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Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support

By | August 17, 2011, 10:14am PDT

Summary: Nintendo is phasing out the old Wii design in favor of a slimmer, non-Gamecube-compatible version.

WIth the aging Wii slowly making its way towards the gadget graveyard, Nintendo is doing all it can to breathe life into the dying console.

Its latest effort is a redesign of the Wii itself. Nintendo has slimmed down the console slightly and designed it to sit flat, eschewing the vertical cradle that comes with the console currently.

With the changes, however, come two losses: the retooled Wii is losing both the ability to play Gamecube games and use Gamecube controllers. Those things, of course, are likely only a big deal to a small contingent of gamers, all of which probably already own a Wii anyway. So not the biggest losses, all told.

Right now the device is only announced for Europe, but it would be safe to assume that the U.S. and Japan would see the redesign as well. There is also no word on price point.

[Official Nintendo Magazine]

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Nintendo Co. Ltd., Nintendo GameCube, Console, Nintendo Wii, Game Players, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications.

Disclosure

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton has no investments that may conflict with his work with ZDNet. Similarly, he has not worked with any companies that he may write about in his technology coverage.

Biography

Ricardo Bilton

Ricardo Bilton writes for ZDNet's The ToyBox. His work has appeared in The Japan Times, The New York Observer, and The International Business Times, among other publications. He lives in New York, and is a graduate of Amherst College.

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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
jmwells21 Updated - 18th Aug
@reziol Nope. The moneymaker is in the accessories!
Besides, if Wiis came with two controllers, WiiPlay would definitely NOT be the system's biggest seller... lol
But in all seriousness, I miss the days when systems used to come with two controllers. I think that notion died out in the days of the SNES (I remember the original systems w/Mario World including 2 controllers).
Controllers are way more expensive now, too. Official controllers used to be maybe $20, now we're stuck paying $40-60! What a rip.
...and didn't the 2600 come with TWO games, too? Whatever happened to pack-ins being the standard, rather than the exception?
*goes back to sitting in his rocking chair on the porch and yelling at kids to get off his lawn*
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
bobiroc 17th Aug
I think with the announcement of the Wii U I fear that many may be holding out for that.
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
Peter Perry 17th Aug
Kinect and Move killed the Wii
!
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
bobiroc 17th Aug
@Peter Perry

I don't think that is the case at all. It may have slowed it down but if you remember the Wii sold many systems in the first few years and I think it is at the point where anyone that wanted one got one. Also since Nintendo's systems have a much much lower failure rate people are not rushing out to buy a system to replace an out of warranty one. The same cannot be said for the XBOX or PS3. All three systems have seen a decline in sales overall and the next generation Nintendo has been officially announced and is due out next year and since that it maintains Wii compatibility I think people that were once interested in getting a Wii this late in the game (no pun intended) are willing to wait a bit longer.
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
Doctor Demento 17th Aug
@Peter Perry

Nintendo's problem is a lack of quality 3rd party games. They have Mario and Zelda and all the standard Nintendo stuff, but not much else, at least not much else that is actually good.
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
Aerowind 17th Aug
Ditching GCN games is fine, but killing GCN controllers isn't, as there are a lot of Wii games with GCN support, not to mention the Virtual Console.

That said, I doubt price is their problem.
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RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
Champ_Kind 17th Aug
@Aerowind Ditching GCN game compatibility is a misstep when it comes down to it. Retooling GCN game support, however, would have been the smart thing to do (it would have been easy to add an emulation layer that would allow you to use the Classic Controller/Pro if you didn't have wired or wireless GameCube controllers).

With that being said, I really hope that my Wavebirds aren't going to be worthless in a year when Wii U comes out - SSBB, Mario Kart, and all my N64 downloads are easier to control with the GCN controller than the Classic Controller (which is best suited to SNES, Genesis, and Neo-Geo games).
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"...and use Gamecube controllers."
SenorAlejandro 18th Aug
Wow. That's the only decent way to play the Wii's biggest flagship title, Super Smash Bros. Brawl... as well as various other games, like Mario Kart. The GameCube controls are substantially better than the chintzy gimmick controls offered by the Wii Remote/Nunchuk and the horrid Wii Wheel.
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Can you get a version with more than one controller?
reziol 18th Aug
So they remove some functionality, probably charge more for it (learn that one from Porsche - they charge you more money to leave the parts that should have been installed on a shelf somewhere), and still not give the people a system where MULTIPLE players can use it. Even my old Atari 2600, when new, came with two joysticks - so that 2 people could play at once.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Nintendo announces redesigned Wii, strips console of Gamecube support
jmwells21 Updated - 18th Aug
@reziol Nope. The moneymaker is in the accessories!
Besides, if Wiis came with two controllers, WiiPlay would definitely NOT be the system's biggest seller... lol
But in all seriousness, I miss the days when systems used to come with two controllers. I think that notion died out in the days of the SNES (I remember the original systems w/Mario World including 2 controllers).
Controllers are way more expensive now, too. Official controllers used to be maybe $20, now we're stuck paying $40-60! What a rip.
...and didn't the 2600 come with TWO games, too? Whatever happened to pack-ins being the standard, rather than the exception?
*goes back to sitting in his rocking chair on the porch and yelling at kids to get off his lawn*

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