Nintendo has announced that the Wii Mini – a slimmed-down redesign of the Wii – will hit U.S. shelves later this month. The compact red console will ship in a $99 bundle that includes a matching Wii Remote Plus, a red Nunchuck, and a copy of Mario Kart Wii. Nintendo released the Wii Mini last December in Canada and earlier this year in Europe.
The Wii Mini, dressed in a matte black finish with a red border, should be in most U.S. stores by the middle of November. Unlike the Wii, it does not support GameCube games or Wifi.
Nintendo has sold over 100 million Wii consoles since its launch in 2006, making it the best-selling system of this generation. The company wrote the following in its Wii Mini press release:
“Wii mini is for those who don’t own a Wii console and want to enjoy a ton of great Wii games on a stylish system at an affordable price. It is also for families who want an additional console in another room, allowing siblings and friends to play while the rest of the family enjoys other entertainment and games on the main living room TV screen. While Wii mini is not compatible with the Internet and will not allow online functionality when playing games, select multiplayer games can still be played locally with friends and families, which is the ideal way to enjoy such entertaining games like Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii.”
The Wii Mini marks Nintendo’s first major console redesign since 1997, when it released a compact version of the SNES, also for $99.
[Source: Nintendo World Report via GameSpot]
