Nintendo suggests that the Wii Mini is for someone who is not looking for an online experience, and perhaps is a late adopter and does not have any interest in GameCube titles. While Nintendo sees it as a system that has the ability to play over 1,400 titles that don’t require online play, you have to understand their thinking when many used Wii games are so low priced.
What the Wii Mini also does is test a new configuration of the Wii that Nintendo can evaluate before bringing it to other regions. According to Nintendo, the Wii Mini achieved the majority of its cost savings by stripping out the online functionality. Do buyers considering a Wii Mini really care that it does not have online functionality? One example Nintendo gives is Canadians who want a second Wii for the cottage and they don’t have Internet at the cottage, anyway, so it is a perfect fit. It could also be a good fit for other countries in the future that also don’t necessarily have Internet. It is an experiment that we, along with Nintendo, will be watching.