14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since it first appeared at the Nintendo press conference at the 2005 E3, the Wii developer had plans for color variations. A black version of the console may have been unveiled back in 2005, but it's only this June that the console resurfaced with a dark polish. The Wii came bundled with a black Wii Remote and black Classic Controller Pro but it still wasn't available for everyone, as it was launched as a Japan only product. Now, the black Wii bundle will come to the European continent as well, in a package that will become available in the United Kingdom and in Ireland on November 6, and in the rest of Europe on November 20, as part of a limited edition.
Nintendo seems to have a habit of giving us just a little at a time, so that we don’t feel like they like us too much. First, Japan received the full black Wii package, then the US got their hands on the black Wii remotes and now the company will give Europe the same deal it gave Japan, but with a five-month delay. Nintendo is acting like a parent who has three identical twins. It wants to dress them all up in the same clothes and give them all the same things, but it just doesn't love them all in the same way, so it needs to make some preferential treatment to remember which is which.
The European Wii bundle is going to be a pretty big pack, as it has a lot of items in it. Besides the black Wii console it will also contain a black Wii Remote, Wii MotionPlus and Wii Nunchuk but also a copy of the original Wii Sports and the Wii Sports Resort sequel. We don't know if the games will have a special box art to match the “black theme” but it wouldn't be surprising at all if they did. Gamers really seem to like accessorizing their gaming rigs as much as sorority girls like matching their outfits.
The console received a price cut in September in the US but didn't do so in the UK as well. Instead, the Wii was bundled with the MotionPlus and a Wii Sports Resort copy for the same £179.99 price. The new black Wii and its black fellow bundle brothers did not receive an official price yet, but Nintendo should make up its mind pretty soon.