Not terribly surprising. I was hoping for November 11.

According to CNET, the basic set (white) is $299 and the deluxe set (black) is $349 and also comes with Nintendo Land. Both come with a sensor bar which seemed missing from the Japanese models.

Deluxe set = sold

Interesting, for Europe only the deluxe set comes with a sensor bar. Europe will also get the same bundle Japan is getting, the one with a Wiimote +,numbchuck and sensor bar.

No Wiimotes seems like an odd choice.  Yeah a lot of people have them but a dev still can't truly be comfortable making a game that requires them.  And there are two types of remotes out there.  Will devs use Motion+ or will they feel the need to stick to the lowest common denominator and go with the old remote?  The incredibly shitty motion control of the original Wiimote shouldn't even be an option anymore, except for backwards compatibility.

Though maybe this will mean less Wiimote support (ie: less waggle) and I'm all for that.  I'd prefer if the entire industry just quietly forgot that motion control ever existed.

Never gonna happen, but Nintendo really should start up a Wii Remote trade-in program.  Send in your non-Plus Wii Remotes and $10, get a Wii Remote Plus.  Send in a non-Plus Wii Remote and the Motion Plus accessory and $5, get a Wii Remote Plus.

I wouldn't use this as I have plenty of Wii Remote Pluses(?), but it seems like it would be the best way to get Wii Remote Pluses into people's hands at this point.

I vaguely recall Nintendo saying that the original Wii Remote will not be compatible and that Motion Plus/Remote Plus is required for games that use the remote. Might have been a rumor though.

So it looks like Europe is getting the best bundle - a Deluxe Set with ZombiU and Pro Controller along with all of the other Deluxe Set features. Fantastic. Lucky you, European fans.

I could really care less about NintendoLand, but I want the Deluxe Set in North America.

Of course, Japan beats us all (minus currency exhange) with the Monster Hunter 3G HDver. bundle.

Now... NoA, I realize you released a "launch window" list of games. But, please clarify which are launch day games, ok? Sheesh.

Does it come in Black?
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k302/shyguy70/Does-it-come-in-Black-bruce-wayne-26004380-1155-576.jpg

I must be easy to please, because I'm just glad they're offering the system in black from the start.

Seems like a no brainer to get the deluxe set, especially if you want NintendoLand.  The extras that come with it alone are probably worth the $50 premium, especially with the Deluxe Online promotion.  I definitely think I will get the deluxe when I get a Wii U.

Deluxe Black edition for me.

I will place my pre-order asap.

They never explained if I can play virtual console games with wiiU pad or WiiU pro controller

Utterly shocking!

Went at lunch to try and preorder from my local Gamestop. They are not taking pre-orders until tomorrow (just got an amil confirming that).
Guy said I was about the 50th person to ask. Yikes! If they only get, say, 6 to 12 in at launch and I am not soon enough on the preorder list, I could be hooped.

I don't want to camp outside a Toys R Us. I really don't

I'm going to be waiting to see if Amazon gets preorders.  I really don't want to deal with retail.

Or just buy online from any store (Best Buy, Walmart, Target, etc.). You still won't have to go to the store and wait outside.

I like Amazon and will get launch day delivery for no extra charge because I have Prime.  Much rather do that.

Or maybe I'll visit my friends in Oregon who one of them is a manager at a Walmart there and I can get his EE discount and get the deluxe system for $315. :)  If I do that, I won't get it on launch day though.  I'll set a time we can actually visit them.

That's racist. ...I went black, too.


You know what they say... ;)

Once you go racist, you have to buy a deluxe black Wii U?

Once you go black, you go deaf.

Bingo.

Who takes preorders besides Gamestop? I'm looking for a midnight launch.

Best Buy takes pre-orders for select games, so they might for Wii U. They also do midnight launches for some games (I know they plan to do one for Borderlands 2). Walmart also has started a pre-order program for some games, not sure they will do it for systems.

I really didn't want to support the municipality, but I'm fairly certain no one else in my city will be doing a midnight launch.

EDIT: I should clarify. Fairly certain no one in my city is doing a midnight launch with preorders. Walmart, Target, and maaaaaaaaybe Best Buy (my Best Buy store is quite finicky) will be doing midnight releases, but that's going to require standing out in the cold for hours on end. I did that with the 'Cube and Wii. Playing it a little smarter this go around.

it could have gone $399 for the premium console much like xbox. I'm happy to see it's only $50 more for a black console with 4 times the memory.  Give me USB hard drive support and i'm good

Who exactly does Nintendo expect to buy the White version? I wanted a White Wii U but the Deluxe bundle simply has way too many ridiculous savings and extras that I can't for the life of me bring myself to NOT pre-order the black version!

