Nintendo is planning to launch a new set of controllers for the Wii aimed at the Valentine’s Day market. The Wii remotes will be identical to the original design and are still compatible with the Wii Motion Plus add-on, but instead of the standard white they will be available in pretty pink and boyish blue.
The Wii is out selling all of its rivals and in the run up to Christmas 2009 it reached record figures. This latest release is just another example as to how Nintendo can take advantage of those occasions that are typically associated with present giving.
At the moment the new remotes are only planned for launch in the US in time for the most romantic day of the year and their price tag will be the equivalent of about £33, which brings them in line with the cost of the motion plus package that bundles Wii Sports Resort. Perhaps Nintendo doesn’t believe that those of us in the UK are romantic enough to merit inclusion in the launch.
The Wii shipped 3.81 million units in the last month of 2009, nearly three times the number of Xbox 360s sold by Microsoft in the same period. The PS3 also made some gains in the run up to Christmas, although with 1.36 million sold it was still nowhere near to catching up with Nintendo’s little white box.
If you want to brighten up your Wii Remotes but you cannot get your hands on an official multicoloured controller, there are many third party products, such as protective sleeves, which can coat any exiting Wii Remote with a splash of colour.
