Wii Mini ain't doing half bad

[savisn]

I'm not surprised at all. What surprises me are all the negative reactions I see on sites bemoaning lack of backward support, no internet, no GameCube and saying Nintendo made an idiot move.

I understand it from a consumer standpoint that no Gamer would want this, but this isn't aimed at that segment at all. The goal is to be bare bones and inexpensive - period. I would consider buying this for my niece and nephew who don't have any system. They are 5 and 7. They will never buy a GameCube game. They don't need internet or VC and in fact their parents would probably be just as happy without that ability until they are older - no worries about them getting on some site they shouldn't. And I guarantee those kids couldn't care less about 480p (and their parents wouldn't bother to buy that cable anyway besides the fact it would probably end up on their old TV that I'm sure lacks component inputs). A used Wii could serve just as well at the same price but many people won't buy used for warranty purposes (or the though of giving a "used" gift doesn't appeal.

This is clearly designed for 1 thing - to provide the Wii catalog at the cheapest price possible. There is a market for that and it's not found on gaming websites or looking at teardowns on EuroGamer. Just because something isn't made for one demographic doesn't mean it won't be great in another.

In my mind the only valid criticism is with the WiiU struggling there may be some confusion with another SKU - but I don't think many consumers will struggle with something that runs $100 vs. $350 to realize they are different. Dropping the regular Wii may make sense at this point though and just let this be the final version. I think there are enough used regular Wiis out there for people that care about real features.

If Nintendo is smart they will take this version after it gets some scale to less developed countries. Its very low power consumption, low price and large library could give it a long lifetime like PS2 saw despite almost 0 new games getting created for Wii anymore.