Nintendo Wii Fanboy

got my hopes up for nothing

CRAP

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Nick...Are you crazy? We're talking about the possibility of a worldwide launch of Wii next freaking week. CRAP!

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How is this nothing? Think about it. Nintendo had a blanket release time of 12:01EST for this news (although it was apparently broken some hours ago) but its NEWS FROM JULY. Nintendo just DECIDED to release it now. What else have they been up to since then? I mean, if the CPUs have been ready and shipping steadily for over two months, that easily means that the consoles are boxed, crated, and ready to roll out. This little 'tidbit' of 'useless' 'not-news' has got ME excited...frankly I'd be surprised if release was anything later than October 2. I'm actually expecting Reggie to hop up on stage on the 14th, start up a videoconference with the other two events (or one, I think Europe was the day after) He will then smile, nod at Shiggy, and say 'The Wii will be sold in such-and-such a package, is available in these colors, for this price. Right now.' He will then hop off the stage and walk away, laughing maniacally. A single gonzo journalist will manage to catch up with him in the ensuing chaos, and asks 'How long have you been planning this?'

Reggie will flex, roar mightily, and scream 'ATTACK ITS WEAK SPOT FOR MASSIVE DAMAGE!!!'

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Well over a Joystiq is a mess, but this is Great news.
I think a lot of people will look back at this as one of those dammit how did i not see this coming moments.

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That's just speculation. This isn't "major" news, it's just something to get fanboys hopes up absurdly. A 'surprise' launch isn't exactly a good idea... see: Sega Saturn. This is just an interesting tidbit and nothing more. Furthermore, September is not 'Q4' as Nintendo has been peddling out for the last year.

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Remember this?
"Matt responds: Hmm. How should I write this? Have to be vague, you know? Let me just say that yes, Paper Mario will be headed to Wii and not GameCube. Now read between the lines, damn you! Wait. That was a terrible hint! All right, that's it for today. Time to beat Bozon."

Paper Mario supposedly had a release date of October 9. Really reading between the lines... it hasn't been delayed, so maybe the Wii will be out then. If Nintendo is really as far ahead of production as this article suggests, an early October release could still see 3 million consoles worldwide, with another 3mil coming by Jan/Feb 07.

This is very important news for a good reason: we have a better idea that Nintendo can really keep - and even surpass - their production goals.

The hint that the Wii CPU is much more powerful than thought also helps ;)

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There needs to be more pizzaz in how this is spun.

How about: Nintendo fails to break promises. Forced to keep to launch schedule. Company sees few options but to make the Wii widely available throughout all major markets within 2006. Investors dulled insensate by reliable placidity and steady high value of Nintendo shares.

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Or how about "Nintendo's ratio of earnings from DS to drop drastically in the coming months"?

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There is worthwhile news, it confirms (by IBM no less) that Wii is a shrunken GameCube with a new controller.

In essense, they've been shipping the Broadway since 2000/2001 ... this is just a refinement in its design making it more efficient and using new manufacteuring techniques; very similar to what PS2 --> PStwo.

So, in 4 to 5 years, you will have a decade old architecture competing against 4-5 generation PS3/360 games. This may have worked in the handheld market, but, lets see how well it works in the console market.

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Karl H.,

Calm down, breathe deeply.....good. Do you feel better?

O.K. Karl, I'm sorry to say it but, it's true. Wii production (chips included) began in July. There's a story on pretty much any Nintendo site that confirms this. Odds are that those other sites you speak of, had THEIR facts wrong.

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Not sure what you're trying to say there Jaille, because...umm...how do I put this politely...

Can you even read?

Everything stated says NOTHING concrete. The only actual NUMBER is that the new Broadway chip is about 20% more power efficient. Everything else is just 'signifigantly more powerful than the Gekko' (Gamecube chip) and 'PowerArchitecture based, custom-made and optimized for Nintendo'. Which means a new chip, being utilized at 100% of its capacity for power, which is probably going to be far more than you or anybody thinks. (I'd bet its at least 2 ghz in traditional speed measurements)

As to your comment about the handheld market, well, Nintendo has continually been selling more DSLites in a week than Sony is planning to have PS3s available in all of Japan.

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This is the funniest thing I've seen in a while. 1,000 comments for a story that someone posted in the comment section!

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@Jaille,

20% more power efficient, not 20% more power. That means it'll use less power to run and generate less heat.

IBM actually compared the Wii chip to the PS3 chip.

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The fact that one component of the Wii is on schedule does not mean that they are ready to ship completed Wii consoles. In fact, the same people (Martino from IBM) say that production of the Cell processor is going well, too (according to Kotaku). Sony says that they have at least 3 million Cell chips waiting around (also from Kotaku). It only takes one component shortage to delay a console.

The quote that hints that Wii may be ready early wasn't included with the Joystiq/Wii Fanboy article, but it states:
"Today's milestone marks the final stage of our drive to reach both core and nontraditional gamers with an inviting, inclusive and remarkable gaming experience," said Genyo Takeda, Senior Managing Director and General Manager for Nintendo's Integrated Research & Development Division.

"Final stage" is a good thing. It is bigger news than that Broadway is being manufactured.

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But how far along is dip production? And more importantly, how powerful is the onion in it?

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I dont understand all the negative views here.

Nintendo is on track as far as chips goes.

Thats awesome news.

-Red

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This is good news, yes. It's not crazy awesome news, but it's good.
Everyone seems to be forgetting that a processor isn't the ONLY thing that goes into making a console. Just because the processors have been shipped to them doesn't mean they have a high enough quantity of other parts to begin production:sensor bar/remote components, connectivity components, and oh - a GPU perhaps? That could help.
Good to know that the chip isn't causing them any trouble, and that's the way to look at this. Don't read too far into it :)

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It's not bad news at all!

It's just not...exciting. On the surface.

I like that picture of that guy gawking at the Wii's private parts, though.

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