Tell me about it. The DS should do that on its own this fall. It's an onslaught of games that scream "buy me!"

With component now out, I'm seriously on the fence. Unless I can use my Gamecube cable, I think I may sit this one out. The first Nintendo launch I will have missed.

$450 to play the same Zelda I can get for the Gamecube doesn't sound appealing. Sure I would pick up another title or two, but non are "must haves."

It is a bit hard to swallow. But for me it won't be that much. $250, plus possibly $10-20 for a cheap S-video cable if the GC one won't work.

I'm not buying any extra controllers, SD card etc. at launch. Forced bundles aside, I just want the console and Zelda for now.

It could still happen that way, but only if the 360 gets a price drop before the Wii is released (unlikely). I think they may have decided on a $200 price, but they want to be able to sell it for that much through next year. They didn't want another situation like with the GameCube, where they had to drop the price in six months to stay competitive. So, they priced it higher so they can drop it to $200 when the 360 gets a price drop early next year. At $200, they can still make a profit.

I'm not too crazy about the $250 price tag, so I'm no longer going to try to get this on launch day like I had previously planned. Instead, I'll just pick one up whenever I see it. If that's during launch week, fine. If it's six months later, then so be it.

I'd like to see how much the component cable is going to cost. I'll be a little peeved if they try to soak us $40+ again.

I hope its not available ONLY at Nintendo's online store this time, either.

My girlfriend is the primary gamer in our house. She's never been much of a Nintendo fan (the only Nintendo system we own is my ancient NES) but was initially interested in Wii.

She's since lost interest because of a number of factors, including price and game availability. Currently, we use a PS2 and XBOX, and she plans on getting a 360 in the future when the price drops and all of the kinks are worked out of the system. $400 seems excessive for a system that's prone to breaking down shortly after the warranty expires. I've offered to get her a 360 for Christmas this year, but she'd still rather hold out for a while. And ditto the PS3; $600 seems like a lot for a system that's probably going to be have some hardware problems at launch.

So the Wii went from being the first next gen system she was interested in to falling behind the 360 on the priority list. Also, bundling it with a sports game also killed her interest as she has zero interest in sports games, so effectively paying for one with the system is also a deal killer. (Weren't they trying to push these hard on women and girl gamers? Seems like bundling it with a sports game is counterintuitive as the people I know who play sports games are overwhelmingly male.)

Something like Wii Sports isn't really a sports game per se. My wife has no interest in sports (besides maybe a little hockey). Nor do I. But we had plenty of fun playing Super Monkey Ball Tennis

There's no calling plays, fancy defensive formations, trading players, injuries, making line changes, recruiting players, etc.

Wii sports strikes me as more like Super Mario Strikers, Monkey Ball Tennis, or something like that. Those aren't REALLY sports games.

Even though there isn't that big of a difference between $200 and $250, I was so set on the $200 price tag that I will be waiting. It's not that I don't want a Wii, or think $250 is too much to pay, but when I really think about it I have so many unplayed games (and more still that I want to buy) from this generation that there just isn't really a rush. Plus waiting a little while is good as the first wave of games will be cheaper and there will be more to choose from. I still plan on getting a 360 and I have a solid list of games to choose from now. Those games I want will only go down in price the longer I wait. Same will happen with the Wii. Excite Truck sure looks like an ass-load of fun though.

Thanks to this board, I rarely if ever buy games over $20, so it would be a very hard jump to go from budget buying to $50-$60 games again so fast.

I am not sure I am there at launch, even though the Wii is the system I want the most, I just think it will be worth waiting. The 250 price doesn't bother me, I am just worried I will be paying full price for everything and without enough choices at launch. Zelda is the only game I know I will buy for sure. I waited on the DS, and bought one when price drops were happening, and a bunch of games started coming out (Meteos and Canvas Curse at the time). I did the same with all the other systems I own. Even though I want the Wii more overall, I may get a 360 this holiday, the initial cost sucks, but games are starting to hit $20 and less (picked up Kameo and Perfect Dark Limited Edition for $15 already), and there are a lot more games out and coming out soon.

