Reggie Fils-Aime, president and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, revealed more details about Nintendo's upcoming Wii console in an interview with the Rocky Mountain News.
Less than a week after Fils-Aime announced the price and release date of Wii in America, its $249.99 price tag is still a debated topic among gamers. While cheaper than both Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's upcoming PlaySation 3, many gamers were expecting a lower price. The Xbox 360 currently retails for $299 and $399 for its "Core" and "Pro" system, respectively, while the PlayStation 3 will retail for $499 and $599 for differently-equipped versions of its console.
The speculation for a lower price was fueled in part by Microsoft Vice Preisdent Peter Moore, who said gamers are "going to buy an Xbox [360] and they're going to buy a Wii... for the price of one PS3." The Xbox 360 and Wii combination has been popularly referred to as the Wii60.
"I'm friendly with Peter Moore and I know he's talked up the Wii60. Don't take this the wrong way, but if the consumer wants other experiences, let them buy a Nintendo DS," said Fils-Aime, referring to Nintendo's dual-screened handheld system. "I'm a greedy individual."
Wii will launch in America on November 19, two days after the PlayStation 3 hits store shelves stateside. Consumers looking for a new home console during the holiday shopping season will likely see both systems prominently displayed.
"Do I think they are going to walk in and look at (the PlayStation 3's) value equation and compare it to ours?" Fils-aime asked. "Yes, I do. We have been saying all along that our strategy is based on innovation, our competitor's is based on a pretty picture and more power. They can go take out a second mortgage and buy our competitors' console or they can buy ours."
Fils-Aime also responded to concerns over the Wii Remote and Nunchuk's retail prices - $40 and $20, respectively - and how the total $60 price tag might affect consumer interest in a multiplayer experience. "You don't need the Nunchuk for that many games," Fils-Aime assured.
Regardless of controller prices, Wii is expected to be in high demand this holiday season. Nintendo previously announced that it expects to ship four million Wii consoles by the end of the year. While Fils-Aime declined to announce how many Wii consoles would be available at launch, he did confirm that America "would be getting the largest percentage [of consoles manufactured] before launch."
In addition to playing games, Wii will feature other multimedia capabilities, accessed through "channels" on the console. One of these channels is an Internet channel, which will allow gamers to use Wii to surf the Web.
"Internet browsing will require getting an Opera browser for the Wii," Fils-Aime said. "In Japan [Nintendo] announced that they will make it free for a limited time, but we're not sure what we are going to do here [in the US] yet."
Another Wii Channel, the Shop Channel, allows gamers to purchase games for the Wii's Virtual Console. Virtual Console is a feature that allows users to download classic games from bygone eras, alongside original Wii games, which are stored and played directly on the Wii.
"With 512 megs of flash memory, and NES games being 8-bit, you could easily download all of the games for the Virtual Console and still have lots and lots of space left over," Fils-Aime said. "Let's say you buy all of the downloadable content eight times over and fill up the flash memory, you can delete programs and then later go back and download them without paying a second time."
Additionally, Wii will allow users to play multiplayer games online beginning in 2007, though details are scarce on how online matchmaking will be handled. Microsoft's successful Xbox Live service allows users to choose a "Gamertag," a screen name associated with its user during all online activities on the system. The DS uses a "friend's code" approach, where a user is assigned a different alphanumeric code for every game, which other users can look for online or invite to play with them.
"We believe that the friend's code approach is consistent with our whole strategy," Fils-Aime noted. "Will we take a similar approach for the Wii? Yes."
For more information on the Virtual Console, Wii, its games, and impending US release, check our extensive recent coverage.
You can read the Rocky Mountain News report of the interview with Fils-Aime here.
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