The Wii Mini. Worst console launch of all time? Yup. "I shall call him WiiMie Mii"

[Badnik Mechanic]

So theres been off hand talk about this thing in the main Wii-U topic.

 

 

The Wii Mini.

 

This thing started as a system exclusive to Canada, it was then... announced? That it would be coming to the UK....

 

Now... I know it's nearly 1am so many UK SSMB'ers have gone to bed... but people from the UK... Did you know, that it was launched yesterday!?

 

No really, yesterday was the day this new model of one of the most popular consoles ever came out? And how bad has the launch been? Oh safe to say, potentially one of the worst launches of all time.

 

Wheres the advertising? No really, we joke about Sony's lack of Vita promotion, but this is a console, other than an email advert from game about a month ago, I've seen nothing on it. Nothing in stores, be it posters or flyers... In fact, I don't think I've been asked "Interested in pre-ordering the Wii Mini?" This is a new piece of hardware! You would be asked if you wanted to pre-order your wisdom teeth if they had the Xbox logos on them.

 

Both Game and Amazon have dropped the price to £79.99, it's RRP is £99.99.

 

One of the 5 Flagship game stores has said it has had no deliveries at all of the Wii Mini, the interest has been that low (if this was the Hull one, I can definately confirm this, neither Game store in my town had any indication of it in store today, no posters, no adverts, nothing.

 

HMV is also not stocking it due to a lack of interest, however they said they might if demand picked up.

 

But the biggest clue? Go to youtube, type into the search "Wii Mini Unboxing" and set it to 'most recent' What do you see? Nothing. Yup, thats right, there isn't even a single unboxing video of it.

 

Now some of us on here have joked and I include myself in this with the line 'The console nobody wanted or asked for' but good golly, I didn't expect it to be this bad. Has anyone from the UK actually seen this system in a store or had any idea it was out today?

 

Some news sites have also picked up on just how bad the launch for this system has been.

 

Now I know that this isn't a new console as much as it's a new model of an old system, but... really, this is very bad, even for a re-design. It's had no advertising at all and retailers are outrightly refusing to stock it and nobody seems to have bought one.

[Nepenthe]

Dude, forget about whether or not anyone knew it launched yesterday. Who else aside from me didn't even know this thing existed in any form?

[Carbo]

That's nice and all but,

Haven't we already gone through this travesty like five times in the Wii U topic?

[Badnik Mechanic]

That's nice and all but,

Haven't we already gone through this travesty like five times in the Wii U topic?

 

Yeah and havn't we had staff say 'can we get back on topic' when that happens?

[Carbo]

Not that I recall

Oh well carry on

[Komodin]

Eh, I completely forgot that this thing even exists. It seems rather pointless as well, what with the Wii being rather cheap (and have more basic features, to boot) nowadays.

[Badnik Mechanic]

Dude, forget about whether or not anyone knew it launched yesterday. Who else aside from me didn't even know this thing existed in any form?

 

I don't think you should feel bad or anything, lol.

 

There was a fuss kicked up when they announced the canadian launch, but I don't think it had a big push at all.

 

With regards to the UK launch, I know they changed the nintendo home page to reflect the UK release. Theres been an advert on an email for Game.... but otherwise, thats it, there is nothing else that I can think of about it.

[---]

"I wonder...how can we make the Wii hardware....even worse?"

 

Basically a little side experiment by Nintendo, a waste of production time and money imo. I mean the Wii is going for cheaps these days anyway, if you're gonna buy a last gen Nintendo console it might as well be the Wii at it's full capacity.

EDIT: Also awesome thread title.

Edited March 23, 2013 by /_JXJ_\

[canderson]

Eh, still don't see how it was a good idea to introduced this new model of the original console, with lack of online and backwards compatibility. Who exactly are they targeting with this new model?

 

 

 

Dude, forget about whether or not anyone knew it launched yesterday. Who else aside from me didn't even know this thing existed in any form?

Haha!! You're serious? xD

Then again, it's no surprise really.

Edited March 23, 2013 by canderson

[KHCast]

A Wii with less features guys! lets release it close to the end of the wii's lifespan and the beginning of the WiiU! 

Nintendo:WE'LL  MAKE MILLIONS!

[Nepenthe]

Haha!! You're serious? xD

 

I don't know about a lot of consoles that actually exist; I was completely ignorant to the WonderSwan until recently, for example. But in general, why would I have any inclination to know of one that has no plan to be launched in the US and which is apparently not even being advertised by the manufacturer?

[SuperLink]

I don't know what Nintendo were thinking honestly. I know the WiiU is performing worst in this region, but the last thing they needed was well.. more confusion.

 

It's a nice looking model, and I imagine its success will eventually be similar to that of the GBmicro's. Honestly, I never saw the point in the GBmicro, but apparently some people did.

