Wii under $250

[Specineff]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6151827.html

Just read this on another forum. I am guessing 229 or even 219.99 in the US. Go Nintendo! (I still think the remote is a gimmick but who cares if I can use a PS2 pad with a converter to play the games on the virtual console. And they better allow the thing to play PCE CDs, dang it.)

[Arznei]

How are you going to use a converter when everything is wireless?

Oh well, whatever. I like the price but if "you get what you pay for" stands true, I think I'll pass.

[Specineff]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind. It's not like we need Media players and toasters and PDA's and Hi-Def discs that aren't even out in the market and 1080P, and a HDD and DVD player and a Hal-9000 included in it. That's why they can afford it to give it at cost. Or below cost. Remember the DC costing 200 brand new? It did what it was supposed to do, and the graphics sure blew us away when we saw Soul Calibur. No bloody DVD player, no Emotion Engine, no FireWire (HA!) no USB. Just the lovely white box that could.

[Arcatech]

How are you going to use a converter when everything is wireless?

There are gamecube style controller ports on the Wii.

[Arznei]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind.

Can't you already do that with the original xbox?

[Vexorg]

Yes, but my Genesis looks like crap on my LCD HDTV because you can only use RF or composite video, neither of which looks very good.

[system11]

Yes, but my Genesis looks like crap on my LCD HDTV because you can only use RF or composite video, neither of which looks very good.

Get an RGB scart cable for it, then make/buy a converter to VGA. All the circuit actually needs to do is convert the sync, the rest is a straight pinout change. For bonus points cut off the scart connectors on each section and solder the wires together, making it a single cable.

[SAM]

Yes, but my Genesis looks like crap on my LCD HDTV because you can only use RF or composite video, neither of which looks very good.

Get an RGB scart cable for it, then make/buy a converter to VGA. All the circuit actually needs to do is convert the sync, the rest is a straight pinout change. For bonus points cut off the scart connectors on each section and solder the wires together, making it a single cable.

Upscaning from RGB instead of Composite or RF should look a bit better, but then you would need a XRGB-2.

[JBC]

You guys are awesome.

[sethsez]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind.

Can't you already do that with the original xbox?

Not legally. Which does count for something if you're among the many people who wish companies wouldn't dump support for their games after 5 years.

Oh, sorry, we're talking about Genesis hookups now.

[SAM]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind.

Can't you already do that with the original xbox?

Well actually you don't need the Xbox to do that, most of us just use the shmups forum browsing machine to do that.

[Turrican]

Let's wait to rejoyce - Wii doesn support your own carts of course, nor it will run random roms taken from the internet I guess. In other words, the games that will run on it will be chosen by Nintendo, Sega and so on.

I foresee a glut of NES/SNES classics (the same we bought when they packaged them again as gba games) but very little support for the less known games. You probably can sell your sonic carts on ebay, but I would wait before getting rid of BioHazard Battle or Devil Crash.

You see the good aspect of emulation is that it's not a guided process - you choose to discover or rejoyce the games you want. If it'll be just Nintendo asking me one dollar to play Dr. Mario once again, then it's no good.

[Eps]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind.

No it isn't. The Virtual Console is just a feature, not the entire reason for the existence of the console. I am far more excited by the possibilities offered by the Wii controller than I am in getting yet another platform on which I can play the same old games I can already play in about 3 other ways.

[sethsez]

Let's wait to rejoyce - Wii doesn support your own carts of course, nor it will run random roms taken from the internet I guess. In other words, the games that will run on it will be chosen by Nintendo, Sega and so on.

I foresee a glut of NES/SNES classics (the same we bought when they packaged them again as gba games) but very little support for the less known games. You probably can sell your sonic carts on ebay, but I would wait before getting rid of BioHazard Battle or Devil Crash.

You see the good aspect of emulation is that it's not a guided process - you choose to discover or rejoyce the games you want. If it'll be just Nintendo asking me one dollar to play Dr. Mario once again, then it's no good.

It costs them very, very little to just host as many games as they possibly can. It costs them significantly more to put the effort into porting, manufacturing and marketing the same games for GBA and the like.

