Topic: Wii Mini are every where this week, and that' can't be good :-(

I've been back on the Wii U bandwagon since about Aug w/ my Wii U purchase and all the new games coming out, but wasn't happy today. Toys R Us, Kmart and Best Buy all had photo ads of the $99 Wii Mini in their flyers. The Best Buy ad even had NSMBWii for $29.99. I know Nintendo can't control what companies put in their ads but w/ the Wii U floundering I don't think shoppers needs to be looking at $99 Wii Mini w/ Mario Kart Wi iincluded. Nintendo really didn't need to release this. Ever. Maybe in the spring, but certainly not now. NSMBWii taking up ad space, that game is 7 years old!

Oh well, maybe it will go away next week w/ SM3DW. I certainly hope so. Nintendo shouldn't waste a single dime advertising the Mini unless they plan on abandoning the Wii U.

It really seems like an act of desperation on the part of Nintendo: if they can't sell the Wii U, they want to be sure to at least sell something. Sigh. I'd rather they push the 3DS instead. At least the 3DS can't be confused with the Wii U.

And once someone's spent $100 on a Wii Mini, that's $100 less they have towards a Wii U. Sigh (again).

I can't even recommend the Wii Mini to anyone because it doesn't have online support.

Best to think of it this way; Wii Mini is to Wii U as GameBoy Micro is to Nintendo DS (besides the name before anyone ask).

But that's just it: the "Wii" name has a huge amount to do with it. I've seen people say over and over and over in forums everywhere that their own friends as well as complete strangers they run into in stores don't even understand what in the heck the Wii U is. Tossing a heavily-advertised Wii Mini out there along with a bunch of old Wii game discs is not going to help!

At some point it's not even going to be worth Nintendo's investment to keep (slowly) cranking out AAA games for the Wii U. And then it's game over. I'm no marketing expert but it seems to me they should have achieved "critical mass" with the Wii U before they started pumping out this Wii Mini cash cow wannabe.

The name can be confusing but if the person have an interest for the system, they'll know the difference. I'm just thinking this way since some people can tell the difference between a PS3 and a PS4, a Xbox360 to Xbox 1, and a iphone 5 to 5s but not a Wii and Wii U. Seems fishy to me.

In my opinion, the only people that should have that problem by now are grown-ups who have little to no interest in video games. But that's where the younger generation comes in, that is if they care about it or not.

It certainly isn't good now in particular with the PS4/XBONE stealing the show. I was just at my Best Buy today, and I was so depressed at the sight. The Wii U demo booth was gone, and the entire Nintendo section, which used to be smack-dab in the middle of the store, was shoved into a tiny dark corner with only the XL demo booth surviving.

Let's hope that 3D World will start the turn-around, because the situation right now is at a critical point.

It is rather odd that Nintendo brought out the Wii Mini especially when they said that they would no longer themselves will be supporting the Wii game wise. The only thing that I can think of is some genius at Nintendo said ok we need to make up our loses with the Wii U so lets do that by marketing the Wii Mini.

I can just see the horror on some kids face this Christmas morning who asked his parents for a Wii U only to have a couple of parents who are confused by the name and get him a Wii Mini instead.

Just like the DSi and Game Boy micro, this will fade away the next year. And then it will be as if it never happened

The Wii Mini is the most pointless system I have ever seen in my life. It offers no advantages over the older models, and strips away the online and other key features for no key reason. So all that we are left with is a Wii that has no Gamecube support, lacks the ability to output the higher video settings, no access to the Wii Shop and its features, and no ability to use Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Video. All it can do is play normal Wii games.

Who at Nintendo though this system was even a good idea? The tech in the Wii is over seven years old(even older given its based on Gamecube hardware). Why is there no wifi included with the system?

Plus, Nintendo's shabby marketing with the Wii U is only going to confuse matters further. Now, consumers will be seeing a Wii U, Wii Mini, and the older Wii models all sharing shelve space and confusing consumers who have no idea what the difference is. Honestly, this sound like the Sega school of Marketing from the 90's when Sega had the Genesis, 32X, Sega CD, Sega Saturn, Game Gear, Nomad, and Pico all on store shelves at the same time taking up shelf space from each other and confusing casual consumers.

If Nintendo really wanted to keep the Wii going, then drop the current model down to 99 dollars and go from there. This just makes no sense. Did Nintendo hire old Sega employees to run their home console marketing? At least Nintendo makes the differences between the 2DS, 3DS, and 3DS XL clear.

Somehow, they can't do the same for their home consoles.

