Nintendo's Downsized, Low-Priced Wii Making European Debut

OSAKA (Nikkei)--Nintendo Co. (7974) is taking a smaller, streamlined version of its original Wii game console to Europe, starting with a German rollout Friday.

With sales of the Wii's successor, the Wii U, already losing steam, the video game giant aims to use the Wii mini to drum up consumer interest. The new product will be sold online in Germany for around 109 euros, or roughly 14,000 yen.

The Wii mini is black and bordered in red to differentiate it from other Wiis and their all-white or all-black color schemes. It will be launched in the U.K., Italy, Spain and France this month.

Nintendo began selling the Wii mini in Canada this past December but has no plans to market it in Japan.

The Wii mini does not connect to the Internet and does not work with GameCube software, but it is compatible with more than 1,200 Wii titles. Nintendo aims to increase sales of game software, which offers high profit margins, through the Wii mini.

The company, which expects a second straight year of operating losses in the fiscal year ending March 31, aims to improve earnings by tapping software assets.

(The Nikkei, March 16 morning edition)

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