Nintendo has just announced that the Nintendo Wii retail price will drop to $149.99 beginning May 15th, and it will include a free copy of Mario Kart and the Wii Wheel accessory as well. This bundle replaces the bundled Wii Sports game that used to come with the system, and we have to admit, this is an amazing deal and a great way to help revitalize sales of the Wii system and games. Nintendo also lets us know that it is into color coordination, because the steering wheel and the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers match the color console you purchase — white or black. Not bad, Nintendo, not bad. Hit the break for the full press release.

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.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–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.

Tired of your bush league Wii-owning friends making fun of the lame Sixaxis motion-sensing technology in your PS3 controller? Hang in there as you may not have to endure their ridicule for much longer. The Cut Scene is reporting that Sony is planning to unveil a new and improved motion-sensing controller that will supposedly wipe the floor with the Wii remote. According to several sources, the new controller, as described in Sony patent applications, will utilize LEDs and a small camera to track the user’s movements. The remote will be able to read different color lights and detect the shape and angle of each light — making it much more accurate than the Wii remote. The new PS3 remote will also be able to track movement along the Z-axis (forward and backward) and measure velocity. A new remote is useless without supporting game titles of course, and Sony is reportedly reaching out to developers to enable motion control in future games. If this rumor pans out, the new PS3 remote system will make its debut as early as E3 2009 which runs from June 2-4.

[Via Kotaku]

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