The Basic set isn't as gimped as say the Xbox 360 Core package that included composite cables, a wired controller (how 2000 and late), and no hard drive. I could probably live with the Basic Set since I don't really want NintendoLand, probably won't need the extra internal memory, and probably won't buy many eshop games, if any to take advantage of Nintendo Network Premium (though Trine 2 looks great). However, the price difference is only $50 and the Deluxe set gives you a lot of bang for your buck. While I could live without those things, that's a hell of a bargain and I would be more inclined to use those things if I already had them. More importantly, the Deluxe set comes in black. Still, I think there's a market for both sets and it was smart of Nintendo to have 2 SKUs even if they could have sweetened the Basic set by cutting the price like $20 to make it feel like a better deal. I think that has to do with keep it $100 away from 3DS XL's MSRP. That gap makes a difference to consumers, even if it shouldn't.

Adrock with words of iron.

I am pleased as punch n' judy to report that I am now 3rd on the pre-order list at my local Gamestop. Stopped by moments ago, right when they opened. I am confident I will have a WiiU in my fat little hands on November 18. Pre-ordered Zombi U as well.

Two side notes:
1. The store's debit/credit machine broke while servicing the person right in front of me. Lucky I had some spare cash to make to deposit. The folks behind me in line looked decidedly nervous.
2. I picked this particular store, which is not close to my home but is close to my office, because it is inside a mall. I don't fancy waiting out in the freezing cold on November 18 since, pre-order or not, I will be showing up nice and early. These kids working at Gamestop are nice folks, but more than capable of selling all their Wii-U stock,before I get my unit, regardless of my place on the pre-order list.

I so want the Black Wii U, but alas I will have to wait till next year.  All my money is tied up at the moment.

I hope they release a ZombiU Deluxe Set for North America.

There are two things I can think of here.
1. People on slightly more restrictive budgets who want a Wii U.
2. Think about it, the Deluxe sold out, so people have to buy the Non-Deluxe Wii U. If they wanted Nintendo Land, they have to pay the full $60 for it, so Nintendo gets $360, and this still doesn't bring into the fact they'd have to buy the cradle separate(if they wanted) and directly from Nintendo, there's going to be a fair share of markup. Then throw in the (small, but still there) savings of only slapping 8 gigs of storage in as opposed to 32...

Long post short, the non-Deluxe is great if you want a game console that you don't care for the storage space or Nintendo Land. Save yourself a few dollars, but for almost everyone else, there's no reason not to go Deluxe.

Considering the Deluxe is already sold out... Nintendo clearly expects late-moving early adopters to go Basic at this point :p

I highly doubt Nintendo would want to segregate the masses by having the Basic edition not be able to do something the Deluxe edition could do. Simply, the Deluxe has extra conveniences along with NintendoLand. The small amount of internal storage in both systems is meant to get a person started. It isn't meant to be the only spot to hold content, as Nintendo has said numerous times that it can be expanded via external storage devices. I don't even think the internal flash memory is as fast as people believe it to be, or there would be a major discrepancy between the two packages.


I had my chance to get the Deluxe, but ended up not pre-ordering because at the time, I wasn't even sure about getting a WiiU. That changed the next day after giving it a lot of thought, but by that time, Gamestop wasn't taking any more Deluxe pre-orders.  So, I pre-ordered the Basic. If this is anything like the situation with the Wii, I wouldn't have gotten another chance until May next year (not without going onto auctions).


Speaking of auctions, the employees at Gamestop informed me that a couple people in my area alone had been going to every one of their stores to pre-order as many WiiUs as possible. Dang resellers.....

I honestly wouldn't mind pre-ordering the basic, I think you're right in that it is not crippled in any way or form. It's just that since I want to buy Nintendo Land, the Deluxe is a $10 savings right out of the gate, plus a ton of other goodies. Given the choice, I can't imagine willingly going basic instead of deluxe... Maybe they should've priced deluxe $25 or $50 higher.

The sad thing is you just know a large chunk of these preorders are from people who are just going to resell them on ebay for like $1,500 (or whatever).

It's sad for those of us who are legit customers, who want a new gadget to OWN and play with. I was complaining to a GameStop employee about resellers yesterday.

And he probably shared your concern and is probably doing his best to rectify this plague as we speak.