There is a lot of buzz going around the Black Nintendo Wii system, rumored to be coming to North America this May. The Black Wii system has been out in Japan since last year. North America has only received the Black Wii Remote and Black Wii Nunchuk Controller so far. If you haven’t been sold on the Wii yet, or sold your White Nintendo Wii system long ago, the Black Nintendo Wii will be a nice re-entry or first-time Wii system (especially with Metroid: Other M coming this August).
Many of you who already have a White Nintendo Wii may be considering upgrading to a $199.99 Wii for its color. But that may not be so cool. Why? You can’t bring over your WiiWare or Virtual Console games due to Nintendo’s archaic End-User Agreement, the least flexible of the many digital delivery systems out there. Nintendo does not allow downloading its digital WiiWare, Virtual Console (and DSiWare) on another Wii system. Games you download from the Wii Shop on a Wii are permanently tied to the system you downloaded it on. That basically means you will have to re-purchase your previous Wii games to use it on a Black Wii system.
So here are five recommended ways you can upgrade your White Wii system’s color with a skin. It will also cost much less than a $199.99 Black Wii which won’t allow you to transfer WiiWare and Virtual Console games.
1 – H.R. Giger Landscape XIX from GelaSkins ($29.99) – Slap on some stylish H.R. Giger art, covering your Nintendo Wii with the swiss surrealist’s design.
2 – No Fishing from Exo-Flex ($16.99) – An artsy, colorful surreal alternative to the darker H.R. Giger skin.
3 – Carbon Fiber from Exo-Flex ($16.99) – A dark, sleek compliment to the blue Wii glow.
4 – Birth of an Idea ($14.99) – A nice swirl of grey to black if you don’t want to go all the way.
5 – Black Wii Skins – If you want to go simple and cover your white Nintendo Wii with black, you can go with DecalGirl ($14.99) or do a Wii Black Custom GelaSkins ($29.99) by setting all panels to a black background color.
The recommended skins are easy to apply (and forgiving if you miss and need to re-apply) and won’t leave residue on your Wii system. You won’t have to disassemble anything either or void your warranty. Each website listed above has plenty of alternatives for your own taste as well (including an old-school NES style). Current Wii owners, especially those who’ve invested in WiiWare and Virtual Console games, don’t need to ditch their systems for a new color.