I just don't want to be caught in the drought of games between launch and the 2nd generation of games when systems really start to hit their stride. All systems seem to go through it, it really isn't anything against the Wii.

I don't think I will get one at launch anymore. I would have paid $250 it if it would have came with 2 controllers and Wii Sports. As it is, Wii Sports is pretty much worthless to me since it's not online and the controllers are too expensive for regular multiplayer. The Metroid delay is the real deal breaker though.

I've gone back and forth. Getting one at launch was at first a done deal, but now I'm not sure. The cost honestly seems a bit high for the quality of the software launch. Most of the Ubisoft stuff seems like crap. Red Steel is going to be awful.

I think this will be like the DS with a very weak launch and a big summer when the developers start to catch up.

VC is the only thing keeping me close to ordering one. However, spending $250 for a system with a game I don't want, launch software that doesn't interest me (sorry, but Zelda TP is a GameCube game and that is the system I'm getting it for) and tacking on added expenses for things like component cables, SD cards and $60 controllers just doesn't seem to make sense.

I'll probably decide at the last minute, but if I did buy one I would be spending the money purely on potential.

Im still on the fence on whether or not to get one. These shouldnt be too difficult to find, with a little determination. Ill probably end up making a last minute decision

I'll pick one up eventually, but probably not until it gets a drop to $200 (or they include a second controller). I waited a while on the GC and DS too and when I finally picked each of those up, there were plenty of already classic games to keep me busy for a while, which was another plus.

I'm definitely NOT picking one up at launch, but may after a few years (and price drops).

Reasons:
1). got burned by buying the GC at launch and then there being about 6 games I actually liked over the life of the system
2). $250 for a souped up GC + wand? I don't think so.
3). The games right now just don't interest me (except for the new Zelda...which SHOULD have been on the GC a year ago)
4). No 5.1 support (PLII doesn't count), and some games won't even be 480p! This is 2006...

I've been awol from Nintendo for since PS came out, I had first gen Nintendo and Super Nintendo, but then jumped ship with Sony PS and PS2.

However my gaming has dropped considerably with the birth of each child, now that I have 3 its come down to a crawl.

I stashed money away for the PS3, but it looks like $600 it still too much for the system where the DVD format is still in flux. Plus I do not have the time to dedicate for hard core gaming anymore, so I am actually looking back at the Nintendo Wii, so I can also bring my kids into the mix.

That being said, i'm a little dissapointed in what I've been reading in this thread regarding ouptuts and controllers.

Still for $250, thats the sweet spot, I can pick this unit up for the whole family and may actually play some games with my kids, something I rarely if ever do with PS2.

I'm 50-50 on the purchase right now, adding a second controller and some cabling and I am now pushing $350+.

This might be a push purchase into 2007

Those statements contradict each other. Doesn't quite sound like the sweet spot when every thing else is taken into account. Welcome to everyone else's sticking point.

Nintendo knows the sweet spot is $250 to get yourself in the door.

I've always looked at

If I have my way I'll get 2 at launch so I don't have to fight with the kids for playing time.

Or make the second controller the x-mas gift.

the thing that bugs me most about the WII is lack of HD. They could have at least done 720p.

Other than that, I'm pumped for it.

Well, I think I am officially in. I managed to sell my mint [complete]copy of Ocarina of Time for the N64 for $50 on half.com.

Bittersweet too, since I sold my mint [complete]copies of Mega Man 1, 2, & 3($75 ea.) to purchase the Gamecube.

So that puts me over the edge. I'm still miffed about this component thing, but what're ya gonna do?

I don't think I could ever do that. You're a madman, Corvin, a madman.

I had an extra, unopened LoZ: Collector's Edition I dumped off on eBay for about $60 before all the VC came out knowing its stock would probably plummet.

Original N64 cartridge? I never could. Tell me it wasn't the Gold Edition, Corvin!