Nintendo Wii due for early launch?

Our money -- since we so regularly put down heavy cash on the intricacies of console launches -- is still on that November 6th date that's been going around, but we're always willing to entertain a bit more tasteful rumoring. This one's from CNNMoney.com's Chris Morris, who cites P.J. McNealy and other unnamed "industry insiders" that the Nintendo Wii is due for October, with a slight chance of late September if the cards are right. This would contrast it to the November 17 PS3 launch, and Microsoft's November 22 last year, and give Nintendo a bit of a head start in the holiday rush. Apparently Nintendo is in pretty good shape to do so, since they've already started manufacturing the Wii, and they so far have only launched one home system in November, the GameCube. It'll probably come down to manufacturing successes and title readiness, and Nintendo might want to give 3rd party titles a bit more time in the oven with the new control schemes that need to be perfected, but a least the anonymous and unverifiable signs are looking good for an early launch, and we're not complaining.

[Via Gotakon]

[Keith @ Jul 5th 2006 9:14PM]

I'm not complaining either. I would love an early release. I just hope that the 3rd parties are going to have enough time to develop some good games.

[Billy Parmenter @ Jul 5th 2006 9:16PM]

I'd hate to see the launch titles rushed to reach a late september launch.

[Nukes and Candy @ Jul 5th 2006 9:20PM]

Oh yes! The Wii is going to rule them all.

For #1. They wont rush things man, if they are thinking about early launch, its because they can. Making games for the Wii is much simpler than making games for the other mamoths who I shall not name (X360, PS3).

Oh yea I cant wait!

Alexander W.
.

[Jonathan Fung @ Jul 5th 2006 9:28PM]

The reason I believe the Wii can already start production as opposed to the PS3 is that it's design is pretty sold. They said a while back that the controller wasn't finalized yet, but I guess what we saw at E3, or something very close to that got finalized. On the other hand, in the Sony camp, you have them still tinkering around with the design of their controller, with that last min motion sensing, trying to see if they can get in rumble, etc, as well as other design stuff like getting production costs down.

But well, I guess Sony will start when they feel best.... And hehe, put me down in the books for a Pre-November launch.

BTW Paul, thanks for hooking up Gotakon again.

[Intellectualdiot @ Jul 5th 2006 9:35PM]

"Making games for the Wii is much simpler than making games for the other mamoths who I shall not name (X360, PS3)."

Based upon console specifications and development costs, this is true. However the Wii has its own set of unique circumstances that makes coming to grips with the innovative input system a bit more of a challenge than most would anticipate. We've heard these sentiments echoed by a few developers in the past, and finding a delicate balance between realistic movement with the Wiimote and even the most minute of movements made by the player will be paramount. Hopefully Nintendo's tech support is up to the task of helping developers avoid months of research and development for any title that attempts to do something vaguely fresh.

All that being said, I'm waiting for the Wii, but I'm not adverse to a launch closer to late October and Novemeber so that more titles have the potential to be great rather than just good.

[bliss @ Jul 5th 2006 9:39PM]

as far as marketing goes, releasing the Wii before another console is probably smart...and makes it timely for the holidays.

[IK @ Jul 5th 2006 9:51PM]

"so henry, what would you like for christmas?"

"I want a wii."

"Can you hold it in? we will be home soon."

[Jimbob @ Jul 5th 2006 9:57PM]

wii's hardware is pretty much tried and tested - so it coming out early is possible.

Looking forward to see what devs do with the motion sensitive controllers

[Billy Parmenter @ Jul 5th 2006 10:22PM]

#2.

No. It will take as long if not longer to develop a Wii title as it would a PS2, Xbox or GC title. I don't want any of the launch titles rushed just so that they can hit an earlier launch window. A lot of the titles at E3 seemed pretty early still...

[Tech Rewind @ Jul 5th 2006 10:31PM]

An early launch would be awesome!

[Scott Stover @ Jul 5th 2006 11:29PM]

Not getting a PS3 any time soon, so I don't care if the Wii comes out before or after (in that retrospect). What I do care about is getting ahold of my Wii with TP (ahem . . . Twilight Princess).

[georgedakota @ Jul 5th 2006 11:29PM]

Come on people the earliest it comes out is late october and if you think otherwise your fooling yourself. September is only 2 months away. Of course it doesnt take long to make a game for a system with graphics that look 5 years old is it. Maybe nintendo will prove me wrong but honeslty i truly believe the wii will be a failure with the over 20 year olds. I havent spoke to one person who is talking about anything but 360 or ps3. I work in a family owned video store and i hear alot of talk from people. I dont see anyone but young preteens interested in the wii right now at our store in NJ. I predict the wii to sell about the same as gamecube did and thats not great. And dont jump down my throat i am just reporting on what i hear at our store, plus i wont be back to check responses in this forum.

[John Doe @ Jul 6th 2006 12:25AM]

Lets see. I'm not interested in the 360 for ethical reasons. ( I refuse to buy a console from a company who got into this market simply because they are the single most paranoid software company on the planet.) Not interested in a Playstation this time around because of the price. (Maybe in a year or two though.)
That leaves the WEEEEEEE. So tomorrow, 2 months, 6 months. It’s all good with me as long as the launch titles are baked to nice golden brown. The last thing we need are games that needed more time in the dev oven. Nintendo has an opportunity here. It’s got the hardware. It’s got the price. It’s got the buzz. It’s got people's interest. As long as the launch titles are solid I think the N will be back in the game.

