NintendoWorldReport is claiming to have received an internal release schedule from an unnamed “major retailer” stating that Nintendo will release a new smaller version of the Wii, called the Wii Mini, next month.
The details from the rumored internal release schedule read as follows:
Introducing the Wii Mini! Coming Dec 7 2012!
WII MINI CONSOLE
Compact Nintendo Wii Console
Comes with Sensor Bar, Nunchuk and Wii Remote Plus with Jacket.
Nintendo has not mentioned anything about a Wii Mini redesign, and considering their recent statement on the future of Wii software, this “internal release schedule” should be taken with a grain of salt. With that said, it would not be the first (or second) time The Big N has released a console redesign after their next-gen system launched.
The original Nintendo Entertainment System received a top loading redesign (the NES-101) two years after the launch of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Then a little over a year after the launch of the N64 Nintendo released the redesigned SNES (the SNS-101).
Considering Nintendo’s history it would not be outside the realm of possibility for them to release a Wii Mini redesign after the Wii U launch, however, I very much doubt that it would hit retailers in the middle of the Wii U’s launch window. If the Wii Mini does exist (which seems like a pretty big if) it seems like something that we might see sometime next year at the earliest.
