UK and Europe launch December 8 2006, priced at £179 (249 Euros)

[i0n]

Just announced at Nintendo of Europes press conference in London.

The european launch date for Wii will be December 8 2006, priced at £179 (249 Euros).

Games will cost £35 - £39 in the UK and 49-59 Euros elsewhere.

Here is the Official Press Release:

15th September 2006 - Today at a press conference held in London’s Docklands, Mr Iwata, Global President of Nintendo Co., Ltd. unveiled a new dimension in home entertainment. Nintendo announced ways to involve every member of the family in gaming via the new Wii console, as well as the much-anticipated price, date and software line-up for the console’s European launch.

Wii is set to revolutionise the face of gaming when it launches in Europe on 8th December 2006 at an estimated retail price of 249 Euros (£179 in the UK), bundled with Wii Sports. Accompanying the console launch will be around 20 software titles including Wii Play and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and from third party publishers launch games include: Ubisoft’s RED STEEL, EA’s Need for Speed: Carbon, Activision’s Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, THQ’s Disney/ Pixar’s Cars and Sega’s Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz.

Included with every Wii console is one wireless Wii Remote, one Nunchuk, and the groundbreaking collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disk which anyone can play using simple physical movements.

Nintendo today set a new direction for the video games industry by using state of the art technology not just for enhancing graphics and processing power but to introduce new people to the world of video games by creating brand new entertainment that is fresh and accessible to everyone.

Mr Iwata, Nintendo’s President, outlined how the Wii would build on Nintendo’s learnings and existing success with DS and continue this expansion of the gaming audience in unique and unprecedented ways.

With Wii, Nintendo aims to create a console that can be enjoyed by every member of the family. Every Wii console will include a series of on-screen “channels” that make up the Wii Channel Menu. The Wii Channel Menu is the starting point for all of the console’s functions. The “channels” offer a gateway to a rich variety of entertainment options. When connected to a TV, the Wii Channel Menu offers a simple interface letting users pick games to play, get news or weather, view and send photos or even create playable caricatures of themselves to use in actual games. Additional functions allow users to download classic games to Wii’s Virtual Console.

Nintendo believe that encouraging users to pick up the controller to access the internet quickly, check the news or see tomorrows weather is one way of ensuring that everyone in the household can use, interact and ultimately engage with Wii. And once users have picked up the controller to perform these basic functions, it’s a small step to get involved in some more fun game play action.

Wii launches across Europe on 8th December 2006 at the estimated retail price of 249 Euros (£179 in the UK). Nintendo first party games will retail at the estimated retail price of between 49 Euros and 59 Euros (£34 to £39 in the UK).

Additional controllers will also be available from launch at the estimated retail prices of: Wii Remote - 39 Euros (£29 in UK), Nunchuk – 19 Euros (£14 in UK) and the Classic Controller – 19 Euros (£14 in UK)

 

[nintendowiigaming.piczo]

TOTALLY! then i'l have to "wait" and... "wait" some moreeee!!!
danm yayah i'l survive... if the bloody wii sport's was'nt with it i could afford zelda too at launch... but i'l be cool with only wii'sport and a computer at my room...

 

[DBloke]

Ill have to book that week off

PARTY AT THIS ONES HOUSE

 

[Squall7]

Surely the £179 cannot be right.

On a currency converter website, I put in £179 and converted it to US dollars. It was $336.90, whereas it was announced that the US would get it for $249.99. Likewise, £179 came up to 265.90 Euros, rather than the 249 stated.

Either the UK is deliberately inflating the price (wouldn't put it past our government), or the conversions are innacurate.

Likwise, on a different conversion site, £179 = $338 and 265 Euros. It should actually be £167, which may not seem a lot, but is £12 difference. Still higher than I expected, but slightly more suitable (for the kind of market Nintendo is going for).

 

[DBloke]

Dont forget vat (bloody taxman) its +17.5%
(used to work in a game shop)

 

[Squall7]

Dont forget vat (bloody taxman) its +17.5%
(used to work in a game shop)

With 17.5% VAT, I calculated the £179 figure to be £210. I then calculated the £167 figure to be £196.

I certainly hope it's more leaning towards the £167 figure...

 

[Napalmbrain]

Woohoo, we finally have a date! Nice to know Wii games will be cheaper than other consoles too. :yesnod:

I wonder if I can get it cheaper if I don't care about Wii Sports (I'm only going to end up selling it anyway)?

 

[i0n]

Wouldnt surprise me at all, seems more than likely we will be paying inflated costs.

As an example check out the U.S and U.K prices on the Apple store

U.S Store - 17inch Macbook Pro = $2,799.00 (£1,489)
U.K Store - 17inch Macbook Pro = $3,566.00 (£1,899)

But i digress

 

[DBloke]

Its the tax man I tells ya
must kill tax man

 

[samt1]

I have just pre ordered mine!!!

£179.99 isn't to bad, especially when Mr Credit Card will be paying for it!!!!

 

[i0n]

I have just pre ordered mine!!!

£179.99 isn't to bad, especially when Mr Credit Card will be paying for it!!!!

We need someone to make one of those Mastercard pricess pics for the Wii

 

[Dossage]

Now I have all the information I can finally make my final descion... I am leaning towards the Wii/DS heavily at the moment

 

[samt1]

We need someone to make one of those Mastercard pricess pics for the Wii

First attempt . . . (not very good at these)

Nintendo Wii Console: £179
Games: £39
Controllers: £20

Seeing the faces on the Sony PS3 team when they realise that every games console in the known universe will be released before theirs! . . .


. . . Priceless!!

 

[dan99iel]

How can u guys say that it isn't so much!! I'm Australian and it's $400 here and i hate the price cos my mum hates consoles and she probably won't get it for me at christmas co's $400 and i will only have $300 by X-mas and my mom will give me $100 dollars but I have to wait 10 whole weeks to pay her back.

 

[King Wiired]

Omg.. that price is WAYYY over what i was expecting.. i'll barely be able to get more games now.. and December!? I thought November release was a long time.. let alone about 3 more months..