really, that`s interesting. that`s one less slot for some kid to jam a fork into.

I think it's a clever economical way to push Wii Sports to the frigid Canadian wasteland (and other emerging third-world markets).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CreCter7AS8

Meh, the sd card slot would've been pointless anyways.

I don't see the point in Wii Mini when Wii Family Pack is cheap and has everything but GameCube compatibility. Why Canada?? This looks more for China, Korea, Brasil...

Is there a sandwich inside?

Here comes another day of bashing a product that is not intended for anyone who visits this Web site.

What about USB ports?

Yep. Its for under 10s. Not for us.

Might as well not include the disc slot at this point.

I can't believe people haven't figured out yet that in Canada, what is known in many countries as April Fools Day, is celebrated in December. The 7th to be exact.

Just another reason not to buy one!

Any word on whether the Skyward Sword save fix is included, since people won't be able to download it?

I guess it'd be great for a camper or cabin... Don't really want to rip on it because it looks kinda neat despite its complete uselessness. Maybe break that sucker open and mod the crap out of it?

People who get this instead of a regular Wii or Wii U will be seriously disappointed.

I think this will appeal to collectors as it may be a rarity in the future but its not very functional other than playing Wii Sports. I'm not crazy about how it looks either. Lets face it the Wii Mini is the Sega Genesis model 3 of this generation.

I can see why. If you can't download anything, why have a slot for it?

tomorrow's news:

Wii Mini can not play Wii games

This is an odd little system, but I understand what Nintendo is aiming for.

They should've just had all of the games in the "Wii" series built in instead of a disc slot.

This is the most pointless piece of hardware.

@6ch6ris6 Bahahaha!

This system is pointless.

I could see sending this to a third world country with little access to the internet or for small children's bedrooms.

Aaaaand now there's exactly zero reason to buy this thing.

Jokes aside, this seems like an ideal way to get Nintendo into emerging markets like Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and (if they ever lift the console ban) China. Maybe Canada is a dry run for making the Wii Mini available elsewhere?

I'm guessing they are aiming at those clueless parents that want to get that new "wii-something" console for their kids for christmas.

Next theyll ditch MIIs

And so, hopeful Homebrewers weep.

This console is completely useless.. Especially because it will be a Canada only release.

@rogerwilco And how were we supposed to know about that, hm?

I like the removing the disc slot idea. Might as well, right? They've already gotten rid of everything else.

So lets count the cons
No Wifi
No Gamecube support of any kind
No Power Cords bundled in the box
No SD Card Slot
This is one bad console. The Wii Remote it is bundled with is looking to be more useful than the console itself.

Why is this console useless? You can play Super Mario Galaxy 1+2, Metroid Prime III, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Tales of Symphonia, Sin & Punishment II, Golden Eye 007 yadda-yadda-yadda...

The only problem is the price. 100$ is in my opinion a bit too much with the restrictions and the clumsy casing. They should've made it 50$ instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O1hM-k3aUY

Well it makes total sense as just a bog standard gaming console (old school stylee), except now with a motion controller, but at $100 I'm not sure it's a great deal compared to just buying a regular Wii.

I mean how much was/is the regular Wii in Canada for comparison?

I would hope this model was at least a third cheaper.

@Kyloctopus

Wrong, there are power cords in the box.

http://www.nintendo.com/wiimini/what-is-wii-mini/#/whats-in-the-box

You wouldn't be able to play it otherwise, which would just be one step too far.

I was a little baffled by the news of this system initially, but the "no SD slot" news doesn't really phase me much.

I mean, if you can't download any VC or WiiWare from online, then all you really need the memory for is for save files and the Wii iteself should have more than enough room for that, shouldn't it?

now no SD slot... hmm... for $100, ill pass, though i wasnt planning on getting it anyways.

When I got my wii u, I wanted to sell my wii for around $80, but then the wii mini came out. At first I thought who's going to want my old wii over cheap new one . I think I can put mine on ebay now.

I think it's important to take the Canadian dollar into account. If you look at Amazon.ca, you can see a pretty stark price difference between the Mini and standard Wii systems.

Oh wait, both USD and CAD are worth practically the same thing nowadays...disregard my last, ill-researched comment. Nevertheless, the price difference still seems pretty big between systems.

@MegaWatts

Ah, just looked this up and that does seem to make more sense now. It's basically about half the price of any other normal Canadian Wii systems. That actually seems pretty fair.

