Nintendo Reveals Japanese Wii U Price, Launch Details

@Chavtheworld said:

@DeF said:

@Chavtheworld said:

2GB memory? Fuuuuuck old hardware is old.

2GB console RAM is what this is. Remember how the PS3/360 only have 512MB? It certainly isn't phenomenal and the other new systems will very likely have more but come on now. 2Gig of RAM for a console is still a lot these days!

But still, fuuuuuuuck. Also comparing it to the PS3/360 which are ancient isn't gunna do it any favours.

The reaction is still weird. Console RAM isn't PC RAM.

It's a little disappointing this won't be much of an upgrade from the PS3 and 360. I guess Nintendo sees the value in their "new way to play games" philosophy, and of course their core franchises, but those other consoles already have their motion controls, people are ready for the generational leap. Like, now. But the Wii U won't have it.

they could've waited a year and tried to make something a tad more competitive hardware wise to the durango and orbis. i'm guessing this will end up sitting at the halfway point between those and the current gen.

@joshthebear: .... They aren't saying they are though. That's the Japanese prices. Read the article better.

@Chavtheworld said:

2GB memory? Fuuuuuck old hardware is old.

I'll be shocked if the next Playstation and XBox have more than 4GB. Especially the PS4, given Sony's financial troubles. Bear in mind consoles are a lot more efficient than gaming PCs.

Also, the Wii has 88MB while the 360 and PS3 have 512MB. This is pretty damn good compared to that.

I had already made up my mind not to get a Wii U at launch, primarily due to the lack of a single piece of announced software I care about, but now I'm thinking the price tag might be another reason.

Based on this info, I'm guessing $299/349 which seems crazy for what's being offered, especially considering that the Wii was $249 at launch, which included a great pack-in and launched alongside a pretty solid Zelda game.

@familyphotoshoot said:

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE US DOLLARS

... for a second game pad thing.

I'll admit, I scanned the article looking for a price, saw the 170 price, and thought that was the console. Then I saw the real number...

@RainDog505 said:

@patrickklepek said:

I wouldn't be surprised at $350/$400 in the US, but if they're going to be aggressive, and they want to move units around Thanksgiving (which is when I expect it launches), they go with $250/$300.

Even at 350/400 USD, I bet Nintendo can coast through the American Holiday season with ease. Enough parents (and older dedicated Nintendo faithful) would shell out for Nintendo's new box. I would not be surprised to see an initial high price (see above) and a price cut a few months later (a la 3DS).

Define coast. If by coast you mean lose more and more money on every package sold, sure. If the pad is selling for half of the price of the entire thing, they are taking a loss, no way around it.

@Chaser324 said:

I had already made up my mind not to get a Wii U at launch, primarily due to the lack of a single piece of announced software I care about, but now I'm thinking the price tag might be another reason.

I'm guessing $299/349 which seems crazy for what's being offered, especially considering that the Wii was $249 at launch, which included a great pack-in and launched alongside a pretty solid Zelda game.

It's still very very likely that NintendoLand will be packed-in in the West, just like Wii Sports was. Also, that 10% off digital purchases for two years thing is actually pretty awesome if you buy the premium version.

You should really wait for the final US price/SKU info before making any decisions.

@Chavtheworld: When the PS3 and 360 came out everyone said they didn't have enough memory to even be good for their time. You simply can not compare console memory with PC memory. Consoles are much much more efficient at managing memory than any PC OS and console OSes are very light weight and I bet they do a better job of turning off features dynamically than Windows does. Even if Nintendo is "only" using GDDR5 it is still many times faster than any consumer RAM.

@DeF: The decision to not buy it has already been made. The price just may or may not reinforce the decision.

