Game News - Nintendo Wii Launch Details For Europe And Australia

Game News - Nintendo Wii Launch Details For Europe And Australia

   Over the weekend, the dust has finally settled in the aftermath of Nintendo's worldwide Wii press events. As such, the final launch details have also been announced for Europe and Australia, who will not only receive the Wii a few weeks later than the US, but also at a higher price. How fair is that, I ask of you!

   In Europe, Nintendo Wii will launch on December 8, and it will cost €249 / £179 in the UK (around $315 / $336 respectively). The games will be priced between €49-59, extra "Wii-mote" controllers will be available at €39 each, nunchucks at €19, and calssic controllers also at €19. Only one Wii Remote and Nunchuck controllers will be included in the package, as well as the Wii Sports collection of five games.

   Regarding the launch line-up, around 20 games are expected for the console's European debut, and except for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Play (a mini-games package that includes a Wii remote) and the bundled Wii Sports, most titles will be third-party - such as Red Steel, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Need For Speed: Carbon, Cars, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam or Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz. Some 15 classic games - such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Donkey Kong - will also be available at launch on the Virtual Console, and afterwards more classics will be added (around 5-10 titles each month).

   In Australia, the Wii will debut slightly earlier and cheaper than in Europe - on December 7, for AU$399.95 (around €237 / $300) - and the package will have the same contents as in Europe: white Wii console, Wii-mote controller, nunchuck attachment, and Wii Sports.

   On a side note, Nintendo also announced that it managed to sell a staggering 6 million DS handhelds in Europe since March 2005, and expects to hit the 10 million mark by the end of 2006. Their biggest game hit so far is Nintendogs - with 4 million units shipped in Europe alone; and next up is the European release of the Nintendo DS Lite Pink console on October 27 - priced at around £100 / €150. I wouldn't mind one of those as well.

P.S. Since the new Zelda is one of the main launch titles for the Wii, you might want to check out this new trailer and a sole new screenshot we have just added on our website.

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