In the smart (but vexing) way of Nintendo, a trickle of new Wii information was released just now, including pricing and expected shipments of the new videogame console formerly known as the Revolution, still considered revolutionary.

Without actually nailing a price point, Nintendo confirmed today that the forthcoming Wii console "will not exceed $250 in America, or 25,000 yen in Japan." Though Canadian and Eurpoean pricing has yet to be officially revealed, it is generally expected to come in under $300 CDN, 150 GBP and 200 EUR. (Note: system prices are set as much on what the market will bear as the exchange rate.)

Too, without actually naming a date, Nintendo also confirmed that Wii will launch in time for this year's holiday shopping frenzy, quaintly referred to as "Christmas" by an apparently-tiny segment of the population, and plans to ship a total of 6 million units by the end of March, 2007, which is also the end of Nintendo's fiscal year. 6 million is a lot, by industry standards, and speaks to an expected "mass adoption" rate most analysts expect Wii to enjoy thanks to both the system's unique gameplay features and now vaguely-confirmed low price point.

The company also said it expects to sell 17 million Wii games within that launch window, though exact titles and launch dates remain under wraps, again in that smart (but vexing) way of Nintendo. Expect that trickle of information to be announced after this trickle of information has been digested, to keep the buzz alive until Santa visits some Christians.

Wii was recently unveiled at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), held May 8 thru 12 in Los Angeles, and was widely acclaimed for stealing the show as the only product to show "outside the box" videogame thinking with an innovative controller and engaging demos, as opposed to Microsoft's "we love it in our 'box" views of global penetration by way of multi-leisure-tasking covering hardcore, high definition gameplay, online content galore and attractive casual, cross-compatible play on Xbox 360, Windows PC and mobile devices, and as opposed to Sony's "there is no box" fit of denial that showed the PlayStation 3 as a Blu-ray movie player and undeniably high-end game and media player that costs too much.

Also See:

• E3 2006 Recap: Wii wins, Sony drops ball, Microsoft chuckles

 
 

It's true: Quality kids games are hard to find. Sure, there's lots out there, but few that are both good and genuinely kid-friendly. Fortunately, GamersGate online games portal has an entire section dedicated to quality family fare. Go ahead, check it out!