Wii Report 4: Local Info part 1

GameAxis.com has been my source for local Wii news, so head on down there to get all the details. Be sure to check out the forums too. For those lazy to look through the site and forums, here is a quick run down of most of the info we have right now.


First, the facts:

1. Singapore's official Nintendo Wii will be based on the NTSC/UC coding
2. Singaporean gamers will get their official Nintendo Wii consoles at the earliest this December, and the latest in January.
3. A Nintendo Wii has already been submitted to the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) for certification and approval.
4. Maxsoft, the local distributor for Nintendo, has confirmed that an Official Wii Support group has been set up here.
5. Price of the Singapore Wii console should be pegged closely to the US Wii's pricetag, plus S$30-S$50 to it.
6. Virtual Console to work flawlessly.

So it is confirmed that Singapore will be getting the Wii sometime late this year or early next year, and it would be a US console (with a different voltage). The most probable reason for this delay would be seeking approval from IDA for the Wii's WiFi.


Next, the "rumours":

1. The local Nintendo Wii console will see a price-tag of about S$499, pegging it at a cheaper price than the Xbox 360 (not surprisingly), and is likely to come bundled with at least one game.
2. The local Wii might even come bundled with 2 games. Although it's quite unlikely. Another surprising rumor is that the bundled game mentioned in Rumor #1 is unlikely to be Wii Sports - the game bundled with US Wii sets.
3. It's an open secret that the Wii is currently still undergoing local authorities certifications, which partly explains the lengthy launch. But hey, even the Japanese aren't getting their sets until 2nd Dec. So when will wii see the launch of the console on our shore? It make sense to calculate that we will only get the Wii after the Japs does, so that makes it very likely gamers will be able to buy Wii consoles here in late Dec at the earliest. The latest? End-Jan if not early-Feb too.

The S$499 price tag isn't too surprising, considering Australian gamers will be paying AUD399 for theirs. It's even less surprising since it might be come with 2 games. Maxsoft bundled lousy games with the local DS Lite, so for the Wii, don't expect Zelda and Trauma Centre to be packaged in. If they are, I would definitely buy it without hesitation. Two great games for S$100 and S$400 (roughly US$250) for the console! One rumour in the forums claim that Maxsoft is no longer the local distributor for Nintendo products. I find it hard to believe though. At the bottom of the "rumours" post at GameAxis.com, the author stated that "these stuffs are still very much what they are: rumors. So take it with a very slight pinch of salt. We hope you get that hint." It's quite obvious that this information is probably from an employee within the local distributor. If Maxsoft wasn't distributing anymore, that post would have probably talked about that rumour. I think these rumours are probably unfinalized product launch information. I'm hoping rumour 1 and 2 holds true, and that we will be getting launch information really soon. If there isn't any more info within the next few days, I'm gonna have to rely on Ivan for a US Wii console.