Wii Mini out in the UK on 22nd March
We'd advise against buying it.
We didn't think it was heading this way but it is: the Wii Mini will be released in the UK on 22nd March, Nintendo has just announced.
It's the cheap and a-bit-smaller console revision Nintendo released in Canada and that Digital Foundry gave a bit of a pasting to.
The Wii Mini doesn't have Wi-Fi, it doesn't support the Ethernet USB adaptor and for some bizarre reason 480p component video functionality has been removed.
"The sad reality is that the Wii Mini disappoints on almost every level," wrote Digital Foundry. "It's not a good-looking piece of kit at all, functionality has been stripped down to the absolute bare-bones, and perhaps worst of all for a product actively being marketed on its dinky form-factor is the fact that it's not actually that much smaller than the original model.
"...we'd be quite happy if Nintendo never releases it elsewhere."
The one thing the Wii Mini did have going for it was an impulse-purchase price of $99 CAD (about £63). Problem is, retailers determine the price in the UK and none appear to be showing their hands yet. £75? It can't go higher, surely.
To coincide with the launch of Wii Mini, Nintendo's buffing up its discounted Nintendo's Selects range. Added will be Super Paper Mario, Mario Power Tennis, Wii Sports Resort and Mario Party 8.
