Wii Mini Releasing Next Month?

[_SD_]

Going by this Verge article, it seems that the SD card is indeed gone, along with the WiFi. Nintendo's reasoning: the low, low price

It's a shame that this console isn't exclusive to Scotland..... then they could have called it the Wee Wii

[noobish hat]

Wouldn't the SD slot be completely pointless if it doesn't have any online capabilities?

[importaku]

Not really seeing as it means your wii will quickly fill up as the data area on the wii is tiny. So when that happens you'll have to delete save files instead of moving them onto an sd card. Only reason they took out the sd card slot is it totally eliminates the homebrew channel been installed.

[noobish hat]

So how many game saves can the standard Wii hold? I've got maybe 30 on mine...

[importaku]

Depends on the games, some only use a few blocks & others ****loads. Wonder if the photo channel will still be in there, lol can't see it been.

Seems a bit of a weird idea to me this mini wii. Theres already one revision out there with no gamecube support & now this one too, must admit i could do with a replacement im fed up of it sounding like a jet ski when i play a game lol

[sj33]

Digital Foundry has broken down the machine, and it appears to be even more cut-back than previously realised.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-nintendo-wii-mini-review

We already knew that the machine has no WiFi support, no SD card slot (so no patching games), no GameCube compatibility or ability to use the Wavebird controller and only 1 USB port. However, not only does the new machine refuse to recognise the USB Ethernet adaptor (eliminating any possibility of restoring online connectivity), but is also incompatible with the Component cable meaning no 480p support.

Given the price of an existing Wii is probably roughly the same (or maybe even less) than the Wii Mini, and the machine itself appears to be only marginally smaller than a regular Wii, it appears to be a very unattractive proposition.

[nakamura]

It's a piece of **** .

[sj33]

Some things seem to have been arbitrarily removed almost out of spite. I mean, they would have actually had to consciously remove the support for the USB Ethernet adaptor from the system software given the machine still actually has a USB port. The same goes for the removal of Component support - the machine presumably still uses an analogue video encoder similar to the existing one.

[fuse]

They've already made it clear that they had no intention of being able to take the system online, but turning off component? Just... why?

[jim g]

It's a piece of **** .

agreed people should just pick a used Wii that does have all the functionality this one doesn't

[gambit6613]

What a complete waste of money and total waste of time this is. I mean its not even exactly mini, the comparison photos with Wii show that its not much different at all in size. Why would anyone buy this when im sure you could quite easily pick up a second hand Wii for the same money or less. Even if you wanted a brand new Wii that would not cost that much more.

[speedlolita]

It's a piece of **** .

I don't think so. As Shakey has pointed out, I sort of assumed that the DAC must have been internal before and has been omitted from this machine. I feel that RGB SCART would still work though, if the machine was flashed into a PAL machine.

Who knows though, maybe somebody will try what I've suggested some day but I find it hard to see this being released outside of Canada - for now at least.

What a complete waste of money and total waste of time this is. I mean its not even exactly mini, the comparison photos with Wii show that its not much different at all in size. Why would anyone buy this when im sure you could quite easily pick up a second hand Wii for the same money or less. Even if you wanted a brand new Wii that would not cost that much more.

Looks nicer.
Will consume less power.
No rubbish slot loading malarkey, I'd put money on the laser being better too.

At this point I'd still say get a used Wii sure, but I see the advantages.

[ETC]

It's probably more aimed at emerging markets (India, Asia, South America) and Canada is probably being used as the testing ground to see if it would be worth doing worldwide (its not) having said a minty boxed one will be a fortune in 10 years as no one will buy one.

[ETC]

I don't think so. As Shakey has pointed out, I sort of assumed that the DAC must have been internal before and has been omitted from this machine. I feel that RGB SCART would still work though, if the machine was flashed into a PAL machine.

Who knows though, maybe somebody will try what I've suggested some day but I find it hard to see this being released outside of Canada - for now at least.



Looks nicer.
Will consume less power.
No rubbish slot loading malarkey, I'd put money on the laser being better too.

At this point I'd still say get a used Wii sure, but I see the advantages.

buy if and recase the guts with an older model it should be easy enough?

[Ouenben]

Looks nicer.
Will consume less power.
No rubbish slot loading malarkey, I'd put money on the laser being better too.

At this point I'd still say get a used Wii sure, but I see the advantages.

Wii hardly looks ugly though by any means.
Wii isn't exactly a power consuming beast anyway
Could come in handy for dual layered games but otherwise not much of an advantage, top loaders require way more vertical room which is a big disadvantage for crowded/space limited home entertainment setups.

These measily 'advantages' don't make up for:
- No Wifi
- No SD Card support
- Not being able to place the console on its side
-Larger amount of space required for a top loader
-No Component support/480p
-No Gamecube support
-No Ethernet adaptor support
-Costing more than a Wii (Especially compared to second hand)