still horrible! They should change it to something more original or New Super Mario World at least =/

To put prices in perspective interesting article from Gamasutra ("Sizing up Wii U's price tag against history")

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/177337/Sizing_up_Wii_Us_price_tag_against_history.php#.UFKB6qBsRks

Looking at that "adjusted for inflation table", seems price is reasonable. And I wouldn't be surprised (nor would I mind) if next XBOX/PS are 400-450, if they live up to expectations.

Just read games could cost $60, if that's true all my hype is gone. I won't be buying new games on first day and will wait for the price to drop.

Honestly, Europe is kinda getting ripped off...
And is it true they don't even have a sensor bar?

And you know gamers would gladly get second jobs to pay for that cardboard box too.  Just ask Sony's Ken Kutaragi lol.

If you're not prepared to pay even $299.99 for any new console, you have no business being in the market for a new console, stop your complaining.

Obviously buying a brand new console is not for you. This is like a person who wants to go see a movie at the theater but isn't willing to spend $8+ on a ticket. Well tough luck, you can sit and wait for it to come on Netflix then.

I think Nintendo even learned that Wii at $250 was a mistake, they left a lot of money on the table seeing people pay $400-$500+ on eBay for a system.

That's the price you have to pay for stepping up to the HD gen.  Did you really thing Nintendo WASN'T going to charge the same as every other developer has been for the past 6-7 years now?  Only reason they didn't before was they knew they could never get away with charging $60 for SD games that looked a generation old already.

To be fair though it would have been really hard to justify a $300 price tag when the 360 "core" SKU was going for the same amount at the time.  The only reason it was $250 in the first place was because of the packed in software and additional hardware required like the sensor bar and Wiimote + nunchuk, otherwise Nintendo could have easilly released the Wii for just $199 at launch and still made a decent profit off of it.

"Wii U: The price is right or is $299 the new $599?"

My answer is No and No.

I don't care how expensive the Wii Pad is to manufacture because all I want is a standard controller. If it wasn't for the Wii Pad the Wii U would probably be at least $100 less.

$300 is not the new $600. But $300 is a lot to ask for outdated hardware, a touch pad I don't want to use, and no 3D Mario or Zelda or Metroid game. If it had truely next gen tech under the hood then the investment would be worth it, but it's going to age fast when Sony and MS release their machines. I just have no reason to spend $300 right now. When the games I want do get released it will probably have had a price reduction.

Almost anything you buy is "outdated hardware" by that standard.  How old do you think the hardware in Wii U is?