Wii Debuts in Japan, Heads Out to UK Buyers

The Wii made its retail appearance in Nintendo’s home town of Japan on Saturday - almost selling out the allocated 400,000 units, nearly pushing the Wii over the one million mark worldwide.

Unlike in the US, where the Wii launched just two days after the PS3, Japanese gamers had a chance to settle down in between the two launches. The PS3 made its debut there on November 13. Both systems virtually sold out in both countries within hours of their respective launches, although Nintendo supplied many more Wiis than Sony did with the PS3, due to production problems with the Blu-ray component of Sony’s next-gen system.

Tom’s Hardware - Wii makes international debut with weekend launch in Japan

Nintendo has indicated it will ship a further 600,000 Wiis into Japan by the end of the year, bringing the total to 1m units - a quarter of the 4m it expects to ship worldwide before the start of 2007.

We’ve heard from sources close to Nintendo that the consoles might be arriving in the UK on 1 December, but with no indication until today that they might be heading out almost immediately to buyers.

Reg Hardware - Nintendo Wii starting to ship to UK buyers?

The software lineup for the launch was considerably better than that of the US. Eleven extra titles were released, Wario Ware: Smooth Moves, Wii Play, and Super Swing Golf, the most notable. Even the virtual console had extra games, including Super Castlevania IV, Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Gunstar Heroes, all considerable titles. Presumably these will be made available in the US soon.

In the UK we hear that Woolies now has some Wii in stock. Expect your pre-order to turn up within a week.

the Inquirer - Wii turns from Japan to Woolworths