live news online: Nintendo Wii U gets December 8th release date for Japan: 26,260 yen for basic set, 31,500 yen for premium

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Nintendo Wii U gets December 8th release date for Japan: 26,260 yen for basic set, 31,500 yen for premium

The Nintendo Wii U arrives on Japanese shores on December 8th starting at 26,260 yen (around $340), Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced this morning via Nintendo Direct's video stream. A presentation later today in New York City starring Nintendo of America prez Reggie Fils-Aime will reveal pricing and release dates for the rest of the world, but you'd be right in guessing it won't be too far from the Japanese launch.

A basic set (only in white) and premium set (only in black) were revealed, with the darker option adding more storage; 32GB, up from from 8GB on the cheaper bundle. The Premium set (priced at 31,500 yen, or about $405) consists of the console, GamePad, a charging stand, play stand, and yet another stand for the Wii U itself. Those GamePads will also be available standalone for 13,440 yen, which could see American gamers paying around $173 for the luxury of a spare.

The Wii U pro controllers are priced at 5,040 yen ($65) each, while the Wiimote will continue to be priced at 3,800 yen (around $50), now in a range of colors. Likewise, the nunchucks will come in three color palettes. The GamePad charging stand will also be available to buy separately -- setting you back around 1,870 yen -- around $25. Naturally, there's going to be some international variance in these prices so we'll be updating once we get those global prices cemented.

We've been given a little more detail on the technical specifics too, with the Wii U packing 1GB of its own ("main") memory alongside 1GB for running games. Two titles, New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land will both debut alongside the console -- we're expecting to hear even more software details later today.

Ben Gilbert contributed to this post.

Gallery: Wii U hardware