Nintendo has announced a rough guide price for Wii - no more than $250 - and a plan to ship 6 million units of the innovative console by March 2007. As usual there is little European information other than a commitment to launch at a, "similar affordable price". Nintendo also expects to sell 17 million games between the Q4 launch and the end of March 2007. You can expect the new Zelda game to take up a sizable chunk of this figure.
Exact launch dates and titles are expected soon but you'd imagine Nintendo would want to avoid PlayStation 3 in November. Yes, the two giants are chasing different consumers these days, but most early adopters and committed gamers are likely to want both as soon as they arrive. Pre-order chaos will ensue, with news bulletins full of fraught parents unable to get hold of a new console which, in the PS3's, case is not aimed at their children. Is there any hope for anyone who forgets to pre-order? I think there may be. Not with the PS3 - it will barely reach the shelves this year - but Wii's unique approach will require more of a hard sell. It needs to be played to appreciate and it will take a while for word of mouth to spread. Sure, the US and Japan won't have a problem, but are there enough Zelda fans and Nintendo die-hards in the UK to ensure a launch sell out?
