No longer the look of the wii?
Eurogamer and official nintendo magazine are reporting on a new wii design (wii slim anybody?) hitting "in time for Christmas" (if we get word of a firmer launch timeframe then it will be shared) with the most notable feature thus far being the lack of backwards compatibility and with it a lack of gamecube ports which is sure to raise a few eyebrows; with gamecube controllers working on several wii games they are often them the more desirable control method (certainly the loss of them caused much spitting of drink when this came up on our IRC channel).
Whether this will be a dual designs option or the old lines extinguished a la the recent 360 slim is unknown to us at present although other bundles are said to be coming around the same time so probably not.
Given that backwards compatibility is largely hardware based as opposed to some of the software options offered up in the other consoles this generation it has some interesting implications for hacking either towards restoring functionality (it would not be the first time ports were left unpopulated and everything crammed into a new case) or that some of the older hacking methods might not hold (it will quite a shock if this did not come with a software update). Prices are expected to be lower as the phrase "value bundle" is being thrown about which given the PS3 price cut long predicted and just announced is probably a good business decision. This being said it also being bundled with some games and the new wiimote plus controller it might not get to the "toy purchase" level.[/p]
Eurogamer link 2 has a picture but it is unknown if it is concept art or not.
Thanks to Snailface for pointing us at this.
