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WiiU

Wii U Price and Date Announced for Japan

by Daan Koopman - September 13, 2012, 12:29 am EDT
Total comments: 19

Iwata makes sure Japan is first to know the juicy details on Wii U!

During the Wii U Launch Presentation in Japan, it was revealed that the Wii U will release on December 8 and will come in two different SKUs called Basic and Premium.

The basic white model will retail for 26,250 yen (roughly $337 USD), while the premium black model will set you back 31,500 yen (roughly $405 USD). The premium model will also include perks such as stands for the Wii U GamePad and system, and a service called Nintendo Network Premium, which will provide 10% of the price back on digital purchases. Another difference and the most notable difference between the two SKUs is that the basic model will only have 8GB of flash memory, while the premium model will get you 32GB of usuable space.

In just seven hours from now, we will know the same details for North America and Europe, be sure to keep your RSS feeds updated until then for more Wii U news nuggets.

Talkback

RasSeptember 13, 2012

Assuming it comes to the US, black, premium, easy.

LandStalkerNigelSeptember 13, 2012

Agreed with Ras.  I'd rather have a ton of room for downloads and if i went the cheaper route, id end up buying a bigger hard drive sometime down the road anyway

famicomplicatedJames Charlton, Associate Editor (Japan)September 13, 2012


So it will probably be:

White/Basic = $250
Black/Premium = $300


Weird how you get 2 GamePad stands (charger version and plain "game stand' version) AND a system stand with the premium version, yet nothing for basic!
it's like an extreme version of the 3DS XL situation - take out all unnecessary pieces of plastic to cut costs!

broodwarsSeptember 13, 2012

As mentioned before, 8 GB of flash memory is nothing when it comes to modern gaming, and 32 GB is not much more in the grand scheme of things.  I'll be curious to see what kind of file size limits Nintendo will impose this time, as well as what kind of options you'll have for storage expansion.  You're certainly not downloading full Wii U games with that pitiful amount of storage.

Quote from: broodwars

You're certainly not downloading full Wii U games with that pitiful amount of storage.

You are. Just... two of them.

azekeSeptember 13, 2012

Quote from: famicomplicated

White/Basic = $250
Black/Premium = $300

Premium doesn't do much for me.
32 Gb? When i have a spare 1Tb USB hard drive laying around?
Nintendo Network Premium program? How's that different from club nintendo rewards we already have? At first i thought it's gonna be like discount for DD titles, but no -- you just get points for buying games that you waste on MORE games.
Additonal plastic stuff? I'd pay to get rid of that.
250 Euro package -- here i come.
It's a shame that there are no wiimote+ (which means you can kills support for IR aiming in shooters goodbye) and sensor bar in any package. I wanted to keep my old wii on my old CRT in other room.
I can get cheapo third party sensor bar for that i guess...

It's convoluted but as I read it it's like having a reusable 10% refund on every game forever.


In 10 games (roughly) it pays for itself...not that you can fit 5 games on 32GB.


32GB isn't really that much.

Disco StuSeptember 13, 2012

I'm not going to complain about the storage, I've been planning on using an external hard drive with the Wii U since it was announced.

Fatty The HuttSeptember 13, 2012

Premium bundle, here I come. Not long now until NA details revealed!
Having the black in only premium is genius.


Dec 8 launch date is very disappointing. Probably not what they wanted. I assume NA will be no earlier.

AdrockSeptember 13, 2012

So, the premium model is black? Well played, Nintendo.

I would consider using Nintendo Network Premium if I had it already by just getting the black model. There are a few games I've been eyeing. Does that include DLC? That would be a nice perk for people who consistently buy it.

Glad0sSeptember 13, 2012

It seems like everyone's ignoring the real mystery here.....December 8th?!?!?

AdrockSeptember 13, 2012

What makes that a mystery? It's a set date.

geoSeptember 13, 2012

Quote from: Adrock

What makes that a mystery? It's a set date.

The mystery is why it's so late.  Everyone anticipated november.

I plan on using the 32GB for eshop titles, and my external drive for disc-based titles.  32GB should be enough for digital-only games.  All of my XBLA games dont even add up to 32GB.

AdrockSeptember 13, 2012

Ehh, I don't really see that as a mystery because almost anything can be a mystery in that case. Nintendo has launched in December in the past. Wii U is launching almost 8 years to the day of the original DS in Japan. Expectations vs reality don't make something mysterious. Weren't there rumors that Nintendo ran into some GamePad manufacturing snafus? That could have something to do with it. Perhaps Nintendo is allocating more units to North America. We'll find out later.

TJ SpykeSeptember 13, 2012

Everyone anticipated November for North America. Remember that the Wii launched in Japan on December 2, but it came out November 19 (Sunday before Black Friday) in North America. I expect that to happen with Wii U too.

And complaining about getting free credit when you buy download games? Really?

As for internal memory, I wish it was more but you can use SD cards and external hard drives too.

BranDonk KongSeptember 13, 2012

Premium, hands down. 32GB will probably be enough storage *for a while* and 10% off purchases is a nice bonus.

StrawHousePigSeptember 13, 2012

Quote from: azeke

It's a shame that there are no wiimote+ (which means you can kills support for IR aiming in shooters goodbye) and sensor bar in any package.

Wait, WTF? BOOOO!  >:(

TJ SpykeSeptember 13, 2012

Actually, the sensor bar was already confirmed to be in it. The Wii RemotePlus is not included because no Wii U games require one (yes I know many support it for multiplayer or as a optional control, but you don't need one to actually play any Wii U game).

Fatty The HuttSeptember 13, 2012

Quote from: Fatty_The_Hutt

Dec 8 launch date is very disappointing. Probably not what they wanted. I assume NA will be no earlier.

I am delighted to have been incorrect!

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