That sounds about right.

Well, of all the rumors I've heard I like this best by far ;) And I think it would be a really smart move by Nintendo! The $249 prize point could still compete with PS360 during the holidays

well, yes - they're renaming it Wii NinPie in honor of you :D

It's the obvious answer. ;)

So, thinking about this a bit more....

1) Base package at $249
Wii U + GamePad + some sort of software base package including up to minor free games like board games. Keep in mind they did show Othello and I think Backgammon being played in E3 videos.

This setup seems like a no brainer and while it could include Nintendoland, I think its pretty safe to assume it will not. Nintendoland is clearly more of a game or rather more game content than Wii Sports was.

Then since this core content doesn't require a wiimote or anything else but the gamepad and that so many people already own wiimotes, there's no reason to think any other controller but the gamepad would be included.

$249 "Core" package = Wii U + GamePad + Core Software. (black or white)

2) Nintendoland is clearly intended to be a multiplayer game and its more like Wii Play in terms of content than say a Mario Party or Wii Party game. Therefore it makes far more logical sense that it would be sold similar to Wii Play in that it would be a $50 or $60 game that also includes a wiimote.

Now, looking at the next bundle price of $299, there is a meager $50 difference and knowing that bundles are typically supposed to actually save you money (otherwise what's the point) you could see this bundling being focused on "family" or multiple players. So for $50 Nintendo would want to create not only value but also incentive to buy. Having Nintendoland(digital copy) + wiimote + nunchuck + 8GB SD card certainly adds a lot of value.

The digital Nintendoland drastically cuts is 'cost', a wiimote/nunchuk are very cheap for Nintendo now, anda 8GB SD card is also cheap and doubles the rumored internal storage size. They could easily add those items for $50 and still retain the same margin, maybe even more.

$299 "Family Bundle" = Core + Nintendoland (digital copy) + Wiimote + nunchuk + 8GB SD Card. (black or white)

3) Nintendo has clearly stated it intends on recapturing the core gamer. They added a controller specifically just to do this. Black Ops2 is known to be coming for the system, yet it has been purposefully left out of all advertisements. Granted this also happens to Wii every year, however, the Wii version is heavily gimped and there is no reason to expect the Wii U version to be anything but identical to the PS360 copies if not even very slightly better.

The Pro controller is a wireless controller that is likely identical to any other basic controller (Ps360). Those sell for $35 on sale meaning they probably cost in the $20's to put on shelves if not less. The 'core' gamer has also come to expect this controller as well as large storage space for media content, DLC, games, etc.

So for $100 more it makes sense that Nintendo would focus on a more core gamer who has no problems spending more money on gaming if it fits their needs. Even the Nintendo centric gamers who currently own more than one console to fit that set of needs. Hell, the core gamer typically owns more than one console, even the PS360 who overlap on 90% of their offerings.

With that in mind it makes perfect sense for Nintendo to have a bundle with a easily identifiable, AAA, large market game + the "Pro" controller + large storage space. The pro controller and 250GB USB HDD can't be more than $50 together at cost.

$349 "Pro" package = Core + Black Ops 2 (disc copy) + Pro Controller + 250GB USB HDD. (black only)

4) I think the logic all makes sense and still leaves a profit margin about the same for each bundle. It clearly hits three different buyers at price points that are justified based on a $249 base price for the console and gamepad at a profit.

Only a week to go to know for sure, but I do think it will be similar to this. Maybe different Pro packs with ZombiU, Assassin's creed (white model), and/or Ninja Gaiden 3. Who know's, I only picked BO2 due to its massive following in the 'core' crowd.

They should release on November 11th. Gives Nintendo an extra week of sales. It's not like there's going to be a drop-off in week two. Black Friday sales through Christmas Eve are going to be crazy.

I still think its going to launch the 18th. The company in question in this rumor is a distributor for a few major web retail outlets, so they they would have it a week early to ship to the company's warehouses. The week between the popular theorized launch date and this give a distributor enough time to ship to the retail outlets so they can ship to their customers.

Interesting if true... I don't think Nintendo are the type that offers many options in a consoles launch. I expected only two bundles (300$ - 400$), but if this is true, then...

Basic Bundle 250$ (White / Black): Console + UPad + (Cables, Sensor Bar, etc...)

Family Bundle 300$ (White): Basic Bundle + Nintendo Land + Wii Remote Plus + Nunchuck

'U'ltimate Bundle 350$ (Black): Family Bundle + > 500 GB HDD + HDMI (maybe)

I don't see the Pro controller being bundled since the UPad has the same control layout. The Nov 11th release date and the price points are really good if true (same price as PS3 and Vita).

What I'm wondering now is, given that these bundles are from an American distributor for American stores, will Europeans and Japanese get also 3 bundles to choose from?

Or, given what happened with the 3DS XL power adaptor or Sony's PS3, will we get only 2, the 299 and 349 ones?

And another question. If software bundles include another game besides NintendoLand, will they be the same across the 3 markets? CoD will work in America, but in Europe something like ZombieU could work better while in Japan they could go with Pikmin.

I have information for France. Here a big cultural goods retailer has listed WiiU for 349€ (no other SKU) and the games for 69€ (insider info is said to have confirmed this)

http://recherche.fnac.com/Search/SearchResult.aspx?SCat=0%211&Search=wii+u&sft=1&submitbtn=OK

It's a WiiU + Gamepad SKU, which means that the 249$ SKU probably doesn't have the Gamepad. Which leaves the 299€ one but I actually doubt those SKUs are real to begin with.

Of course, all this might just be a gigantic bluff from retailers in order to get preorders...