Nintendo Wii U Release Date and Price Best Guesses

12 September 2012

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Posted by:Ferry Groenendijk

The Nintendo Wii U release date and price, as well as other details will be confirmed on Thursday morning, September 13th, 2012 in the USA in a New York City press event and via online streams (website links below).

• There’s a Nintendo Wii U Preview Event live stream hosted by NOA President Reggie Fils-Aime at Nintendo.com from 10:00 AM ET for America.
• A similar Nintendo Direct Wii U Preview live stream hosted by NOE President Satoru Shibata at Nintendo.co.uk from 3:00 PM BST UK time for Europe.

Before everything Wii U gets officially confirmed, I wanted to share my Nintendo Wii U release date best guess and ask what you think…

1. For America: I think the American release date will come before Thanksgiving holiday, which this year falls on November 22nd. Hence the Wii U launch I expect is: November 18th, 2012! That’s on a Sunday like it was with the Nintendo Wii back in 2006. The price should be $249 for the Wii U console, a Wii U GamePad controller, and pack-in game Nintendo Land. Would be nice for it to come with a HDMI cable for HD TV’s too.

2. For Europe & Rest of the World: I think the European release date, as well as the launches for the rest of the world, will fall in the first week of December. Well in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season. Thus the Wii U launch for the rest of the world should be: December 7th, 2012. That’s on a Friday, again, that’s just like how it was with the Wii. The price could be £179 / €249 for the Wii U console, a Wii U GamePad controller, and pack-in game Nintendo Land.

3. For Japan: The release date has been confirmed as December 8th, 2012! In the box are the Wii U console & its AC adapter, the Wii U GamePad controller & its AC adapter, and a HDMI cable. Available in two colors at launch: Black & White. Historically Japan doesn’t get a pack-in game. It comes in either a 8GB or 32GB flash memory version, which respectively has two different price points: 25,000 Yen ($250) or 30,000 Yen ($300). Strange enough, buying that second Wii U GamePad will set you back a whopping 12,800 Yen ($125)! – The standard console price is exactly the same as the Wii’s original price in Japan! This is good news that the price in the rest of the world should be on par at a $249 / €249 level, depending on whether or other countries do get Nintendo Land as a pack-in game or not.

What’s your best guess for the Wii U release date and price?

Get a sneek peak at the Wii U games with this Wii U Experience Tour coverage:

Here’s the Japanese Wii U presentation hosted by Nintendo of Japan president Satoru Iwata: