Wii U Launch Date, Price and Some Thoughts

Any self respecting Nintendo fan has no doubt been given the rundown on the Wii U release date and price via Nintendo's Nintendo Direct Wii U Preview. I was at work so I missed all the hubbub so forgive me if this is "old news" to you.

The Wii U's North American launch date is Nov. 18th. It's European launch will be Nov. 30, whole the Japanese launch is set for Dec. 8. The system will come in two different sets. Let's get the vanilla version out of the way first, or the Basic Set as Nintendo is calling it. What's it come with? For just $299.99, you get the system, the gamepad, 8GB internal storage space, all the hookup cables but no game.

The Deluxe set has a bit more to offer. For $349.99, you'll get the Wii U, the gamepad, 32GB internal storage, connection cables and Nintendo Land as a pack in game. At $50 extra, I see no reason to even go for the Basic Set, but it's nice to have options.

I'm quite pleased with the pricing of both sets. Nintendo said long ago that the Wii U wouldn't be cheap. Turns out their definition of "not cheap" is quite consumer friendly, which is a must in these tough economic times.

As for Nintendo Land, I'm not super stoked for the game, but the premise of a Nintendo style theme park interests me enough to where I want to check it out, which makes the Deluxe Set for me a no brainer. With New Super Mario Bros. U being a launch title, that's only $410 spent on one day. Not too shabby, I must say.