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.

Prices will not be the same in US/EU

[goruka]

The Yen is strong and it depends on the region, so it will likely be 250/299usd and 250/299eur. It's the same with the 3DS.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[Liam Pomfret]

I can't help be amused at this post. People have spent years attacking Nintendo for its console not being powerful enough. Now it builds the more powerful console people have demanded, one that should serve it well into this next console generation....and people attack it for being too powerful, and talk about how you can still have great game experiences with a less powerful console? Now where have I heard that argument before....oh yeah, that's exactly what Nintendo fans have been saying for years as people have continued to attack them. There's just no satisfying you guys, is there? Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[JMJimmy]

It may bring the "power" but 8gb and 32gb of memory!? My Xbox is filled with 240gb of mostly arcade games at the moment. Add on the cost of an external HDD + the performance slowdowns due to the USB interface - horrible. You're going to have to install/delete the games every time you want to switch games or wear out the optical drive in no time.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[RogueyWon]

It would have had a better chance if it was launching in late 2009 or early 2010. Back then, the Wii wasn't as completely moribund as it is now and successors to the PS3 and 360 were a lot further off. Plus Nintendo would have been able to throw more resource at the launch, before they'd suffered 2 years of poor results due to the Wii flatlining and the 3DS needing to be sold at a loss (a first for Nintendo) just to get it a half-way passable installed base.

But launching now? Yes, I think "flop" is probably the likely outcome. The Wii managed huge success in its early years. I think there were two big reasons for this. First, the concept of the Wii was clearly and easily communicated. "Jump around and wave the wand to play games". Everybody can understand that - and it looks fun. Lots of non-gamers bought them (and then, being non-gamers, bought no more games for it after launch). Ok, ok, the motion control was actually hideously inaccurate (only partially rectified by the Wiimote-Plus) and far from jumping around, the best way to play most games was to sit still and make small movements. But by the time people noticed that, they'd already bought.

The second advantage was a media zeitgeist working in Nintendo's favour. There was disillusionment with Microsoft and Sony and Nintendo were getting a lot of press goodwill and free publicity. They had lots of people happy to do their marketing for them.

This time around, the console has a concept which may or may not be good, but which is much harder to communicate in a 15-20 second TV advert. It's a tabletty... touchpaddy... thing. That does something. But then, you're also playing on the TV. I wouldn't be surprised, given the focus on the controller, if a lot of casuals and non-gamers thought that the Wii-U was actually just a new peripheral for the Wii, rather than a whole new console. Just as happened with the 3DS, which a lot of people thought was just a DS with a 3D screen.

And the media are also a bit bored of Nintendo now. They 3DS was a bit dull. The games haven't been that interesting for ages. And it's all so expensive. Meanwhile... ooooooooh.... SHINY NEW IPHONE! SHINY! ME WANT SHINY!

Plus we now have the 360 and PS3 successors likely to be less than 18 months away and certain to pack a lot more horsepower than the Wii-U.

It's the wrong console at the wrong time.

Re:Still thinks Japan is the center of the world

[Guru80]

How the hell are you, or any other nation that doesn't get it on day 0, slighted in the least? It's a simple matter of logistics and supply. They are in it for the money in the long run after all. If they could hand deliver one to every household in the world the minute of release and make money doing so you can be pretty damn sure they would. There are always shortages in supply on release of the consoles, and it isn't done purposely as it only decreases potential sales. It is directly related to how many the can produce by a given time. Don't say they should wait a week then to deliver all of them..again, it's logistics. What you are proposing simply isn't sound business sense...which is what it is all about after all.

Re:It will certainly succeed

[QuantumLeaper]

Who ever leads in the console market gets all the shovelware, it been the same since the Atari 2600.