Nintendo's support of the revolutionary Wii seems to have just about dried up at only 7 years in, and the company is set on trying to make the Wii U their flagship console. In a last ditch effort to encourage sales for the fading system, the company introduced a heavily scaled down version dubbed the Wii Mini, which was to be a Canadian exclusive.
This version of the console, while adorable, sports an attractive price at $99, compared to the Wii's $250 pricetag at its launch in 2006. Alas, the two aren't the same console and not by a long shot. Proving the point, the console hit the great white north in early December, managing to sell only 35,000 to date. Apparently that was enough of a number for Nintendo to have the console spread to the UK later this month.
Nintendo has yet to announce any plans to have the Mini hit the States, and that's fine. There's a reason for that $99 price tag. The Mini lacks many of the features that helped the console make its mark when it debuted. For one thing, the system features no backwards compatability with any of your old GameCube games. Feel like playing a little "Resident Evil 4," or "Wind Waker?" Get the Wii Mini, and you will be S.O.L my friend. "No matter, I'll just download them off the eShop." Now you're thinking.
Well, there's another problem. According to a recent press statement, the mini Wii is a "family-friendly design" that "has no Internet capabilities." None. So if you have some fond memories of playing "Contra III: The Alien Wars" on your dusty old Super Nintendo, or "Super Mario Bros. 3," and thought you could relive them with the Wii Mini, think again.
Keeping the cost down required Nintendo to make certain sacrifices with this version of the console, one of which, was online capability. I mean, it's not like you'd want the option to play online with friends, or try out demos, or maybe download some old SNES faves, right?
Said Nintendo of Canada's communications manager Matt Ryan to Polygon: "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."
Ryan is correct, and 1,400 games is definitely a respectable library of games. But in this day and age, online play is huge. Why would Nintendo have it equipped for both the Wii and Wii U otherwise? To throw it off to the side is a huge detriment.
If the Mini does well enough in the UK, there's an excellent chance Nintendo will go back on their word again, and release the Mini here. But if that doesn't happen, realize that's perfectly OK, and nobody's missing anything.
