Nintendo Wii Fanboy

After only a five month lag since its U.S. and Japanese releases, Nintendo announced today that Super Paper Mario for the Wii will be released across the continent of Europe on September 14, 2007.

In case you haven't had a chance to pick the game up, it's quite delectable and well worth checking out. One of its strongest points in the American version was its witty, tongue-in-cheek localization courtesy of head translator Nate Bihldorff. Given that Final Fantasy and other relatively text-heavy games often take far longer than this to translate into one language (English), it's rather impressive that NOE can ready this game for release in at least five (UK English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) in as many months. If their work can stand up to the quality of the U.S. localization, Europeans should be in for a tasty treat, indeed.

Nintendo's "early 2008" prediction for the launch of WiiWare might seem like a lifetime away, but we're still not convinced that the company has given itself enough time to turn the Shopping Channel into a vehicle for new downloadable game content. Nintendo isn't exactly known for its punctuality -- one need only look to the DS's delayed WiFi Connection implementation or the GameCube's nearly-nonexistent online service for examples of stalled promises.

What're your thoughts on the possibilities of WiiWare arriving on schedule? Does early 2008 really sound feasible? Or does it sound like a bunch of duck tales (a-woo-woo!)?

When do you expect WiiWare to launch?
	Early -- 2007 holiday season!
	Early 2008, as promised.
	Slight delay to summer 2008.
	Delayed to 2008 holiday season.
	A 2009 launch, with little fanfare.
	When monkeys fly out of my butt.

That's right. Super Paper Mario, a positively charming title once scheduled for the Gamecube, has been confirmed by the latest issue of Nintendo Power for an April release. The game, which will use the controller retro-style (read: on its side) to emulate that classic Mario feel, will use the A button to flip-flop between the 2-D and 3-D perspectives. Truly, we haven't seen a game of this particular dimensional scope since Yoshi's Story! For a bit more information on the title, check here.

Also, Mario Party 8, the first Wii entry in the seminal series, will be dropping on March 5th, according to Nintendo's official site. Along with Sonic and the Secret Rings, March and April are actually turning out to be some decent months for the little white box. With Wario Ware: Smooth Moves this past month and Wii Play on February 12th, we're set for awhile. You?

[Thanks to Ali, Naruhodou, and Castellanos!]

So, the Wii has been priced in Japan, the Americas, Europe, and Australia. But how about all those die-hard fans over in New Zealand? Well, Nintendo hasn't forgotten about them. An excerpt from the official press release:

"As part of a global launch period, Wii will arrive in New Zealand on December 7th. Wii will be sold as an affordable, mass-consumer product at an R.R.P. of just $499.90. The price includes one wireless Wii Remote controller, one Nunchuk controller and the groundbreaking collection of five different Wii Sports games on one disc, which anyone can play using simple movements, experienced or not."

Now, before you freak out, they're not talking about US dollars there. $500 New Zealand dollars converted into USD is actually $331, only slightly more than the $315 (249 Euros) Europeans have to pay. Still, for a console supposedly heralded as a low-cost option in the next-gen wars, it sure is getting steep in certain parts of the world.

(Note: We still want to go to New Zealand. It's pretty!)

[Update 1: Sorry, South America! You're on there now.]

We just gave you Australian gamers out there the details, now how about you European folk? We have got you covered...

You'll be getting the Wii come December 8th, a full day after Aussie gamers, this year. Coming in at a price of 249 Euros (179 GBP, or about $315 US), European gamers are forced to pay even more than Australians, who have to pay more than Americans. The system will include Wii Sports, as well as the bundled Wiimote and nunchuk attachment. Games are expected to cost between 34 and 39 pounds, or 49 and 59 Euros.

Joystiq has a man on the ground in NYC, on-hand during the madness now taking place. He is relaying information, much-needed information, from the press event and we're going to leech said info in the most ridiculous way possible. Keep your eye here as we transport the info over from Joystiq with care. Other sites such as Engadget are also covering the event.

The news so far is after the break.

At this point, it kills us to report on these speculatory meanderings other news outlets conduct, claiming they know when the console is going to release. However tired as we may be, we must bring forth to you fine reader everything about this console we all love so. For love (we really do love you and often imagine sitting up with you, just talking, until the sun rises), we labor on!

You know, Matt over at IGN isn't such a horrible source though. Usually he isn't so far off from the truth as to be on a separate measuring instrument altogether, so we consider that with his proposal for a November 2nd or 12th release date. We also consider it when reading his proposed $229 US price tag with selection of white or black console. Matt also goes on to say that Nintendo has ramped up production on their console to reach 5 million units of hardware by the end of the year. Now that figure, well...it's staggering. We're not too sure we can totally believe that one.

Take the information as you will and do make sure you let us know where you want to go on that date.

[Thanks Ryoma!]

We're starting to seriously think the Wii will launch in October. Now enter a bold Joystiq informant who relayed a listing to Joystiq that told of a couple leaked Activision release dates for Wii titles. The listing, which is pictured above, shows Tony Hawk Downhill Jam with an October release date and Call of Duty 3, along with Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, having a release date of November. This image was hastily changed and the informant's inbox was on the receiving end of a revised listing that merely stated these games of having a release date of "Upon Wii launch." Interesting...

Joystiq was able to ascertain that the individual responsible for altering the listings was a part of Activision's international media relations team. Considering that Activision is one of the few third-party publishers in full support of the Wii, the idea of them knowing the final release date is not all that far-fetched.

We've already reported on Nintendo's ability to be jerks, so why would we return to such a fresh and extremely painful topic? Release date speculation, of course! The guys (and gals) over at Gaming Target took it upon themselves to take this latest press release, by command of Nintendo, under a magnifying glass and analyze the dates, coming up with the idea that October 2nd will see the launch of the Wii. Their logic breaks down like this:

"The fourth quarter begins on October 1. Now look at the list. At least one game is released every Monday in the fourth quarter except for the following dates: October 2, November 20 and November 27. November 27 is after Black Friday, so it's out. November 20 is after the launch of the PS3, so that's out too. That leaves us with October 2."

Well, OK, not a bad theory, but why wouldn't, or couldn't, the console launch alongside any of the DS games to be released? Why couldn't the console launch on October 23rd? Personally, we'd like to see it launch October 2nd, which would provide ample time for shoppers to get one and prevent those pesky holiday shortage disasters we've seen during past launches.

[Via Joystiq]