Nintendo WiiU Price and Release Date Announced

YokimaSun writes "Nintendo has revealed the release date of the Wii U: in Japan it will launch on the 8th December, and in the U.S. it will launch on November 18th. The console will ship in two versions: a basic version with 8GB of internal memory and a Deluxe version that has 32GB of internal memory and comes with a stand and docks. Both versions have 1GB of main memory and as much again for game memory. Nintendo claims the console is 20 times more powerful than the Wii and supports 1080p visuals out the box. It comes with an HDMI cable. All existing Wii accessories will work with the Wii U, but the new Tablet Gamepad will set you back around £100/$173 when you convert yen over. The price of the Deluxe SKU is $350." Here's a list of launch titles.

It will certainly succeed

[aglider]

in being a big flop.
The controller (the distinctive part of this box) is too expensive. You can by a PS Vita or a 3DS for the same price. And play on the go.
All that CPU power is almost irrelevant. 2x would be enough. 10x is not different from a 2x from the user perspective.
1080p is the maximum? No dual screen? What's all that power for?
You can buy a PS3 for less and still have a very good gaming experience.
In one question: is the WiiU a better gaming console than a PS3?
I don't think so.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world

[ledow]

Erm, I did a quick Google as the nearest thing I can find with any reliability is 2008 figures but:

"Nielsen research reveals US ranks third behind Asia and EU in consumer spending on software; 31 percent of Europeans 16-49 in primary regions actively game."

So that's probably why they have the order that they do.

That said, simultaneous release should be a given nowadays. You honestly make no more money from doing it but are likely to increase piracy.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world

[N1AK]

That's not fanboyism, but it is a pretty damning case of immature thinking. Who really cares if Nintendo releases it a week earlier in Japan. If they won't have the stock, and support to do a global release on that date, then your point only stacks up if you're basically saying they should screw their own strong market to prioritise the US which makes very little sense. The Asian, and global non-American game markets are huge. The Asian gaming market has revenues equivalent to that of North America so acting like they are cutting their nose off by not prioritising Americans over-inflated sense of self-importance is pretty naive.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[ledow]

If it runs all Wii games and accepts all Wii peripherals, and puts out "HD" (even if that's just old Wii games and some scaling), it'll sell just so that people can replace their (now-aging) Wii's with it, use all their old stuff still and see a new game or two with even just one of the new controllers come Christmas.

Predicting a flop is a little harsh. It probably won't be as successful as the Wii but if Nintendo make a loss on it, I'll be extremely surprised.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[JDG1980]

You can buy a PS3 for less and still have a very good gaming experience. In one question: is the WiiU a better gaming console than a PS3?

Nintendo hardware has seldom been leading-edge at any time, going back to the original NES. They succeed because of their software library. It's really that simple, and I see no reason it won't continue with the Wii U. As long as the rest of the industry continues to crank out cookie-cutter FPSes and MMORPGs, Nintendo will continue to have a profitable niche as the novice-friendly, family-friendly console maker.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's harder logistically?