I would assume that this will have as many games as they can possibly get the rights to, since it's an extremely easy way to make effortless profit. If they put Devil Crush up and exactly one person buys it, that's still profit with no effort. The same can't be said for compilations (for marketing reasons, a compilation with 10 classic games and 5 unknown ones looks like a better deal than 15 classic games and 35 unknown ones, even if they're the same price) or ports for obvious reasons.

I fully expect every company to dump as many games as they can onto this thing. The model isn't remotely similar to compilations or ports. If anything holds certain games back it'll be licensing issues.

[Turrican]

It costs them very, very little to just host as many games as they possibly can. It costs them significantly more to put the effort into porting, manufacturing and marketing the same games for GBA and the like.

I would assume that this will have as many games as they can possibly get the rights to, since it's an extremely easy way to make effortless profit. If they put Devil Crush up and exactly one person buys it, that's still profit with no effort. The same can't be said for compilations (for marketing reasons, a compilation with 10 classic games and 5 unknown ones looks like a better deal than 15 classic games and 35 unknown ones, even if they're the same price) or ports for obvious reasons.

I fully expect every company to dump as many games as they can onto this thing. The model isn't remotely similar to compilations or ports. If anything holds certain games back it'll be licensing issues.

It's heartening to see you're so optimistic about that, but I think you're just considering one aspect of it: the second Sonic collection offered Streets of Rage in Japan, but then someone at Sega thought: what if a mom links our blue hedgehog to bruises and bloody punches?

I don't see Nintendo that happy to upload Splatterhouse for Wii users. And what about those games whose companies are long time dead? They won't wanna mess with copyrights I guess. Take MD Musha Aleste - sounds cool, but Aleste is nowadays Square Enix for mobile phones.

Anyway - the official word about this from Sega and Nintendo is: "a selection of games". The problem remains - if they choose which roms, instead of giving you the option, it will always be limited.

[Arznei]

Well, the Wii is a games machine with emulation in mind.

Can't you already do that with the original xbox?

Not legally. Which does count for something if you're among the many people who wish companies wouldn't dump support for their games after 5 years.

Oh, sorry, we're talking about Genesis hookups now.

Pfft, hardly anything is legal these days. Accordingly, taking PCBs outside of japan and using them is illegal. But it happens all the time. And yet everyone here is like "whiiiiiiine, PCB > PS2 port, DON'T BURN PS2 GAMES"

This is a world of contradictory.

[sethsez]

Can't you already do that with the original xbox?

Not legally. Which does count for something if you're among the many people who wish companies wouldn't dump support for their games after 5 years.

Oh, sorry, we're talking about Genesis hookups now.

Pfft, hardly anything is legal these days. Accordingly, taking PCBs outside of japan and using them is illegal. But it happens all the time. And yet everyone here is like "whiiiiiiine, PCB > PS2 port, DON'T BURN PS2 GAMES"

This is a world of contradictory.

Someone will always find a way to justify stealing when the games are made available for sale easily and legally, I guess. This doesn't surprise me.

It's heartening to see you're so optimistic about that, but I think you're just considering one aspect of it: the second Sonic collection offered Streets of Rage in Japan, but then someone at Sega thought: what if a mom links our blue hedgehog to bruises and bloody punches?

I don't see Nintendo that happy to upload Splatterhouse for Wii users.

Nintendo funded Eternal Darkness and was thrilled to have Resident Evil exclusivity (remember how their biggest GC game for 2005 was a game in which you can be instantly killed by having your head cut off with a chainsaw?). I don't know why people still think this is the Nintendo of 1993. The Mortal Kombat fiasco was eons ago and they haven't had a problem with blood since... well, Mortal Kombat 2. Hell, let's go back to Turok being a big game for the N64 with its over-the-top death animations and gore.

As for the Sonic thing, once again: that was a compilation. The rules are different here because games aren't bundled together, so there's no guilt by association. Streets of Rage might not have meshed well with Sonic in a compilation, but that doesn't matter one whit because we're talking about individual sales here, not bundles.