[nodnetni @ Jul 6th 2006 1:12AM]

An early launch could be why the release date has not officially been given. They may want to just make sure that everything is inline before saying it will be out early, incase they can't make it and just go for the november release. PS3 has given its release date, and now they have to have a product ready for that, or else they are going to have some unhappy fanboys. By leaving people in the dark, nintendo doesn't have to worry about such situations.

[MacGeek @ Jul 6th 2006 1:24AM]

That would be cool, but i thing they will release it in november

[INQUE @ Jul 6th 2006 1:27AM]

Is it safe to say that first generation production of Wii consoles will guarantee quality? I'm thinking of weather I should get one right away or wait for a year before I get one (if I could resist hehe)

[Tom DeFigueiredo @ Jul 6th 2006 1:51AM]

Does anybody remember Nintendo's history of releasing consoles? They are always late late and then late. I've been tricked by them three times on the N64 alone. This is a fake story too much doesn't add up (History, lack of playable games, nintendo catering to Japan, etc.)

[Ian @ Jul 6th 2006 2:13AM]

I think it'd be either a great idea or a horrible bomb to release it early. It's so different from the norm, people may be iffy about picking one up before really trying it out during the shopping season.

If they release it early, it gives people a chance to check it out.

If it's a flop, people have a chance to check it out before they buy it for their nagging kids for christmas, which is bad. But if it's hella awesome, the word gets spread, and it's great for Nintendo.

*shrug*

[James Laver @ Jul 6th 2006 4:46AM]

Of the consoles on offer, the Wii is the only one doing something different. If I wanted to watch pretty graphics, I'd buy a movie, and when I want to play my media, I do it through my PC (which is linux, and therefore not even compatible with the 360 or PS3). This has certain great advantages, like I can keep my music DRM free for moral reasons and I can transfer it to the other machines around my house (of which there are about 7), something the DRM on the ps3's media would not allow me to do, and something i couldn't do with the 360 because i'm running linux (which also knocks out the ps3 because they know they can't get away with drm on an open platform).

Now, why do I want a Wii? Simple, it's the gameplay. When I was about 8, I used to love playing 2d arcade gamesand suchlike. No, they weren't pretty, but they were pretty addictive, you have to admit. Gameplay was what made them fun. I had a genuine sense of satisfaction after completing half-life, the graphics were good, but the gameplay was amazing. I didn't get the same from half-life 2 though, they sacrificed gameplay for the graphics, which resulted, imo, in a crapper game (but still good, the gameplay was ok).

So the next generation for me is the one of gameplay, and that's why I'm getting a Wii. If you want to look at good quality pictures, get a movie.

[TC @ Jul 6th 2006 5:06AM]

Of course, knowing Nintendo, the European release will probably be the best part of a year later :(

[MPG @ Jul 6th 2006 5:59AM]

"Of course it doesnt take long to make a game for a system with graphics that look 5 years old is it. Maybe nintendo will prove me wrong but honeslty i truly believe the wii will be a failure with the over 20 year olds."
That is one of the weirdest and self-contradictory statements I've ever seen here, because it is mostly the over-20-year-olds who are interested in gameplay over graphics quality. I mean, who cares if a game looks like "real life" when everything else about the game sucks? My prediction is that teenagers will want the PS3 or X360 because they are cool, while adults will want the Wii, because it's fun.

[Josh* @ Jul 6th 2006 7:48AM]

Wouldn't it be awesome if all those "knowing Nintendo, they'll..." myths would be dispelled with the Wii?

I want to see some feet in mouths! They could turn it all around and be back on top this generation.

But, knowing Nintendo, they'll screw it all up.

[John Doe @ Jul 6th 2006 8:23AM]

The adult market can't be underestimated. As of yesterday, brain age is the most popular game on Amazon.com

[Jasafar @ Jul 6th 2006 8:42AM]

Nice.. Wii will be my additional gaming system to my 360. Screw Sony; good chance the PS3 will crash and burn.

[Magus @ Jul 6th 2006 9:10AM]

An early release guarantees sales for the holiday season. All the people skeptical of the system would get a chance to try it at a friends or a game shop demo model. It would just build up hype for it for the upcomming holidays. It would also put Nintendo in its own league and not pit them vs the PS3 and 360 holiday rush.
They did the exaxt same thing with the name. Anouncing it early letting people get used to it before E3.

I doubt nintendo has any issues releasing the hardware early but the 3rd party side looks a bit troubling. E3 stuff seemed really early and as tho it didnt spend enough time in testing. If they push developers deadlines up we could wind up with some sub par games due to control schemes.

[Greasy Guide @ Jul 6th 2006 9:13AM]

Yeah I want my Wii now but I'll wait until they have the games correct. I want some fun stuff to play. While I love my DS Lite playing Super Princess Peach is not that much fun.

