Japanese Wii on December 2nd

By Tom Bramwell Published 14 September, 2006

25,000 yen, 16 launch titles.

The Nintendo Wii will go on sale in Japan on December 2nd, and will cost 25,000 yen (roughly EUR 167 / GBP 113).

Speaking at a press conference in Tokyo that concluded earlier today, company president Satoru Iwata pledged 16 titles at launch, including The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Other titles at the Japanese launch include Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Sports (which will be sold separately in Japan), Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Elebits, Super Monkey Ball and Red Steel.

Nintendo also said it would launch Pokemon Battle Revolution later in December, but it admitted that Super Mario Galaxy would be released in 2007.

Nintendo has also launched the Japanese section of its official website for the console, demonstrating the interface, including web-browsing, photo management and other services.

In many respects the Japanese launch will be similar to the US launch, believed to be taking place on November 19th at a US$ 250 price point.

Nintendo has yet to explicitly confirm that US information, which came by way of reports in the New York Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, but its credibility has been widely accepted.

Nintendo US will hold a press conference later today UK time, with a European press event, including a conference, taking place at Friday lunchtime.

A full list of Japanese launch titles follows.

  • Elebits (Konami)
  • Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo)
  • Kororinpa (Hudson)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
  • Necro-Nesia (Spike)
  • Red Steel (Ubisoft)
  • SD Gundam Revolution (Namco Bandai)
  • Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (SEGA)
  • Swing Golf Panya (Tecmo)
  • Tamagotchi no Pika Pika Daitouryou! (Namco Bandai)
  • Tatsujin Festival (Namco Bandai)
  • Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Atlus)
  • Wario Ware: Smooth Moves (Nintendo)
  • Wii Sports (Nintendo - will not be bundled in Japan)
  • Wing Island (Hudson)
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • krudster #1 5 years ago

    Wario Ware, Zelda, Wii Sports and Monkey Ball, please.
    Edited by 1 at 14/09/06 @ 09:24

  • read_only #2 5 years ago

    Super Monkey Ball: Uki Uki Party Daishuugou

    I love the subtitle. No idea what it means but sounds fun.

  • Blerk #3 5 years ago

    Wasn't expecting to see Wario Ware at launch, they've hardly mentioned it of late. Anyway, good-oh!

  • symmetry #4 5 years ago

    Those videos on the Japanese sight make the Wii controller movement look very shaky :/

  • Steroyd #5 5 years ago

    US in Novemebr... then Japan in December....

    They're mirroring the NDS exactly... uh oh!!!

    If Ninty are mirroring the NDS launch exactly then the Wii is likely to launch in Europe in March 07.
    Edited by 1 at 14/09/06 @ 09:43

  • ChrisOTR #6 5 years ago

    Ooooh. The weather-map dragging around thing looks great :)

    They still haven't answered what I'm dying to know though (or at least not in English)... Is it region-free or not??!?!?!?!?

    Put me out of my misery Nintendo, please!

  • Fozzie_bear #7 5 years ago

    Those videos on the Japanese sight make the Wii controller movement look very shaky :/

    That's exactly what i was thinking too. And the video shows someone right up against the screen. Imagine how bad the wobble will be if you're sat further back on the sofa.

    Still not convinced about the wii at all... no matter how much i want to be :/

  • afray #8 5 years ago

    Those are promo videos, I don't think you can draw too many conclusions about the controls from them.

    Try the video round-up from IGN for more conclusive reports:
    IGN Leipzig Revolution Roundup

  • Carrybagma #9 5 years ago

    "Wii Sports (Nintendo - will not be bundled in Japan)"

    What's with that emphasis? Will it be bundled elsewhere then?

  • Darren #10 5 years ago

    I'll be buying the Wii just for Zelda: Twilight Princess really... yes, I know I can buy it for the GameCube but I want to experience the unique controls and the Wii version is the only one that supports widescreen. The rest of the lineup doesn't look too exciting though apart from Super Monkey Ball, which should be fun with the controller. Hopefully the UK launch will include a few more familiar titles...

  • bionutz #11 5 years ago

    Hajimete no Wii - that sound like a Judo command?
    Anyway, Red Steel, Trauma Center and erm... I know nothing about the others actually.

  • SlackMaster #12 5 years ago

    Who cares about the Japanese and US launches... I want to Euro date and price!!! >:(

    meh will have to wait until tommorrow. :(

  • JonFE #13 5 years ago

    krudster, I'll take some of that, too, thank you very much...
    Edited by 1 at 14/09/06 @ 10:37

  • Fozzie_bear #14 5 years ago

    Those are promo videos, I don't think you can draw too many conclusions about the controls from them.

    I was referring to the video with some bloke using a menu system to design a female character or something rather than the ones with models twatting about. Controller a foot or two from the screen and the pointer was very shakey. I'll wait to have a go myself but if that video was at all representative of how the thing works then i can see it getting very annoying and frustrating very quickly.
    Edited by 1 at 14/09/06 @ 10:39

  • Zomoniac #15 5 years ago

    Fozzie_bear, damn right, it does look much too shakey. I hope there are extensive sensitivity settings and Nintendo don't take the simplistic 'one size fits all' approach. But that Nintendo TV he's demoing on is beautiful, I want one!

  • spliffhead #16 5 years ago

    Wing Island?

    Pilot Wings Island maybe?

  • varsas #17 5 years ago

    RE: Shaky control - I hope that there is some way to adjust the sensitivity of the control...if not then it's going to be a problem for people who can't keep a steady hand.

    With regards to having to move your arms to play from what I've seen you don't need to make exaggerated movements at all; smaller movements using your wrists should be enough.

  • absolutezero #18 5 years ago

    I'd like to know more about that One Piece game from the nintendo trailer thingy.

  • Skooch #19 5 years ago

    Ok, I'm not trying to be difficult but I am seriously struggling to see the attraction in these games (and the console itself). Historically, I'm not a huge Ninty fan and have always tended to go for MS and/or Sony. I was hoping to be bedazzled by the new control system and the launch games but I'm just not. They sound hugely Japanese-orientated and the more I think about the control system the more I think of the Eye-Toy, fun for about half an hour then you get bored and switch to a more advanced game. The console seems underpowered and the games look gimmicky and, well, cheap.

    I'm probably gonna get assaulted by some die-hard Ninty fans for saying this, but this console and the lineup does absolutely nothing for me.

  • absolutezero #20 5 years ago

    Skooch I have analysed your throughts and have come up with the following.

    "I'm not a huge Ninty fan"
    "hugely Japanese-orientated"
    "switch to a more advanced game"

    All three of those things have rather large fanbases, Nintendo fans, quirky Japanese game fans, and simplistic easy to play fans.

    The Wii is perfect for all three and more and above that. Don't worry no one is going to string you up for having a different opinion, its just that your a traditional gamer who likes Western games. Theres loads of them aswell.

  • Skooch #21 5 years ago

    @absolutezero

    Thanks! Maybe the Wii is like a small puppy, I like the idea but prefer to play with other people's!