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Nintendo’s Wii to launch on November 19th for $250

by Darren

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After months of speculation and all sorts of rumour mongering, Nintendo has finally given up the details that everyone’s been after at a press event: the launch date and price of the Wii. And just like the headline states, the rumours were fairly accurate after all. The console itself will launch for a mere $250 in the US, which is exactly half the price of the lower specification PlayStation 3, and $350 less than the slightly more expensive high-definition configuration. It’s also roughly $150 less than the already-out Xbox 360.

The numbers speak for themselves, really. As expected the Wii will have a massive advantage as far as price goes, and with Nintendo having ironically become the underdog over the years they stand a good chance of winning the hearts of many gamers out there who want to help put the innovation back into gaming.

The only question that remains is whether or not the current games market will be willing to look past the markedly inferior graphical quality of the Wii, which while doesn’t look particularly bad is definitely a rung below that offered by the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While Nintendo is aiming to open up gaming to a much wider market who may not care about graphics so much with the Wii, having already lured in grandparents and such with the Nintendo DS, not pleasing the market that already exists could be a disastrous move.

This news was revealed at one of several Nintendo press events which are taking place around the world, with another occuring later today and one in London (UK) tomorrow.

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