Has the Wii release date been staring at us the entire time?

[Leroy]

This picture was released during E3.



1. US 10/1
2. Also, what appears to be a calendar in the screenshot, on the date of "1."

Nintendo has released every new system of theirs on Sundays. October 1st is.. a Sunday.

[Kogahazan]

Interesting... They did say that they would announce the date in September, so October is entirely within the question.

[Leroy]

An October released is pretty much expected at this point. It keeps them at least a month away from the PS3 launch to avoid cross-fire. Plus, if supply is steady from that point (which all reports indicate it will be), once the hardcores get theirs in the first couple of weeks or so, when the shelves are empty from a reported PS3 shortage there should be plenty of Wiis for the Christmas shoppers in that lucrative November/December period. Right now it's just a matter of WHICH Sunday in October is the target to most people.

There has been a lot of crazy sleuthing going on and most of the "clues" people are picking up point at 10/1 and 10/2. Nintendo just issued a press release for their fall lineup and teased that the release date of the Wii may be hidden in the text.. and people deduced that in their lineup they had a major release for every week except the first week of October (10/1 or 10/2), the week of the PS3 release and week following (which would also be Black Friday), so people are assuming that first week in October as an "empty" spot.

This one that I saw earlier is a bit off the wall:

Wii ->  V V I I -> 5 + 5, 1 + 1 -> 10/2

All of this is either a well-played joke/campaign on Nintendo's part or people are just getting desperate for information and finding stuff that isn't really there. Either is completely plausible in my opinion.

[Kogahazan]

I think it may be finding things that aren't really there... The whole V V I I thing is a coincidence I say because why would they promote the American release date in the title when they have said before that their main focus is getting it out in Japan first? Also the whole E3 thing may not be so much of a coicidence, but it still just may.

[Leroy]

Yeah, the whole Wii = 10/2 thing was a little further off than the other stuff (though it's all pretty much pure speculation, let's be honest). Though, given that the US release is PROBABLY happening in October, if there was to be a Japanese release first I think there may have been a little something more on that.. the way it's going I'm guessing they are shooting for a worldwide release like Sony what Sony is doing.

[Kogahazan]

They've said before that they aren't concerning themselves with a worldwide release and that their first priority is probably Japan. I'm all for a worldwide release though, but I don't see it happening.

[Jinketsu]

I don't know.. I've always been expecting a mid-late November or even December release for the Wii.

I also wouldn't be surprised if it rolled over to next year.

It wouldn't really matter, though. If they have to take the time to get things right, I'd rather they did that. You all remember what happened when they pushed the Nintendo DS out "on time," right? 

[Leroy]

I don't know.. I've always been expecting a mid-late November or even December release for the Wii.

They've pretty much said it's coming out before the PS3, so sometime in October is very likely.

About "getting it right" it's already done and in production from what I've read.

You all remember what happened when they pushed the Nintendo DS out "on time," right? 

It became a success? Shortages in Japan?

[Jinketsu]

No, the pixel issue. Almost 90% of the DSs on initial release had a pizxel burn-out issue, which Nintendo released knowing it would happen.

[Leroy]

No, the pixel issue. Almost 90% of the DSs on initial release had a pizxel burn-out issue, which Nintendo released knowing it would happen.

90%.. do you have a source for that number or is that simply your estimation? I know three people that bought a DS on launch day and none of them had any pixel issues (another friend of mine who bought one in March this year had one bad pixel but that's hardly a launch unit). Besides, the PSP had the same issue and it wasn't a matter of the timeliness of launching the product, it was simply an effect of the LCD technology at the time being mass produced as it was.

Also, Nintendo did replace any screens sent back to them.. so they at least handled the problem.