Nintendo Wii

It’s coming this weekend to South Africa!

The Nintendo Wii officially launched at the end of 2006 and has easily sold more than double the much anticipated Playstation 3. Currently Nintendo has sold over 10 million consoles across America, Japan and Europe.

Core will be the local importer of the Wii, and are pricing it at R2899. (including the sports pack?), It is slightly more expensive than the XBox 360 which is currently retailing for R2699.

RJ van Spaandonk, director of Core Group, defends the local tariffs. ‘He says currency fluctuations, import taxes and the remoteness of SA from the world’s major business centres all contribute to the relatively high price not only of the Wii but of all imported consumer electronics goods sold in the country.’

Blah blah. That’s what they all say.

What is the Nintendo Wii?

From Wikipedia:

A distinguishing feature of the console is its wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and can detect acceleration in three dimensions

What that means is you will use the controller much the same you would a baseball bat, tennis racket, boxing glove etc, depending on which game you are playing, and when you swing, your character on screen swings!

The other factor which has made the Wii such a great seller is that anyone from 6-80 years old can join in the fun. The games aren’t these high-tech first person shooters with extreme graphics that only hard core gamers enjoy, they are fun and easy for everyone to enjoy. Boys being boys, it can also get very competitive!

This is probably the only console my girlfriend will allow me to buy, as she says its the only one she can play too!