While Singapore is the first Asian country outside of Japan to get a local release of the Nintendo Wii, as it is a soft launch, expect limited numbers of Wiis in stores until the fourth quarter of this year.

That is when the official, Asia-wide launch of the console is due to take place.

Local Wii sets, whether bought now or after the launch, will all share the same region coding as the United States, which allows Singaporeans to play Wii games released there, but not those released for Japanese or European markets.

Current sets are essentially American Wiis that have been modified to accept local voltage standards. Whether there will be any more hardware changes by the time of the official launch remains to be seen.

Bundle up...or not

Local Wiis are currently officially sold in a bundle package at $649 with an extra controller and one game of the distributor's choice.

The game to be included will change with availability.

However, it could pay to do a bit of asking around. Gamers in local forums have already found retailers offering a Wii console outside of the bundle for about $500. Other retailers may also offer different items in their bundles at different prices.

Several retailers like Mr Chris Sng of Funz Centre have pointed out, however, that the cost of importing a set with an extra controller will be close to that for the local bundle without the extra game, so it may not be worth the effort or cost to do so.

Extended warranty

There is no set warranty period for Singaporean sets at this time, neither is there any warranty period specified on the warranty cards provided with local sets.

According to sources at local distributor Maxsoft, though, the warranty period will last "as long as it takes" to address issues with the Wii.

This is expected to be at least three months, though, similar to the warranty period offered for the Nintendo Dual Screen handheld console here.

Those with defective sets can contact Maxsoft using the information on the warranty cards.

Wii are currently offline

The Wii's online features are not currently supported in Singapore.

Unlike the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and Xbox 360, Singapore gamers will not have access to the Wii shop or its online content channels.

According to several Wii owners, Singapore is not in the list of selectable countries when registering a Wii console online.

This is particularly galling since part of the Wii's appeal is its interactive channels and content downloads such as the Virtual Console, which allow Wii owners to download Nintendo games from older consoles like the NES and N64.

Online functions for local sets should be made available at a later date, said a source close to the distributor, most likely after the official launch.

A workaround is buying content from the US Wii store using credit cards or the stored value Wii Points cards sold by some retailers here.

The high cost of gaming

Motion-sensing technology aside, the Wii's hardware is not much more advanced from the last generation, with no hard drive, high-definition graphics or even a DVD player.

In contrast, the PS3 and Xbox 360 can play next-generation video formats in high definition, with hard drives included right out of the box.

Given that the Wii was designed as a gaming-only console for the everyman, its relatively high $649 pricepoint is hard to swallow.

Games, too, are also relatively costly, with standard Wii titles priced at $79.90 each - or $10 more than local Xbox 360 titles and $2.10 less than the average local PS3 release.