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Forums - Nintendo - Second Wii U GamePad won't be supported or priced at launch in U.S.

Nsanity on 13 September 2012

Polygon

Nintendo's Wii U won't support a second GamePad at launch, a Nintendo official told Polygon today.

The standalone GamePad, which will sell for ¥13,400 in Japan (roughly $172), wasn't priced during the Nintendo press conference in New York today. That's because it won't be sold when the console launches, Nintendo product marketing manager Bill Trinen said.

"None of the launch-window titles support dual GamePad play," Trinen said. "As a result we won't be selling the GamePad as a separate accessory. It will be released once the content is there to support it. Our anticipation is that there will be (games that support it) some time next year."

Once the support is added, Nintendo will release the price for the standalone controller, he said.

The Wii U goes on sale on November 18th in the U.S., and Nintendo has defined the console's "launch window" as running until the end of March.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/9/13/3328510/second-wii-u-gamepad-wont-be-supported-or-priced-at-launch-in-u-s



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thetonestarr on 13 September 2012

In other words, NoA recognizes that $172 (or the $150 price-point it would essentially convert to in the US) is a hell of a lot more than consumers will accept, and they want to wait it out as long as they can to ease the issue, maybe even see if the price can be cut some before titles start arriving.



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