Scanned EB Games Wii release list
by David Hinkle 
{ Aug 4th 2006 at 12:45PM }
A reader sent in this EB Games scanned release date list for upcoming Wii titles to Go Nintendo recently. Subject to change, the list shows The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam coming in at $69.99 US each. Ouch, pretty high price tag. Obviously, this won't be the final price as Iwata has stated in the past that first-party titles should not cost more than 50 bucks a pop, so expect changes there for Zelda, which logic dictates will also bring the price down on Downhill Jam as no third-party titles could sell for $20 US more than an excellent first-party Nintendo title.
Another item of note is the overall release timeline of early October to early-mid November. Does this fan the fires of speculation for an October 2nd release date once more?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
epobirs @ Aug 4th 2006 12:57PM
Zelda may be expensive but look at all of the title that are free! Pick up a free Monkey Ball and it won't seem so expensive. It's great that EB will be providing shelf space gratis to help Sega give away that game. Will EB let us have the free title without buying the ones requiring real money?
vidGuy @ Aug 4th 2006 1:16PM
This list is horrible! But of course it's not meant for consumers... it's just a placeholder list like every other one we've seen.
Nintendo games will be $49.99. I doubt many, if any, Wii 3rd party games will be more than that.
I still say all signs point to a late October/early November release, say Oct 20th - Nov 5th.
Andy J @ Aug 4th 2006 1:40PM
At first I was skeptical with the blog headline, but then there's the picture to PROVE it. This kind of picture of text is IMPOSSIBLE to fake. And who would have the time to fake it?
PhoenixGeek @ Aug 4th 2006 1:50PM
Everything from 10/01 to 11/17, funny how Super Monkey Ball, Sponge Bob, and The Last Avitar will be out a month before any of Nintendo's First party Launch Titles. As much as I would love to have a Wii on 10/01, I don't put any stock in any of the dates or prices on this list, all it looks like is a list of games coming out before Thanksgiving with no other useable information.
vidGuy @ Aug 4th 2006 1:50PM
Oh, it's real, Andy J, but no more accurate than a listing I could make right now, from memory, on the back of a napkin.
Dates and prices are just guesses or placeholders, and its not even a complete list of the launch games.
Wii @ Aug 4th 2006 2:25PM
is it me, or do the game prices listed above are a bit overpriced?
noliberalbull @ Aug 4th 2006 2:31PM
My money's on an Oct 26th launch... and that being my birthday has nothing to do with it all... no really... *crosses fingers*
Super Duper Mario @ Aug 4th 2006 2:45PM
remember games come out a few weeks before the system all the time,
publishers dont know the date what makes you think they are trusted with that type of info, they were told early Q4 just like everybody else, when pubs know the date, we will, info leakes much easyer out of pubs house than nintendos house
William Kent @ Aug 4th 2006 2:58PM
Um... hmmm, I was just at an EB and you know, it didn't list the prices like that. I used to work at one, but, they let me look at the book the release those items in, and they don't appear like that. Maybe I'm just crazy
ricosuave @ Aug 4th 2006 3:04PM
why would a game come out on the first? The speculated launch dates are after the first game is going "on sale".
chazz06 @ Aug 4th 2006 3:52PM
the list is bullshit...
Peter S. @ Aug 4th 2006 4:04PM
Nintendo's Wii games will be $50. No more.
Third-party Wii games will be $50. No more.
How? You CANNOT price a Wii game the same as a 360 game. You just cannot. The consumer will NOT agree. Plus, 360 games usually cost more to develop anyhow.
Ninegauger @ Aug 4th 2006 4:43PM
Could it be foreign (outside the U.S.) which might explain the higher prices?
theboy @ Aug 4th 2006 4:54PM
william, I work there too right now, and yes this does look extremely fishy consdiering 2 things. #1 when I was at work yesterday and I checked the wii preorder list (like I do everyday at work) it was still labeled under "sega dreamcast" because the wii doesnt have a sku yet. #2 Our release lists always have a guessed price, if we dont really know the price it'd say 49.99 or 59.99 not 0.00. oh and #3 Blazing Angels was announced yesterday wasnt it? I am for damn sure certain that we NEVER update that fast. Although it does have something in common with the release list I've seen at work. Completely random release dates.
SUPER Duper Mario @ Aug 4th 2006 5:41PM
smelling fake......
Brian @ Aug 4th 2006 6:43PM
Looks fake to me....Where's Metroid Prime 3? If I'm not mistaken, it was confirmed by Nintendo to be a launch title.