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

@ThePilgrums:

See, this is why I don't comment on hardware specs. Here I was thinking "Man, my less than great Laptop from two years ago has 4 GB RAM, I think I had 2GB RAM when Half-Life 2 came out, so this must be a shock to everybody!" And than, apparently, 2 GB RAM is quite good? Just shows how little I know about all this blinky stuff in my PC (and I'm a PC gamer)

Wow. Better luck next time, Nintendo. If there is a next time.

RIP Nintendo hardware 2014, calling it now. Looking forward to Mario on Playstation 4.

So with the addition of the Australia tax it'll be like $800 or something, right?

Whatever aggressive pricing Nintendo aims for in the US, it is us Europeans who'll have to cough up the difference, and then some. That is, if we at all care. Right now, I don't.

@sempiternal said:

So with the addition of the Australia tax it'll be like $800 or something, right?

oh god i did not think of that.......i am really out for good now.

http://flufflogic.tumblr.com/post/31453764404/wii-u-pricing-the-mathematical-prediction

@Mystic_11 said:

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

Why is it shitty? Does the screen offend you or something? I don't get it.

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

Why is it shitty? Does the screen offend you or something? I don't get it.

Ok maybe shitty is not the right word, but 180 (which I am guessing is why the bundle price is so high) for a map/inventory screen is a bit shitty.......hmmm maybe shitty is the right word.

Plus aussie tax cant forget that.

This will most probably be on Christmas wish list. Since I've got three great Wii titles (Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) and no Wii.

Yes I do the games before I buy the console.

@Mystic_11 said:

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

Why is it shitty? Does the screen offend you or something? I don't get it.

Ok maybe shitty is not the right word, but 180 (which I am guessing is why the bundle price is so high) for a map/inventory screen is a bit shitty.......hmmm maybe shitty is the right word.

Plus aussie tax cant forget that.

That's a very overly simplified way of looking at it ... but whatever, no point in arguing about it.

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

Why is it shitty? Does the screen offend you or something? I don't get it.

Ok maybe shitty is not the right word, but 180 (which I am guessing is why the bundle price is so high) for a map/inventory screen is a bit shitty.......hmmm maybe shitty is the right word.

Plus aussie tax cant forget that.

That's a very overly simplified way of looking at it ... but whatever, no point in arguing about it.

yeah i know i am a moron i wont argue.......i just want my old Gamecube loving Nintendo back

@familyphotoshoot: Usted es muy bruto mi hermano, no te das cuenta que es un estimado? aprende a leer antes de comentar esas tonterias

@Mystic_11 said:

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

@DeF said:

@Mystic_11 said:

Can i get i package without the shitty Gamepad and just use the pro controller? anyways no thanks Nintendo I am good.

Why is it shitty? Does the screen offend you or something? I don't get it.

Ok maybe shitty is not the right word, but 180 (which I am guessing is why the bundle price is so high) for a map/inventory screen is a bit shitty.......hmmm maybe shitty is the right word.

Plus aussie tax cant forget that.

That's a very overly simplified way of looking at it ... but whatever, no point in arguing about it.

yeah i know i am a moron i wont argue.......i just want my old Gamecube loving Nintendo back

Well, the game boxes look like GCN boxes ...only in blue ... :D

Close enough, right? :P

Anyway, just see what else they're showing later today and in the coming months. Maybe there's something for you, still.

I would not buy any Nintendo stock. This thing is a disaster waiting to happen.

Just to put these prices in perspective (taken from Amazon Japan):

3G Vita: ￥ 26,707

360 Kinect bundle ￥ 28,530

160GB PS3 ￥ 23,481

8 gig and 32 gig model..... Oh boy, that's a problem. This at least answers why Trine 2 is a disc game, but even that game is about 2.6 gigs big without the DLC..... even if they can get away with some virtual console collections, they aren't serious about download games. They might get some standar cell phone ports to use that touch screen, but it's not like they are going to have something like Trine on their store any time soon.

