Wii is coming

Friday 15 September 2006
Nintendo's Wii console will cost £180 and will launch in the UK on 8 December, Nintendo has finally confirmed at today's European Wii event in London.

Coming a week after the Japanese launch and three weeks after the console is released in the US, for your £180 the Wii pack will include one Wii-mote control, one Nunchuck attachment and a copy of Wii Sports.

Wii's other features include interactive news and weather channels - updated constantly through the WiiConnect24 online service - the Virtual Console and a Mii channel, which enables you to create your own avatar for use in games. These features will be accessible through the console's Wii Channel Menu, Nintendo's point-and-click answer to Xbox 360's Dashboard console interface.

The Wii Points system will be used to purchase downloadable content, including new Virtual Console games. Like Microsoft's MS Points on Xbox Live, the system will mean credit cards aren't needed for regular, impulse buys.

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.