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By H. B. Duran (Angel Thanatos)
You knew it would happen - a black Wii for the US. Nintendo, which roughly translates as “leave luck to Heaven,” clearly lives by their name. They’re masters of marketing and here’s why: in August of 2009, gamers caught a glimpse of the “Limited Edition” Black Wii available only in Japan, and we whined. Oh, how we whined. We threw our temper tantrums when the U.K. received the “dark” bundle in November. Why, oh why, Gaming Gods, can we not have a black Wii in the U.S.?, we cried and whined and cried some more on our blogs. This whole time, I’ve refused to buy a Wii; stubbornly holding out for the black one – the one everyone said would never be released in the States. Friends played their Wii Sports and broke their expensive TV’s until they came out with a wristband. They invited me to play bowling and tennis – I read press releases for cool accessories and upcoming games and still refused to buy the white console. I sensed a marketing coup and sure as Donkey Kong, Nintendo struck when we sort of but not really expected it. Available beginning May 9, 2010, the Black Wii bundle is here.
For only $200 US, the Black Wii bundle includes a black console, remote control, nunchuk controller, Wii Motion Plus and two games: Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort (Am I the only who’s annoyed that they spell it “nunchuk” and not “nunchaku?”). Not surprisingly, pre-orders are already rolling in. You can’t tell me Nintendo just now thought of this. Revolutionizing gaming in the ‘80s and making a video game character a household name, many of us fell in love with Mario and Zelda and the concept of gaming during that time period. This lasting effect helped pave the way for what the multi-million dollar gaming industry is today. Gamers grew up to have gaming kids of their own; in fact, the Nintendo Wii is responsible for a staggering increase in the purchase of games by women (Of course, we women also buy the crap out of Xbox and PlayStation but this new market of mothers is what sealed the deal). Due to its family-friendly persona, the Wii has received a lot of criticism from gamers that refuse to consider the shiny, white console to be “hardcore” or “real gaming.” The Wii has already solidified its reputation for the “casual” and “family” gamers but as one would expect, they’re ready to go in for the kill. By coloring their console black, hardcore gamers can at least feel like they’ve kept their dignity; and with an ever-growing library of shooters and survival horror, Nintendo is back again to show the other consoles how it’s done.
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Black Wii for The US