Nintendo to Release Special Edition Mario Wii in Japan

When the Nintendo Entertainment System came out in the mid-80s, along with it came a video game and video game character that would stand the test of time. I’m of course talking about Super Mario Bros. and the lead character… Mario. I don’t have to say just how much Mario and family of characters caught on… the number of games certainly can’t be counted on one hand… or even 20.

It could be the fact that at the time, there was slim pickin’s for lovable game characters, but Super Mario Bros. was a bit different. It had great gameplay, very good control, and just the right amount of difficulty. Not to mention, the music was unbelievably catchy. I haven’t even played the game in years but can immediately recall all of the music from various parts of the game.

To celebrate all that Mario has become, Nintendo is releasing a special version of the Wii in Japan that comes in pure red color, to match Mario’s popular jumpsuit. At the same time, the special unit includes a Wii Remote Plus accessory to help people get started with MotionPlus.

Best of all, though, the original Super Mario Bros. is included right on the console, and to make it a bit unique, all of the coin boxes have had their ? symbols replaced with “25”, to help mark the 25th anniversary of the original game. Whew… that’s cool. It’s just unfortunate that Nintendo isn’t releasing the same sort of thing over here!

It’ll be out in Japan on November 11, and will retail for ¥20,000 (USD$240). What’s more, it’ll also include not a Wii Remote, but one of the new Wii Remote Plus peripherals which combines the functionality of a Wii Remote with that of the MotionPlus add-on (these controllers will also go on sale individually on the same date).