Wii Mini Debuts In Time For Holiday Season

Smartphones might have reached a point where they’re getting bigger and bigger, but consoles are, by contrast, shrinking. The Internet imploded with reports on the Wii Mini this afternoon, following an official announcement by Nintendo.

The Wii Mini will be released in Canada only on Dec 7 2012, and will cost US$99. Though it is smaller than the original Wii console and comes in black and red – very uncharacteristic colours for Nintendo – it can play more than 1,400 disc-based Wii games. The Wii Mini will also come with a red Wiimote, a red Nunchuck controller, and will work with most Wii accessories. Details on the latter were not given by Nintendo.

The biggest different between the Wii Mini and the Wii, apart from its size? The Mini has no Internet capabilities and will not play GameCube games. According to the Nintendo press release, the Wii Mini is “a great value for first-time Wii owners who just want to jump in and experience all the great Wii games that helped usher in a revolution in motion-controlled gamer.” The much cheaper price point is also encouraging.

The Wii Mini is a nice addition to the Nintendo Wii family of consoles, though information on it is, for now, useless to us deprived Singaporeans. We’ve reached out to Maxsoft to enquire on its official availability within our shores.

UPDATE Nov 28 2012 – Local distributor Maxsoft is still awaiting further news from Nintendo on the Wii Mini’s availability here.