We held out hope that we could get access to the internet using Nintendo's own USB-based Ethernet adaptor (a single USB port remains on the new hardware) but astonishingly this does not work at all, meaning that the platform holder hasn't just removed the WiFi hardware, but has also deliberately nerfed any kind of internet access. To confirm that, we also found that all the internet configuration options on the front-end have been completely removed.

Remarkably, the unwarranted cutbacks don't end there. Going back to the GameCube era, Nintendo hardware has supported analogue component output with a 480p progressive scan option. For reasons best known to itself, the platform holder hasn't just removed the 480p functionality but has totally removed any kind of support for the component cable itself. Standard RCA AV inputs are - thankfully - fast becoming a relic of the last decade, if not the last century, but in the here and now, that murky composite picture is the best you're going to get from the Wii Mini.

Unfortunately, the sad reality is that the Wii Mini disappoints on almost every level. It's not a good-looking piece of kit at all, functionality has been stripped down to the absolute bare-bones, and perhaps worst of all for a product actively being marketed on its dinky form-factor is the fact that it's not actually that much smaller than the original model. What we have left is a console designed for young children, marketed at a price low enough to qualify it as a toy.