Nope. Pretty tired of this actually; during the Samsung v. Apple trial Samsung brought out chart after chart showing the evolution of their designs.

Plus, Apple fans are constantly retreating to Steve Jobs saying, "Good artists copy, great artists steal", but apparently when it comes to anyone except Apple, that just shows a lack of creativity and will to innovate. Give me a break.

Also, just pay the extra $30 and get a real Wii with some Wii games bundled. The mini has no internet connectivity. Boo hiss.

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geekmarine said:

Now, I know this isn't the first time Nintendo has redesigned and shrunk a console, but primarily, it's been with handheld consoles where it actually makes sense to want a smaller version. I still own an original DS, but the re-released version is much less bulky and feels better in your hands. What's the advantage of a smaller version of a console that isn't portable in the first place, though?

heh




Nintendo's done it before :P

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printz said:

I wish Apple would start making game consoles too


Wish granted!

It flopped worse than the Phillips CD-I because it was released before Apple discovered the magic formula of success. If they had named it iConsole, it would have given them hegemony over the console market.

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Yeah, and no one would have been able to make consoles after the iConsole without Steve Jobs going apeshit, Apple suing everyone for crazy royalties, and legions of Apple fanboys yelling "thieves!". These are critical components of the Apple "magic", don't leave them out haha.

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Oh, you mean the fact that only Apple are allowed to use and build upon current successful ideas?

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Ladna said:

Nope. Pretty tired of this actually; during the Samsung v. Apple trial Samsung brought out chart after chart showing the evolution of their designs.

Plus, Apple fans are constantly retreating to Steve Jobs saying, "Good artists copy, great artists steal", but apparently when it comes to anyone except Apple, that just shows a lack of creativity and will to innovate. Give me a break.

Also, just pay the extra $30 and get a real Wii with some Wii games bundled. The mini has no internet connectivity. Boo hiss.


Can you please explain what I am supposed to be looking at there?

Even in the PC space, everyone else is following Apple's lead. Ultrabooks? HiDPI displays? Yep. How is that not innovation?

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I suppose you're supposed to be looking at things that were around before Apple invented them.

Apple's never been in the business of cutting-edge technology; in fact, most of their hardware is lacking. Their strength is in selling an experience, a social symbol.

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Mr. T said:

Can you please explain what I am supposed to be looking at there?

Even in the PC space, everyone else is following Apple's lead. Ultrabooks? HiDPI displays? Yep. How is that not innovation?


AMOLED was being developed long before Retina ever showed up. That's being dishonest. If anything, everyone is using INTEL and SHARP Tech.

And tell me when Apple is accepted in Space. That's still IBM and Lenovo's territory.

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