[Gregerick @ Jul 6th 2006 9:24AM]

"Nintendo might want to give 3rd party titles a bit more time in the oven with the new control schemes that need to be perfected"

Nintendo said itself that the system will be nearly identical to the gamecube in most developing aspects so I think that they should be able to pump out games in the same time as normal since they are/should be familiar with the control scheme of the 'cube.

[o0adam0o @ Jul 6th 2006 9:35AM]

I hope the WII poops Sonys PS3 party....i can already see moms choosing the Wii for their kids christmas present because of its lower price and pretty looks.

I dont hate Sony, i just like to see underdogs at least some damage....plus Sonys rich anyways =P

[MPG @ Jul 6th 2006 10:21AM]

"The adult market can't be underestimated. As of yesterday, brain age is the most popular game on Amazon.com"

Very good point. In fact, the whole Nintendo DS shows how Nintendo just keeps scoring with the "gameplay over performance". The DS doesn't have the cool looks or the graphics of the PSP, but it offers a significantly larger amount of gameplay options. That's the key issue that is keeping Nintendo in the game even when they seem to be "behind" when it comes to raw technology and performance.

[ajai @ Jul 6th 2006 11:26AM]

Sony will definitely crash and burn this time around, atleast during launch. I don't see them seeing a profit for years. Nintendo will probably take the crown..innovative gameplay which they're always famous for. It truly is the only system doing something different. Let's give Msft some credit for the 360 though..it blows my mind away with the gameplay on Xbox Live, graphics, and I mean, though not much is different, it's still an excellent console. PS3--way too expensive, that's the only thing I've been hearing. And as far as I know, A LOT of people want the Wii over the PS3, hell..you can get a 360+Wii for the price of a PS3 after games and accessories. So, really, I see Wii throwing some nice stuff out there, and people will buy. Gamecube was .. ehh, okay, but it's Nintendo's turn to shine. I can't wait to play tennis games with that Wiimote, even if I'll look like an idiot. =)

[Guruboy @ Jul 6th 2006 11:54AM]

I'll probably still get a Wii upon release (the projected price is just too good to pass up) and wait for that first or second price drop for the PS3, when the games actually use the hardware and there is more, cheaper, Blu-Ray media.

The Wii has looked nothing but good from what we all can see. It's really hard to insult it, and it's funny when people try. Come on, no more sex toy jokes? I think that in the department of cutting-edge gfx and gameplay, PS3 will be the winner. I think in the more important department of having FUN (new concept for some people), the Wii is the wiinner (not a typo). And yes, that does sound like weener.

Why do Wii fans feel the need to insult the PS3? Trust me, unless any of these consoles have massive breakdowns or absolutely no games for them are released, they will not be BAD consoles. They will not SUCK, ok? If you don't care about the best graphics fine, but it's not a reason that a console will suck and it sure isn't a reason that an entire corporate giant will "crash and burn".

[fush @ Jul 6th 2006 1:20PM]

I had an idea to avoid the problems developers are having with programming for the controller:

Have Nintendo release an API of sorts for all the development kits that accurately tracks the controller's position and tilt in real 3D space. As it is now, it seems that most of the developers are programming around each individual accelerometer's readings; no wonder they're having a hard time, it takes a physicist to analyze that kind of data in real time.

With an API like this for developers, it would allow developers to simply define gestures and motions based on where the controller actually is. This is similar to the handwriting recognition API that was put into the Nintendo DS Dev kit.

Why not have Nintendo figure out all the math?

[MPG @ Jul 6th 2006 1:43PM]

"As it is now, it seems that most of the developers are programming around each individual accelerometer's readings; no wonder they're having a hard time, it takes a physicist to analyze that kind of data in real time."

No, it doesn't. It's simple and doesn't take much more than 5th grade math. You're told in which direction the controller is moving at which speed, so based on that you figure out where it is at a given point in time. x_new = x_old + x_speed * time. Voila.

[cycomachead @ Jul 6th 2006 2:05PM]

I don't know if this is released to early and the PS# comes out early Dec. Sony could just beat out the Wii (gawd I hate the name)Just cuz its the new thing

[fush @ Jul 6th 2006 7:36PM]

I don't think so MPG. If they are accelerometers then they would output 3 different sets of acceleration, not velocity. You can't use your equation. You can use this one, though:

s=ut + (1/2)at^2

BUT this formula requires that you know the initial velocity (u) to calculate distance (s), something the wiimote definetely does not provide.

ANYWAYS, anyone with more knowledge with accelerometers, gyroscopes, and physics wanna knock one of us down?

[RacetrackOwner @ Jul 7th 2006 6:02AM]

More likely you receive a vector, or maybe even a stream of quaternion-based transformations -- which is far beyond the scope of an Engadget post.

Either way, it strikes me as gimmicky. The die-hard Nintendo types will snap it up, and everybody else will move on. I predict this gamble won't pay off. I know I'm in the Wii-Fanboy Room here, it's just my opinion, don't get your panties in a wad.

[wii-mod @ Jul 17th 2006 1:53AM]

The sooner they release it the better. Before PS3 - they should. I only hope that rushing for a sooner release date will not increase the price of the system.