“However, there are still a variety of options for consumers to enjoy Wii games and the Wii gameplay experience. Wii U, which is Nintendo’s latest home console, is backwards compatible with nearly all existing Wii games and accessories when you switch to Wii Mode on Wii U.”

Additionally, the Wii Mini will still be available in Europe. Now that the platform is slowly being phased out, will the sales of the Wii U increase in response? Or will consumers be happy to stick to their previous purchase? We’ll find out in the coming months, especially this Holiday season.

Seven years, two of the highest rated games of all time, and over 100 million units sold worldwide later, Nintendo’s Wii, the console that, for good or for bad, redefined and expanded the concept of gaming, is now coming to an end. Nintendo will be ending production of the console end of 2013, according to their Japanese website.

The message, however, is meant only for Japan, Nintendo insists- in Europe and North America, the company plans on making the console available for now. Given the release of Wii Mini, and Nintendo pushing the console as a lower end, cheaply priced alternatives for families on a budget looking to buy something for their kids, I guess it makes sense, although discontinuing the Wii altogether would help them majorly with the brand identification issues that the Wii U has been suffering from.

The Wii’s legacy will be determined by the future. As it stands now, though, the third highest selling console of all time, which hosted one of the highest software attach ratios ever, the highest selling game of all time, and the highest rated game of all time, is nearing the end of its run. I mean, no matter how you look at it, that’s pretty impressive.

Though lacking any internet capabilities, the console will come with a Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuk controller and also be compatible with existing Wii accessories. But the best part is that Nintendo will be expanding on its Nintendo Selects range of titles – which provides some of the best selling Wii titles at discount prices.

Some of the new games being added to the range include Mario Party 8, Wii Sports Resort, Mario Power Tennis and Super Paper Mario. If you’ve ever wanted to experience gameplay on the Wii, but haven’t been able to fall for a prettier design since…the current one, then the Wii Mini is for you.

Nunchuk related injuries will still apply. Health insurance sold separately.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter says that Nintendo is a few years too late in releasing the Wii redesign, the Wii Mini, and the HD console, Wii U, saying that their ideas are “from the last decade.”

“I think Nintendo’s a few years late,” Pachter said on GameTrailers’ Pach Attack. “The Wii U is the ‘Wii HD’ and it’s coming a few years too late. Wii Mini was a great idea back in 2008/2009… The eShop is about seven or eight years too late, Online multiplayer for Nintendo is about seven or eight years too late…”

“Poor Nintendo,” he said. “I think they try way hard to get things right, it takes them a long time.

“Nintendo’s got great ideas, it’s just that they’re great ideas from the last decade.”

Sounds a bit too harsh, though, seeing as their “great ideas from the last decade” usually sell like hot cakes.

What do you guys think? Tell us in the comments below.

[CVG]

Nintendo says that the Wii Mini doesn’t have online functionality because it doesn’t believe everyone needs online in their games. Considering the Wii doesn’t have a lot of games that are built around competitive online play, I’d say I agree with them.

“We want the system to be as affordable as possible to everybody, and the widest audience possible,” Nintendo of Canada communications director Matt Ryan told Polygon. “By taking out functionality, that allows us to keep the cost down.

“The reason that we took [online] out was that we don’t believe that everybody needs that to play games. I mean, a lot of the Wii experiences, and there’s over 1,400 of them that are disc-based Wii games, don’t require online functionality for you to have fun. Now, when you played Wii, or you played some of those games on Wii U, there’s enhanced fun factor when you play them online. But this system isn’t designed for the player who’s looking to have an online experience. Wii Mini is designed for families, or a late adopter, or someone who maybe isn’t even a gamer yet, and maybe doesn’t realize they’ve got a gamer hiding inside of them.

“There’s a consumer out there, there are gamers who have not bought a Wii yet, and there are gamers who have a Wii and want a second one for the cottage, or the chalet, or whatever, who actually don’t need the online functionality. So we basically stripped all the online functionality out, and the end result is cost savings for the person buying Wii Mini at $99.”

The Wii Mini will be out in Canada in a few days, but Nintendo currently has no plans to launch it in other regions.

[VG247]

Any hopes that the recently announced Wii redesign that offers the core experience of the console at an incredibly cheap price would be released anywhere outside of Canada have been squashed. Especially for those living in UK.

“[Wii Mini is] specifically for Canada only,” said James Honeywell, head of consumer marketing at Nintendo UK when asked by CVG when it would be released in Europe or other markets. “We have no plans to launch it in the UK. Our focus here is all about Wii U.”

So… Nintendo’s not focusing on the Wii U in Canada?

Nintendo confirmed a few days ago, after much speculation, that a compact, cheaper version of the Wii will be releasing in Canada on December 7. It will be sold at CA $99, and it will not have online functions or GameCube backwards compatibility. But it will, however, be compatible with 1400 Wii games. Considering its price and how good it looks, I’d say that’s a pretty fair deal.

They’ve reportedly found the most important details from the report, which state:

Introducing the Wii Mini! Coming Dec 7 2012!
WII MINI CONSOLE
Compact Nintendo Wii Console
Comes with Sensor Bar, Nunchuk and Wii Remote Plus with Jacket.

As noted, the Wii has already received a toned down look when Nintendo opted to remove the Gamecube components. But that they’re choosing to slim down now, in less than two weeks, is odd. Surely something like a redesign would have a lot more hype and anticipation surrounding it?

For whatever reason, this has been low on the radar. Perhaps a redesign will be arriving later than December, what with Nintendo focusing on the Wii U. Then again, what better time than the holidays for a redesign?