“Nintendo Selects” Official Press Release

We now have confirmation of “Nintendo Selects” from a recent Nintendo of America press release, along with more details on the Wii’s price drop in the US. The Wii’s Price will be dropping to $149.99US, and now comes in a bundle with Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel, either in black or white to match the console. Additional wheels will be $9.99. Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort are no longer bundled with the Wii, and are available as individual items, meaning that Wii Sports can now be purchased independently for the first time. This will all occur as of May 15th, with the four Nintendo Selects titles that we reported earlier (Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Animal Crossing: City Folk and Mario Super Sluggers). Check out what the almighty Reggie had to say about all this and the full press release inside.

NINTENDO UNVEILS NEW WII PACKAGE AT $149.99, LAUNCHES ‘NINTENDO SELECTS’ $19.99 WII GAMES

Having Fun with Family and Friends Just Became More Affordable than Ever With New Suggested Retail Pricing

REDMOND, Wash., May 4, 2011 – Nintendo is dropping the suggested retail price of its Wii™ system to $149.99 and including a Mario™ game with the Wii hardware. Starting May 15, the newly priced Wii system will come in either black or white with the Mario Kart™ Wii game and a matching colored Wii Wheel™ accessory, replacing the previously included Wii Sports™ and Wii Sports Resort™ games.

Also on May 15, Nintendo launches the new Nintendo® Selects collection of Wii games, a set of popular games that millions of people have already experienced, at a suggested retail price of $19.99. The four must-own games in this collection are The Legend of Zelda™: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing™: City Folk, Mario™ Super Sluggers and Wii Sports, which is available for the first time as a separate software purchase. Parents and video game fans can now easily expand their library of fun, family-friendly Wii games.

“From the day it launched, Wii has let players of all ages and experience levels have fun with one another,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “The new suggested retail pricing for both the hardware and select games will help create more of these magical moments for even greater numbers of people.”

With Mario Kart Wii now included with the Wii hardware, players will be able to enjoy fun go-kart racing with Mario and all his Mushroom Kingdom pals right out of the box. The Wii Remote™ Plus controller, Nunchuk™ controller and Wii Wheel included in the package will all match the hardware, meaning they will be either black or white. The new black Wii Wheel will also be available separately at a suggested retail price of $9.99.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other features, visit http://wii.com.