Official price and release date of Wii!! (Europe Dec 8th,Australia Dec 7th!)

[Trauma-san]

where does wii stand graphics-wise in comparison to the 360 or ps3?

its its even close...im interested...btw how much does the 360 cost?



peace

Screenshots of the system's graphic capabilities

[daWappla]

^

I think it will look better than this. Look at the sword in the first picture, that looks crap. Missing some Anti Aliasing.

.. but yeah, graphics wise it won´t be able to compete with the other systems but so what? Like stated, in the long run -> gameplay > graphics.

.. and I´m glad that it will be region free. Dope shit.

[Don Seer]

the wii isnt about being the console graphics wise, or the biggest 'format'.. nintendo is where gameplay is king.. not graphics or 'mines bigger than yours' battles

thats why it costs half what the others will..

nintendo is about playability and fun..

if you want big huge blockbuster games NOT ALL will be on wii.. but you'll get some cool fun games instead

[Bomb-A®]

if they put PES on it.....im buying it...i just told mt sister in australia to keep an eye out



peace

[Trauma-san]

I found a very interesting quote from a Nintendo guy, this is what I'm talking about.  Ideas and attitudes like this in that industry are brilliant, in my opinion. 

"This may sound paradoxical, but if we had followed the existing Roadmaps we would have aimed to make it “faster and flashier.” In other words, we would have tried to improve the speed at which it displays stunning graphics. But we could not help but ask ourselves, “How big an impact would that direction really have on our customers?” During development, we came to realise the sheer inefficiency of this path when we compared the hardships and costs of development against any new experiences that might be had by our customers.

It must have been about a year after we started developing Wii. After speaking with Nintendo's development partners, I became keenly aware of the fact that there is no end to the desire of those who just want more. Give them one, they ask for two. Give them two, and next time they will ask for five instead of three. Then they want ten, thirty, a hundred; their desire growing exponentially. Giving in to this will lead us nowhere in the end. I started to feel unsure about following that path about a year into development....

Normally when you decide to use new semiconductor technology, you do so solely for the sake of more extravagance and higher performance. In the case of the CPU, you try to progressively improve its processing power, which in turn raises its power consumption and increases its size. Sophisticated semiconductor technology is required to realise this goal. While you could use such cutting-edge semiconductor technology in order to facilitate this kind of extravagance, you can choose to apply this technology in other ways, such as making chips smaller. We have utilised the technology in this way so that we could minimise the power consumption of Wii. If the chip becomes smaller, we can make the size of the console smaller. With a smaller chip and minimised power consumption, Wii can be left on 24 hours a day. This is what I meant when I said that the way Wii makes use of state-of-the-art technologies is completely different from the way in which they are used in other devices...

Of course, the issue of performance was not secondary. Anyone can realise “low performance with low power.” Others tend to aim for “high performance with high power.” With Wii however, Nintendo alone has pursued “high performance with low power consumption.” So, while Wii embraces cutting-edge technology and high performance, the direction it is aiming in is completely different from that of previous systems.

Using state-of-the-art technology in unprecedented ways is far more complex, difficult, and requires more technological know-how than simply using the technology to improve performance. The Wii system is far more complex than that of the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. Furthermore, since Wii is compatible with GameCube software, we have not only tried to create something new, but we have also retained some of the old functionality. Honestly, this was not an easy task." - Nintendo Integrated R&D general manager, Genyo Takeda


I saw in another interview where they discussed the things they went through to design the system.  Sony is thinking 'bigger, better" and doing things like jerking the vibe out of the controller so they can hack a motion sensor in and rip Nintendo off. 

Nintendo spent 5 years designing and testing various things, like for instance, they want you to leave the system on 24 hours a day, so things will download automatically to it.  One of the geniuses that works there said "Oh, you can't do that, people will hear the fan running while they're trying to sleep and unplug it!" so they spent like a fucking YEAR trying to figure out how to make the fan turn itself off at night, and then back on in the morning, without overburning the console.  You think Sony or Microsoft ever gave thought to customers like that?  They also limited the 'nintendo' logos on the console's operating system, becuase they don't want people to think of it as a mario/zelda machine, and instead think subconsciously of the word "wii", so everybody in the house will want to use it for shit. 

Nintendo's been making games for people since the 60's.  They love it, it's all they'll do, and the only people they'll hire are people who are in love with making games.  Sony and Microsoft make computers and t.v.s.  That's why I love Nintendo so much, nobody else is even close. 

