The house that built Mario has gone ahead and slightly tweaked the exterior design of their family friendly console the Wii. The hardware refresh introduces a more streamlined look and is meant to sit horizontally rather than stand vertically. At the same time, Nintendo decided to drop GameCube compatibility meaning that the redesigned console will not be able to play GameCube games. The new bundle, which packs the newly configured Wii in black, New Super Mario Bros., a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack CD, a black Wii Remote Plus controller, and a black Nunchuk will hit stores October 23. Now get this: there is no price drop and the Wii will continue to sell for $149.99. In a press release Ninty went on to state that the current Wii bundle (which includes Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controllers, Mario Kart Wii, the Wii Wheel accessory, and GameCube backwards compatibility) will continue to sell at the $150 price point. So when you’re shopping this holiday season, make sure you get the right bundle! In this case, functionality trumps aesthetics especially if you have a solid library of GameCube games.

[Via Nintendo]