With the holidays approaching, everybody is looking forward to purchasing a gift for their loved ones. One of the best gifts to give is the gift of gaming.

Video games have become more popular with each year, and this year is no different. The highly anticipated Nintendo Wii U was released several days ago. Everybody wanted to get their hands on one, whether it was for their personal use or for a holiday gift. Every retail store I have checked sold out of the new console, but some of the sales figures are alarming to me. According to Nintendo of America, the Wii U has sold 400,000 consoles in its first week. Those numbers are great, but the Wii, which is the previous Nintendo console, sold 300,000 consoles during that week. I believe that the Wii console numbers are high because the consumers may be confused.

Over the Black Friday weekend I saw an individual who purchased the Wii console with a Wii U game. The problem with that is that the Wii cannot play any Wii U games. This is a common misunderstanding with casual gamers. Some people believe that the Wii U is an expansion of the Wii, but that is not the case. Both consoles are different. As I stated in my review of the Wii U, the Wii U has updated graphics and a new controller. The Wii U can also play Wii games, so the Wii U is much better than the Wii. I blame Nintendo for choosing the same name for its new console with a “U” at the end. Aside from the lack of originality, the consumers are confused about which product to buy and in the end they purchase something they didn’t want.

If that is not confusing enough, Nintendo has confirmed a smaller version of the Wii. The new console called the Wii Mini is set to be released in Canada on Dec. 7. The new console will come in a red and black color. The Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk controller will also be red. The console is not backwards compatible, which means it cannot play any Nintendo Gamecube games. Also, the new Wii Mini has no internet capabilities. This new console will only be available this holiday season and it will be available for $99.99. So Nintendo plans to release a smaller version of the Wii–which no one ever asked for–and the worst part is that it is going to be released nearly three weeks after the Wii U was released. First of all, I would not recommend anyone purchase the Wii Mini. Second, I hope this article has cleared up any confusion between the Wii and Wii U. Finally, I think Nintendo needs to come up with better names for their consoles because they are confusing the customers and they may purchase the wrong product.