I dunno, we'll see in a few years if it was the dumbest thing ever or a subtly smart move.

[MegasonicZX]

I had no idea this thing even existed and I never thought nintendo would release something like this right after the wiiu just came out.

[Debug Ring]

Did I know that it was announced yesterday? No. Did I know it was coming to the UK? No. Did I even remember it anymore than the glimpse I saw of it in the Wii U topic months ago? No.

 

Jeez, it has to be one of the least advertised product I know now. Especially considering how when the Wii first came out, you couldn't turn on the TV without seeing an advert for it within a minute. With this, well, there's nothing to talk about advertising wise.

 

Honestly, I can't see this doing very well at all. Considering now that the original Wii can't be much more expensive, and I read that this Wii Mini can't even do GameCube games. Is that true? Because if so, if I were looking to buy a Wii, I'd put in that extra bit of money to get the original, because it's so much more worth it (Because GameCube games are great!).

[Sean]

If this came out earlier in the Wii's lifespan, then I'd see reason to complain. Otherwise this is just for people who haven't bothered getting a Wii until now, the ones who probably don't really give a shit about all the features of the previous incarnations and are just looking for something to tide over their kids due to the really cheap price. Same thing with the GBA Micro. Not very good systems, but not that offensive in the long run.

Honestly, I can't see this doing very well at all. Considering now that the original Wii can't be much more expensive, and I read that this Wii Mini can't even do GameCube games. Is that true? Because if so, if I were looking to buy a Wii, I'd put in that extra bit of money to get the original, because it's so much more worth it (Because GameCube games are great!).

You can't play GC games or use GC accessories with the family edition model of the Wii, either.

[Conando]

Though you can at least connect online and download and play Virtual Console games. Hrm, would the WiiMini make a decent homebrew box if you needed one, I wonder.

[Jetronic]

Though you can at least connect online and download and play Virtual Console games. Hrm, would the WiiMini make a decent homebrew box if you needed one, I wonder.

If I remember right, homebrew on the Wii Mini is pretty much a no go.

[EmmBee]

It is just a slimmer, cheaper version of the console though. Nintendo's done this before with the NES and SNES with the Toploader and the SNES2. I doubt either got a much more promotion than this did, though I'm not too familiar with them.

 

Also, I thought you couldn't connect online with this? If you can, I guess this isn't that bad, but I swear initial reports said this couldn't connect online whatsoever. That kind of kills the Virtual Console, Wii Ware, and pretty much any game that had good online (Namely Mario Kart Wii) for this.

And like someone else said, the originals are probably around the same price right now too.

[SkyLlama]

What confuses me is they used us (Canada) as the test market. We never get stuff like that and now when we do it's crap (like this).

I've seen them in the stores and they're a nice looking, very red system...I'm serious about the red thing, the photos don't show just how red it really is.

It's a stupid product in my opinion when I can by a used Wii for 75$. Why would someone buy this when they could pay less and get a system with more features?

The main things I like is how red it is and how it's a simpler design making it less likely to break over the long term (I'd assume, but there may be some yet unknown defect).

 

But is it the worst console launch? I don't think Nintendo cares much about it.

 

Also, did I say how red it is?

Edited March 23, 2013 by SkyLlama

[Your Vest Friend]

The problem with saying that the Wii Mini will have interest from some because it's the cheaper console model is that it isn't really true. If people are so desperate to get a cheap Wii, they'll look for a used one, which are currently just under £50 at most second-hand electronics and games shops. 

[Thigolf]

It's just too expensive IMO. For 50 bucks more, I can get a brandnew Wii with online support + 2 (!) games, so why should I grab this Wii?

[Stritix]

This is reminds me of the Gameboy Advance Micro.

 

I don't expect it to be around for long. Nintendo will probably pull it from the shelves in a few months.

[iDEATH]

Man I didn't even know this existed let alone that's been released.......wow they really fucked up advertising this thing....

 

Don't really see it selling too well anyway, you can pick up second hand Wii consoles for £30 these days, anyone who still wants one can just get oneof those...

[-Mark-]

To be honest I don't think Nintendo expect this to do well, nor care if it does. Bear in mind initially it wasn't even going to leave Canada, and the fact it has with so little fanfare makes it feel more like a "Ah, may as well" afterthought rather than a proper launch. 

 

The market for this is going to be absolutely tiny, anyway. Considering how well the Wii has sold, there are logically even fewer people who don't already have one and therefore even fewer people who will want this. They probably figured that it's just not worth marketing. For all the sales it will bring in, a marketing campaign would probably struggle to even make itself worthwhile. If this can grab the final few sales from the handful of people who want a Wii yet don't actually own one, then great. Other than that it's really not worth their time or money to give it a push.

[Spin Attaxx]

Wii Mini?

 

This is a thing that exists?