The Wii's Final Specs

by: The Ryan 2 years, 9 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes ago 2

Originally at E3 ‘05 the Revolution was announced that it will have DVD playback capabilities. Nintendo figures that DVD players and DVD technology have gotten so low priced that to add this feature onto the system will be a needless cost for the consumers. But if you’re a hardcore gamer, like I like to think of myself as, then you already have a system with that capability. So it’s not that big of a deal.

Here are the final specs for Nintendo’s latest console, The Wii!

WII Launch Date and MSRP: Nov. 19, 2006, in North America at $249.99.

Color: White. (How long do you think it’ll take for collectors edition colors to be released?)

Size: About 8.5 inches long, 6 inches wide and less than two inches thick

Controls: “Up to four Wii Remote controllers can be connected at once using wireless Bluetooth technology. The wireless signal can be detected within 10 meters of the console. Both the Wii remote and Nunchuk controllers include a three-axis motion sensor. The Wii Remote controller also includes a speaker, rumble feature and expansion port, and can be used as a pointer within 5 meters of the screen. The Wii Remote controller has a power switch, plus pad, A, B, Minus, Home, 1 and 2 buttons. The Nunchuk controller includes an analog control stick and C and Z buttons.”

The Look: “The Wii console features a compact design that...can be displayed either vertically or horizontally.”

Media: “A single self-loading media bay will play single- or double-layered 12-centimeter optical discs for the Wii console, as well as 8-centimeter Nintendo GameCube discs.” (Backward Compatibility Baby!) To play most of the backward compatible and downloadable games, you need to get a different controller that is also made specifically for the Wii. That controller is more of a classic style to play the older games with that don’t have motion sensing features.

Channels: “The Wii Channel Menu is the main gateway for a variety of...interactive multimedia, entertainment and communication functions.”

Communication: “The Wii console can communicate with the Internet even when the power is turned off. The WiiConnect24 service [content and game updates] even if the system is idle. Users can connect wirelessly using IEEE 802.11, or with a USB 2.0 LAN adaptor. The Wii console also can communicate wirelessly with the Nintendo DS.”

Virtual Console: “The Wii console will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The Virtual Console also will feature a ‘best of’ selection from Sega Genesis titles and games from the TurboGrafix 16 console. It also will be home to new games conceived by indie developers.”

The Specs: “The Wii console has 512 megabytes of internal flash memory, two USB 2.0 ports and built-in Wi-Fi capability. A bay for an SD memory card will let players expand the internal flash memory. Design was optimized with state-of-the-art processing technologies that minimize power consumption, keep the console compact and enable the ‘sleepless’ WiiConnect24 mode.”

CPU: “PowerPC CPU (code-named “Broadway") Made with a 90 nm SOI CMOS process, jointly developed with and manufactured by IBM.”

Graphics Processing Unit: “Being developed with ATI.”

Other Features: “Four ports for Nintendo GameCube controllers. Two slots for Nintendo GameCube memory cards. An AV Multi-output port for component, composite, or S-video.” (The ULTIMATE Backwards Compatibility!)