 In late 2011 , Nintendo released a reconfigured model , the " Wii Family Edition " , which lacks Nintendo GameCube compatibility ; this model was not released in Japan . The Wii Mini , Nintendo 's first major console redesign since the compact SNES , succeeded the standard Wii model and was released first in Canada on December 7 , 2012 . The Wii Mini can only play Wii optical discs , as it omits GameCube compatibility and all networking capabilities ; this model was not released in Japan , Australia , or New Zealand . The Wii 's successor , the Wii U , was released on November 18 , 2012 . On October 20 , 2013 , Nintendo confirmed it had discontinued production of the Wii in Japan and Europe , although the Wii Mini is still in production and available in Europe . 
