In an attempt to fill a market demand that does not seem to exist, Nintendo has announced that they will launch the little red Wii Mini in the US just in time for the upcoming holiday shopping season.
Similar to its Canadian launch late last year, the unbelievably small console will cost $99 when it lands in the US around “the middle of November.” The biggest difference in the Wii Mini package this year is that the system is being bundled with Mario Kart Wii.
While the Wii Mini’s small stature does hold a certain charm, potential buyers should be aware that the console’s semi-budget price tag comes with a heavy set of restrictions. In addition to not having any GameCube software or accessory support, the redesigned console has no way to hook up to the Internet and it lacks an SD card slot. Basically, this version of the Wii will play disc-based games but it will have no way to import/export save files, download digital titles, or access channels like Netflix and Hulu Plus.
Not that I’m in the market for another Wii, but the Wii Mini seems like an awful lot of functionality to sacrifice for just $30 in savings. Don’t you think?