[magnum opus]

Nintendo funded Eternal Darkness and was thrilled to have Resident Evil exclusivity. I don't know why people still think this is the Nintendo of 1993.

cause its still the Nintendo that swears in every press release they're making a family friendly game console that is trying to appeal equally to 6-25-65 year olds

[sethsez]

Nintendo funded Eternal Darkness and was thrilled to have Resident Evil exclusivity. I don't know why people still think this is the Nintendo of 1993.

cause its still the Nintendo that swears in every press release they're making a family friendly game console that is trying to appeal equally to 6-25-65 year olds

That was their motto about the Gamecube too. I don't see why people are interpreting this as "every game must be rated E." Nintendo got over that bullshit a very long time ago and I wish everyone would realize it.

Christ, there's already a Resident Evil in development for this system, too. I doubt it'll be bloodless and cute, but hey, if it is someone can feel free to bump this and laugh at me. I imagine I'll be waiting for quite a while on that, though.

[WarpZone]

It also says something that Nintendo let Ubisoft reveal to a magazine the first Wii game- Red Steel. They're not trying to avoid M content, they just don't produce it internally.

I imagine when you would buy a game on the virtual console, certain games would just have a screen coming up saying "there's some questionable content here".

[SAM]

Pfft, hardly anything is legal these days. Accordingly, taking PCBs outside of japan and using them is illegal.

None of us have use those Japanese PCBs outside Japan, we just play with them.

To "USE" it you have to install it in an Coin Opt meachine to make money. And 99% of us don't even own a coin slots.

That was their motto about the Gamecube too. I don't see why people are interpreting this as "every game must be rated E." Nintendo got over that bullshit a very long time ago and I wish everyone would realize it.

Opps, what a disappointment. I actually love having games with silly voice over and cute characters like Puyo Puyo Favaour, Twinkle Star Sprites, Cotton, Parodius, etc.

I guess they would still got some games of this kind on the new console.

[sethsez]

I guess they would still got some games of this kind on the new console.

Well of course. It's still Nintendo.

What gets me is when people think that's all Nintendo will get and that they'll try to block all violent content, as if this were still the early days of the SNES. We're well over a decade beyond Nintendo's censorship at this point.

Nintendo themselves published at least two (possibly more but I can't remember at the moment) M-rated games for the Gamecube, Geist and Eternal Darkness. Geist got the rating for "Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence" and ED for "Animated Gore, Animated Violence, Animated Blood." It's not a ton, but a company doesn't publish a survival horror game and a FPS if they're afraid of a little blood.

[Turrican]

What gets me is when people think that's all Nintendo will get and that they'll try to block all violent content, as if this were still the early days of the SNES. We're well over a decade beyond Nintendo's censorship at this point.

Nintendo themselves published at least two (possibly more but I can't remember at the moment) M-rated games for the Gamecube, Geist and Eternal Darkness. Geist got the rating for "Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence" and ED for "Animated Gore, Animated Violence, Animated Blood." It's not a ton, but a company doesn't publish a survival horror game and a FPS if they're afraid of a little blood.

Why is it that I cannot waste gangsta in los santos on my gamecube? Even more important, will I be able to do so on Wii?

[Arznei]

Pfft, hardly anything is legal these days. Accordingly, taking PCBs outside of japan and using them is illegal.

None of us have use those Japanese PCBs outside Japan, we just play with them.

To "USE" it you have to install it in an Coin Opt meachine to make money. And 99% of us don't even own a coin slots.

I guess the arcade machines at my local arcade which say "FOR KOREA ONLY" and have coin slots are violating this rule then, right?

[sethsez]

Why is it that I cannot waste gangsta in los santos on my gamecube?

Because Rockstar and Take Two didn't think it would be profitable for them to spend the money on a port, and the smaller size of the discs would make the sprawling cities much harder to properly implement (since it's not linear, disc swapping would be awkward at best).

You can, however, play an original Grand Theft Auto game on the GBA if you want.

I guess the arcade machines at my local arcade which say "FOR KOREA ONLY" and have coin slots are violating this rule then, right?

Yes they are. But your local arcade is most likely so small and insignificant that nobody cares, and without local distributers most game companies don't really care either.

I also assume you're aware that not all laws are considered equally important, right? Nobody gives a shit if you jaywalk, but don't beat someone's face with a baseball bat. Equating piracy of easily and legally available games with breaking vague region laws are different issues that aren't comparable in any way other than the fact that they both involve games.