Shogan @ Aug 5th 2006 12:10AM
This is real. You can go into any EBGames and ask for the pre-order list and they will show it to you. That's what it looks like.
Just A @ Aug 5th 2006 1:57AM
There was news today that 7-11 accidentially leaked the price of the Wii at $299. Assuming that is true, and if these cartridge prices are also true, then the Wii is not as inexpensive as we were lead to believe.
SkelPaff @ Aug 5th 2006 2:44AM
Is it real?
Almost certainly. Anyone who has ever worked at a game/movie retail or rental shop will recognize the style of the list: abbreviations to meet a character limit cutoff, zeros for prices, and so on. Someone creating a fake list probably wouldn't have left so many random gaping holes and missing products.
Is it accurate?
Not even remotely.
In order to take a pre-order on a game, a retailer like EB has to have a product in the system in order to put money down on it. As soon as a game is announced, or sometimes even rumored, someone at the corporate HQ creates a product in the database, and has to give it a release date and a price based on what they know at the time. Rumored, duplicate, and just plain wrong information ends up in retail databases on a regular basis, and you'll usually see a date in a retailer's database change 3 or 4 times before the product hits the shelves.
Retailers, and by extension distributors, really don't get any secret information or pricing details in advance of the press; in fact, the opposite tends to happen more often than not, at least in the US.
The only time a retailer, or even the press, can be sure of a release date is a few weeks before release when a game goes gold and is sent off to production. Any release date further than a month out is almost always subject to change, and any (Western) date further than 2-3 months is just speculation. Japanese release dates tend to be pretty solid for up to 3 months before release, and games with year-off exact release dates like GTA4 are an anomaly.
theboy @ Aug 5th 2006 3:26AM
I'm working tomorrow. I will print the list tomorrow. I dont have a scanner but I'll take as good a digicam pic as possible. It's quite possible that EB finally gave wii its own category since wednesday, but I'll know for sure tomorrow and if it is real you'll be seeing me go "oh wow I guess it was real."
vidGuy @ Aug 5th 2006 12:48PM
@Just A,
I doubt they "leaked" the price. Nintendo has confirmed that the system won't be more than $250. I'm still betting that it will launch at $199. Maybe they'll have a bundle with Wii Sports, an extra remote, and an SD card go for $249. 7-11's "approximate retail value" of their contest is either a well thought out price point that includes a game, or a guess at the release point based on other system's launch.
Nintendo holds its cards close, so when it makes an official announcement, you can bet they won't go back on it, at least regarding things they can control, like pricing (compared to game release dates, which they adjust based on game development). The console WILL NOT be more than $250, and Nintendo's 1st and 2nd party games WILL NOT be more than $49.99.
Stukodokka @ Aug 5th 2006 4:46PM
Did it ever occur to anyone that this list may be Canadian? In fact, Im sure it is.
I work at EB games and I was looking at our Wii preorder list just the other day. All games are listed as being $49.99.
brent @ Aug 5th 2006 5:23PM
what happened to games like wii sports and excitetruck?
theboy @ Aug 6th 2006 1:08AM
I printed it at work and that one on top is either fake or canadian. anyway just for the heck of it i'll list the titles on the EB one (note if you check at EB it is under "sega dreamcast")
ant bully 11/1
avatar 10/2
CoD3 11/7
Cars 11/1
DBZ:BT2 10/31
Elebits 10/2
Happy Feet 11/14
Madden 11/1
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 11/1
Medal of Honor Airborne 1/2/07
Metal Slug Anth 11/1
NFS: carbon 11/1
Rampage 12/1
Rayman 11/14
Red Steel 11/1
Sponge Bob Square Pants: Creature 10/2
Tony Hawk Downill jam 11/1
Trauma center 11/1.
But yeah all of these are already pre-orderable at EB or Gamestop and this is the American list. All of those are 49.99 except for CoD3 which lists as 59 and Rampage for 29. I am by no means saying these are final prices (or release dates) this is just what we have in our system at the moment.
Alex @ Aug 6th 2006 5:43PM
My favorite is the prices listed. Monkey Ball for free, huh? Sounds good to me.
1337 zip @ Aug 18th 2006 3:23PM
ty theboy for info, i do not directly believe it but i see some truth in it.( im not calling you a lieyer, i cant even spell it lol) we eupropeans are screwwed, we have to buy the games at 49.99 and thats lame. also the console will cost more, since the ps3 wil cost 750$ in pal.
i'm going for the nintendo but i dont think it wil cost 299.99 $.
but more like 229$ to 249$
we europeans have to pay somthing between 250$ to 270$
i hate you pope!