Since E3 of this year, Nintendo has held off on giving out concrete details on the Wii U, including the price, release date, and a solid list of launch games. While those questions will hopefully be answered in a number of hours, Nintendo fans in Japan now know when the systems will go on sale, and the price. As revealed in an online stream, two different versions of the Wii U will go on sale December 8 in Japan, one for ¥26,250 and another for ¥31,500, prices that basically translate to $300 and $350.
Nintendo revealed that the two different colors that were shown since E3, black and white, aren't merely cosmetic differences. In Japan at least, the white system is the basic, cheaper model. Going for ¥26,250, the system will have 8GB of system storage, and also comes with the GamePad.
At the same time in the Europe (3:00pm UK time), Nintendo of Europe will be broadcasting its own Nintendo Direct. It will likely reveal the European price and release date for the system, along with launch games. You can find the stream for that here.
As part of its livestream events, Nintendo is expected to announce pricing and release date information for the Wii U in territories outside Japan. When the Wii was announced in Japan, it was given an early December release date and priced at ¥25,000, and Nintendo later confirmed that the US price would fall in line at $250. Likewise, the 3DS launched in Japan for ¥25,000, and was $249.99 in the US. Also of note, when the Wii launched in Japan, it didn't have a pack-in, while the US systems included Wii Sports.
Stay tuned to GamesRadar as we post updates from all the events.
