Wii Mini Making Its Way To The UK On March 22

While the Wii U is certainly gobbling up most of the headlines when it comes to Nintendo’s signature gaming system, there was a bit of news about its cute little cousin, the Wii Mini today. When this scaled down version of the Nintendo Wii was first rolled out, the company said that it would only be available in Canada.

Today, Nintendo did a bit of an about face as it announced that the Wii Mini would also be making its way over to Great Britain. The Wii Mini had just been rolled out in Canada in December. It appears that the company is trying to take advantage of a gaming market outside the US that is always happy to have a cheaper, if also slightly less functional version, of the more popular consoles.

The Verge reports that, having been directly asked whether the Wii Mini might end up somewhere like Great Britain, a company spokesman replied that they had “no plans to launch it in the UK.” Those plans have certainly changed.

Now it appears that Canada and the UK might actually be a couple of test markets for a wide launch at some point. The struggles of the Wii U to really catch on could have company executives nervous. Engadget points out that, whatever the reason, the console, which doesn’t have Internet connectivity or backwards compatibility, is going to the UK at the end of March.

In Canada, the Wii Mini was being sold for $99 Canadian. Right now, the company is not announcing how much they will be asking for across the pond but it stands to reason that the price will be comparable.

It should be pointed out that a comparable price point in the United States would be about $95 for the Wii Mini. Consumers can get the regular old Wii for around $129. While a $40 savings might be newsworthy, it still seeems unlikely that the Wii Mini will be hitting US shores anytime soon.