Once the wii u gets bayonetta 2,smash bros,mario kart 8 and X, And the overhype of the ps4 and xbone dies down the wii u will sell like hotcakes

1. The wii u is $100 cheaper than the ps4

2.the increasing library of exclusives and hit 3rd party games like assassins creed,watch dogs and call of duty

3. the wii u COMES with a device that streams your games, no need to buy a vita for remote play

4. Wii u is the only console with true backwards capability

5. It is the best system for families (My wii u is all mine thoough > )

6. It is the cheapest system with 1080p

-Nintendo already removed Gamecube support from later models of the Wii. That's not a big deal for the Wii mini. Lack of online, and the virtual console especially, is horrible.

-If there is still a market for the Wii as a budget system, Nintendo should have a product available for people who are willing to pay for it. It makes no sense to give up potential sales as if that is somehow going to fix the Wii U situation. The new system's problem is visibility and marketing. Sony has shown that the PS1 could coexist with the PS2 and more recently that the PS2 could coexist with the PS3 and they can make money and build customer good will at the same time. People know if they own a Sony system, it will be supported even after the new console arrives.

-The news story that Nintendo was ceasing Wii production was wrong, yet it persists. The story was referring to the Japanese market. I think it's likely that the Wii mini will be the only model in production going forward.

-It was mentioned that the Wii U is $100 cheaper than the PS4. I wonder if that is a large enough gap at this point.

I'm not worried about this. This is Nintendo's EXTRA budget console. I could honestly see alot of people enjoying this if they get it for Christmas.

Wii games are cheap and easy to find. You'd have a huge library of games to choose from. The only thing the buyer wouldn't have is 480p, SD card, and internet. The SD card doesn't even really matter without the internet anyway.

IMHO, this product has its place. It's $99 for this vs. $299 for the Wii U. It would be pretty hard to not know what the hell your buying with a huge price difference.

EDIT: Also, the Wii would still cost $30 more unless you buy used. My guess is that that extra $30 is paying for online of sorts.

Has anyone actually met someone who accidently bought a Wii Mini instead of a Wii U? I doubt it.

The Wii Mini occupies the low end of the market, which it has pretty much to itself. It's 1/3 the price of the Wii U. Anyone needing a new $99 game console has really no better option. (Buying a used Wii is a non-starter: who gives a used gadget as a Christmas gift?). A true budget console, it also has a huge 1200 title library, many of which are also much cheaper than those HD games. Look, HD snobbishness aside, people can still have a lot of fun with this gadget.

One final business consideration nobody seems to have noticed: this machine is piracy resistant. There is no networking, no SD card and so no way to soft-mod this box. You have to get your games the old fashioned way: on a physical disk. Oh, did you notice that Nintendo has a bunch of good, cheap games under the Nintendo Selects line? Yup, this console will sell games. Games whose development costs were long paid off.

Yes I can definitely see how this could cause enormous confusion to shoppers this holiday season. It is almost like Nintendo is trying to confuse buyers. I just don't get it!!

It would confuse those over 60.....

That said, I didn't realize that Zelda wasn't out on the Wii U yet when I bought mine in April. I just saw the title next to the Wii U titles in the display and figured that was the new one.

As for this- I think they should have gone the exact opposite and gotten rid of the optical drive all together. Create a Roku like device that allows you to stream and download games. Better yet, forget about downloading, have a subscription based system that lets you play games for $10 per month.

Complaining about this makes about as much sense as complaining about the 2DS. It's not for you so why do you care? The intent is to have something to sell at every price point possible, that's all. You can be sure that Sony and Microsoft will keep pushing the 360/PS3 well into next year. They've announced their bargain models as Nintendo did already.

Really guys, nothing to see here.

NL life should just make a new section in the forums called 'Nintendo iz teh Doomed' and sticky it at the top of the page or somethin'

No, it's not the same as the 3DS and 2DS. Nobody is going to confuse a 2 and a 3. But as the past year has shown, many confused Wii and Wii U. Now there's ANOTHER Wii on the market, added to the stock of Wiis stores still have. Basically the Wii U is getting smothered by it's own predecessor in one form or another. That's why I care. The Wii U should be getting that ad space.

The Wii Mini is a complete and utter joke that merely does more to dilute the Wii brand and cause brand confusion among customers. It's also not the same as the 3DS and 2DS, because both of those are basically the same thing, they play the exact same games. The Wii U and Wii Mini clearly don't, meaning any confusion means extra hassle on the part of the consumer as they go and get a refund/exchange.

Nintendo needs to just admit the Wii is now dead, kill the sales of the system and focus on its follow up. And just accept that the Wii Mini is a horrible failure that's already died in every region it's been released in.