[SAM]

Pfft, hardly anything is legal these days. Accordingly, taking PCBs outside of japan and using them is illegal.

None of us have use those Japanese PCBs outside Japan, we just play with them.

To "USE" it you have to install it in an Coin Opt meachine to make money. And 99% of us don't even own a coin slots.

I guess the arcade machines at my local arcade which say "FOR KOREA ONLY" and have coin slots are violating this rule then, right?

Yes, that acrade is violating the law, but since that acrade owner is not a member here, he/she is not included in the "we" I said previously.

[Benjamin]

Anyway - the official word about this from Sega and Nintendo is: "a selection of games". The problem remains - if they choose which roms, instead of giving you the option, it will always be limited.

Yep. I'm pretty much thinking the Sega selection should be the same as the GameTap selection as far as what Genesis games will be available. Anything published and/or developed by Sega should be fine, but stuff like Boogerman and Mutant League Football are probably off limits. The same with Nintendo -- first and second party titles I'd expect, but stuff like Axelay and Run Sabre are likely off limits.

It's a great feature, certainly, but I wish I'd stop seeing talk of how the Wii brings the libraries of other systems with it. I think it's misleading, though I doubt most consumers will care or notice the missing titles since first party stuff is typically what sold the SNES and Genesis.

[Turrican]

Why is it that I cannot waste gangsta in los santos on my gamecube?

Because Rockstar and Take Two didn't think it would be profitable for them to spend the money on a port, and the smaller size of the discs would make the sprawling cities much harder to properly implement (since it's not linear, disc swapping would be awkward at best).

You can, however, play an original Grand Theft Auto game on the GBA if you want.

Fine, you think Nintendo's policy about its target audience is no different from the other companies since Mortal Kombat 2. I happen to disagree.

[sethsez]

Why is it that I cannot waste gangsta in los santos on my gamecube?

Because Rockstar and Take Two didn't think it would be profitable for them to spend the money on a port, and the smaller size of the discs would make the sprawling cities much harder to properly implement (since it's not linear, disc swapping would be awkward at best).

You can, however, play an original Grand Theft Auto game on the GBA if you want.

Fine, you think Nintendo's policy about its target audience is no different from the other companies since Mortal Kombat 2. I happen to disagree.

Ugh, I didn't say that. At all.

Their target audience is different from other companies, yes. However, Nintendo is not in any way trying to make that their only audience, to the exclusion of others. They haven't done that for an extremely long time.

Nintendo themselves will mostly make games the entire family can enjoy. They will, however, not not not turn away or refuse violent games, and will quite happily promote them if they look like they have the potential to be system sellers (Eternal Darkness got a pretty decent marketing push). The idea has no basis in reality. None. At all. Anywhere. Period. If it did, we wouldn't be seeing violent games announced for the system, but as I've already pointed out, we have. Because, as bears repeating, "target audience" for something as generic as a game console does not mean "exclusive audience."

And for the record, when they say "this is a console everyone can play" they're talking about the controller, guys. The concept is that it's more natural to use so people who've never played a game before can pick it up and play without being baffled by two analog sticks, a dpad and a plethora of buttons. Whether this will work in reality or not doesn't matter: they're not talking about the game content when they say "system for everyone."

I know "pessimism at any cost" is a popular motto 'round these parts, but at least bitch about the controller or the weak technology or something. The "Nintendo censors everything" train left the station over a decade ago, and if you're still worried that they won't allow "offensive" material then I suggest you go play Killer 7 on the Gamecube for a while. Somewhere between the pedo-rape jokes, the excessive swearing and the woman slicing her wrists to spray blood everywhere, hopefully it'll become obvious that Nintendo has changed since editing Castlevania.

[BIG]

If you guys really want to spend $250 on a repackaged GCN,go for it. Seriously,I don't understand the hype surrounding the Wii. I played it for a bit at E3 and sadly, the gimmick wore off in about 5-10 mins.

Also,most of the games I saw were mediocre at best,with the exception of a few titles (again,same old franchise titles).

Frankly,I am sick and tired of Nntendo. I mean,when are they gonna stop force-feeding us Mario and Zelda? Give us something NEW,for chrissakes!

B-