[Trauma-san]

BTW, the Third Party developers are going bananas over the system.  Many developers have halted early-production games for the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems, and changed them into Wii-specific games, because they're so much cheaper to design, and the advanced controller makes it fun to make games again.  Here's some quotes from them.

"The Wii is changing audience interaction, opening up whole new experiences that have never been possible in video games. With the instinctual control of the Wii Remote, Nintendo is advancing the gaming experience to the broadest audience of gamers. Activision is excited about the launch of the Wii and the opportunity it offers. So much so, we plan to have five titles available at launch - our strongest lineup ever for a new console. We have more development resources devoted to the Wii than to any previous Nintendo platform. The Wii is likely to have a profound impact on the size, growth and overall opportunities for the video game market."
- Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO, Activision, Inc.

"With escalating costs for both developing games and for consumers buying new game systems, we applaud Nintendo's drive to spread gaming to the masses - and we fully support that approach. The Wii wasn't a whole new programming environment... So we had a lot of tools and tech that work in that environment. So those costs--and again, I hate these broad generalizations--but they could be as little as a third of the high-end next-gen titles... Maybe the range is a quarter to a half." - Brian Farrell, President and CEO, THQ, Inc.

"For established publishers, the Virtual Console model is a tremendous opportunity to extend our classic brands. Nobody ever thinks of a good book as retired - why shouldn't great games live forever, too?"
- Naoya Tsurumi, CEO, Sega of America

"In order for our industry to continue to grow, we've got to think about gaming and games differently. That's exactly what Nintendo is doing."
- Geoff Mulligan, COO, Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.

"Nintendo's strategy is expanding the market. We are thrilled."
- David Pierce, President and CEO, Atari, Inc.

"The Wii control scheme opens up unexplored areas for our talented teams to innovate when creating games. It's invigorating for us. We believe that it will help create a new level of interest in video games and engage more players around the world."
- Laurent DeToc, President of Ubisoft North America

"I believe the Wii will attract new and casual gamers to the world of interactive entertainment. It's a fun, easy and economical system that will become a bridge to gaming for mainstream audiences. At EA, we are putting more support behind the Wii than any Nintendo hardware launch since the Super NES."
- Larry Probst, Chairman and CEO, Electronic Arts

[Bomb-A®]

^^ gr8 read....this thread has done a better job selling me the wii that gamespy, ign, gamespot, e3 put together



peace

[Rish]

UK peeps getting ripped off again :/

[Trauma-san]

^^ gr8 read....this thread has done a better job selling me the wii that gamespy, ign, gamespot, e3 put together



peace

Glad to have helped

[Nutty]

Official NZ release date is the same as Australia, and will retail at $499.95 NZD.

The Wii is fucked imo. You can get the 360 Core for the same price and it has about twice the power of the Wii. Nintendo has started behind the 8ball again, they've done it w/ the GameCube and will do it again w/ the Wii.

Fans are getting ripped!!!

**Edit....buyers will get ripped!!!

[Trauma-san]

You're in the minority.  For instance, the system has already sold out on Amazon.com the first day it was available.  "Fans Are Getting Ripped"... yeah, Ask Sony about how they're 'ripping' you fans off in New Zealand.  They could give a fuck when the PS3 is launched around the world, whereas Nintendo's bending over backwards to launch it as close as possible everywhere, including New Zealand.  you have the balls to say Nintendo is fucking the fans whenever your fav. system is truly fucking you personally by releasing the system in your country 4 months after they release it in America.  Open your eyes.  The ps3 is a big ps2.  The Nintendo Wii is like nothing before.  Nintendo makes games, Sony makes laptop batteries that explode. 

[I`m Wayne Brady bitch!]

Nutty got sonned!

[Don Seer]

indeed..

btw expect LOTS more info on WII over the weekend as the tokyo games show starts on the 22nd.. and maybe sony will have working ps3s like they didn't manage to do at e3.. 

[Nutty]

^ Didn't know TGS was this weekend, will def. be checking out all systems.

As for who will come out tops, we'll juss have to wait and see........

We always get things last down under, so it's no big deal. It's a plus for us as we get more games at launch date.

[Don Seer]

notes a from a "wii party" (nintendo held these across a few cities to get feedback or somes hit)

gives best info on wii sports.. says which games are addictive etc

http://forums.nintendo.com/nintendo/board/message?board.id=General&message.id=38275