Wii U Gets December 4th release date for Japan (26,260, 31,500 Yen)

[binary solo]

Corey said:
Damn, $173 for an extra gamepad, in Aus they will likely bump it up to $199 at least. And the system itself being $350/400 is going to mean something along the lines of $399/$450 for us as well :/

A price cut for the 360/PS3 would make it tough for the Wiiu this holidays.

I don't think the pricve per se is a problem. The preception that "it's just a PS3/360 with a tablet controller and waaaaaay less memory" could be the problem. If it's perceived as truly next gen and a big leap ahead of PS3/360 then Price won't really be a factor.

But don't expect Wii like sales. $250 sold the Wii as much as Wiimote did. And touchscreen tablets for gaming aren't a "wow this is new and never been seen before" draw card either, unlike the Wiimote.

I hope Nintendo fans don't create hyped up sales expectations, because that can only lead to disappointment. I will be very surprised if Wii U achieves 1 million sales weeks this holidays, but when the ridiculous rumours of a $200 launch price were circling the net I bet a lot of fans were anticipating 1 million sales weeks for holiday 2012.

Nintendo is playing the game as they normally do, selling the console at a decent profit from day 1, and loading up the system with exclusive first party titles which means moderate sales are fine.

$299 for the USA I reckon. I don't see them being able to sell it for profit day for $250 in the USA. And remember the exchange rate was more favourable for a lower selling price in the USA at the time of the Wii launch. A strenghtening Yen vs the $$ and the GBP makes the comparison to Wii pricing a bit unreliable. I will be impressed indeed if they drop it to $250 in the USA.