Why is everyone so surprised? No internet connectivity means no Wii shop, which means an sd card slot would be pointless. The built in memory would be more than enough for save files.

No SD card slot might be a problem if people ever decide to get a Wii U down the road and then find out they can't transfer their progress to the other console. That said, this limitation is minor compared to the lack of online features. Anyone who wanted this would probably still be on track to get it, and others will plan for Wii U.

Although, releasing a stripped-down Wii makes the regular Wii look a little better too (compared to the Mini, regular Wii looks like a solid deal with maybe a bundled game for just a little more than the Mini).

Then there's a crowd that can just get the Mini and feel like they got a brand new console (rather than 6 yr+ old tech) at an affordable price, so the new variant, albeit one with limited features, is a clever little move to get the latecomers on board.

@onlyaman so we are a wasteland and a third world huh lol

So one thing I don't get (that no one else has mentioned on here) is what if you run out of space? I've had to move files to an SD card (granted, this may be more due to the space downloadable games take up), so are they expecting people to delete old save files for no longer played games? Of course, this could be a moot point since the type of consumer this is aimed at is likely to only play casual games that don't require a huge save file.

The Wii usually has 512MB flash memory. This can hold a lot of save files. More than you ever need.

But this new Wii? Maybe it has reduced flash memory? Who knows...?

'Wii Mini doesn't include Wii'
You read it here first.

@C-Olimar
I laughed so hard as reading that, thank you! xD

So now its not even hackable either. Not much interest in this at all.

Why do I think this thing is going to be as successful as the GameBoy Micro?

A bit disappointing because I actually used the Photo Channel to view pictures from my hiking trips on the TV with friends.

Just pre ordered one. Its going to look good next to my wii u.

@Burning_Spear If I could "Yeah!" you here, I would.

And yeah, I just used the Wii Photo Channel yesterday, in fact. Buddy came over and wanted to show some photos on the TV. Wii worked a charm.

Which brings up an interesting point.... with no online, no SD card... there's almost entirely no reason for the normal Wii Menu with its channels layout, right? I bet this thing has a new menu screen. OR most likely just boots up directly into the game. Wow. Sort of cool in a "Remember when all systems were like this?" way.

@Luigifan141 It doesn't include a Disc Slot.
It includes a Disc Cover.

what would you save on there anyway? Yeah, this is silly but like some here said, it's not for us. Seems a little expensive for nothing more than a "Wii Disc Player".

Wait... I just realized something... no WiFi means... no updates! What if there's a horrible bug or glitch at launch?

@Burning_Spear: Exactly.

This isn't a console that is targeted at people who comment on video game websites. This is an entry-level console for people who want a cheap, accessible means to playing Wii games, which will be available for very little money now the Wii U is around. It doesn't perform a lot of extra features by design.

If you can't wrap your head around that, please don't crap on about it being a terrible console.

The only real need for the sd slot is to backup save files, so you always have at least 1 backup copy of your saves, should the WM(Mini) have some corrupt data, & require formatting.

& yes, I'm not gonna poke fun either, since this console isn't intended for the type of gamer I am. I think Nintendo should have included an sd slot, though, as for the reason I mentioned above.

I don't think Wii Mini even begins to adequately describe how castrated this machine is. No GameCube games, no wired controllers for Kart or Brawl, no VC or Wiiwsre, no MiI Channel, no WiiSpeakchannel, no internet news or weather channels, no SD slot for game saves or photos.

I think Wii Game Disc Player or Wii Game Machine, mini means smaller, not Chaz to Chastity.

I wonder if this thing even uses a system menu IOS.

@Gridatttack Yeah I never thought of that, it may just load after inserting a disc just like in the old PS1 and Saturn days. I wonder if it's region free, hopefully my old Wii Freeloader back in 2008 still works. Hey since with no internet connectivity, there's no firmware update to interfere with the system default setting so we could play any software we want, even unofficial ones like the Freeloader. That means Fatal Frame IV, Captain Rainbow, Disaster: DOC, Another Code R, and Earth Seekers may work with it perhaps.

The worst system ever.

It needs to cost $20 not $100

If I can figure out a sensor bar solution, I'd almost be tempted to pick one up to install in my car, hook it up to my in dash LCD.... it'd never get used, but it'd be cool, all the same. I'm almost a big enough consumer wh0re to do it... lol