It's going to be interesting how Nintendo sells people on this giant controller. At face value it looks uncomfortable and overly complex(something that might not appeal to the people that made the Wii such a success). The portable nature certainly has some appeal, I'm sure Nintendo looked at all the ipads getting sold and is a big reason for the move to this style of console. Though it's only portable within the house, and people don't just play games on an ipad. I dunno, I think Nintendo can find an angle, but there's nothing super fresh about the concept, it's just a cute idea.

I'm really looking forward to the GB coverage of that thing.

The more expensive one still only has 32 gigs of memory storage? The new Ipod Touch has that and it weighs 3.1 ounces (88 grams), comes in 5 different colors and costs a $100 less. I know I know, apples and oranges but still, 32 gigs is a little more than what my launch model 360 has and it debuted in 2005. I think with 7 years of progress Nintendo should be able to do a little better on that front.

@crithon said:

8 gig and 32 gig model..... Oh boy, that's a problem. This at least answers why Trine 2 is a disc game, but even that game is about 2.6 gigs big without the DLC..... even if they can get away with some virtual console collections, they aren't serious about download games. They might get some standar cell phone ports to use that touch screen, but it's not like they are going to have something like Trine on their store any time soon.

Trine 2 is NOT a disc game. It's a downloadable title.

They fully expect you to expand the memory with SD cards or USB hard drives if YOU are serious about downloading. I think them going day-1 digital download with first party titles is as serious as you can get about downloading.

Bigger, Blacker Wiis

$300 or bust. Try and get any of the Wii crowd that they got already to buy anything higher then that and then ask them to pay $150+ for a second controller pad and they'll be worse off then they were with the 3DS.

Where are the games? The only time I've played the Wii lately is for something on the Virtual Console, and on my 3DS the vast majority of games I'm playing are Virtual Console or DS games, and only really because I've missed some stuff.

While I'd rather leave the gimmicks than take them, I don't care as long as there's a good library.

Perfect. 
 

@binni said:

I would not buy any Nintendo stock. This thing is a disaster waiting to happen.

I'm not sure this thing will have much of a lifespan either.. but everyone said the same thing about the DS, Wii and 3DS and look how that turned out. Buying stock while it's low right now could make you pretty rich.

@Zaxex: There's another conference later today that's going into the launch software.

@Chavtheworld said:

2GB memory? Fuuuuuck old hardware is old.

Also those prices equate to £209-251. Watch the prices go down to $300-350 in the US and up in the UK to £250-300. We will get shafted as usual!

Yup, and when you can pick up a 360 for about £120 thesedays prices like that for a system with the same specs just look wacky.

@DeF said:

@crithon said:

8 gig and 32 gig model..... Oh boy, that's a problem. This at least answers why Trine 2 is a disc game, but even that game is about 2.6 gigs big without the DLC..... even if they can get away with some virtual console collections, they aren't serious about download games. They might get some standar cell phone ports to use that touch screen, but it's not like they are going to have something like Trine on their store any time soon.

Trine 2 is NOT a disc game. It's a downloadable title.

They fully expect you to expand the memory with SD cards or USB hard drives if YOU are serious about downloading. I think them going day-1 digital download with first party titles is as serious as you can get about downloading.

No news if Trine 2 Director's Cut is on a disc or Download. I'm betting it's a disc, just don't know who's publishing it, Ubisoft would have mentioned if they were involved by now.

I don't know man, not having a lot of Faith in Nintendo at this point. Trine 2 would be a great game to have with Rayman Origins as this excellence in 2D platforming. I mean Nintendo did that update for the Wii's SD cards, oh boy those early months transfering data between SD cards was HORRIBLE. I don't know, I think Nintendo is really going to coast on Virtual Console Ports and Cell phone games that use the touch screen. saying 32 gigs is just admitting "your not going to install anything to the HDD."

I don't know man, they gotta prove themselves. Over 2 gig download of Trine 2 through Nintendo's internet speed.... they got a lot to prove.

they are going to have to lower that price to 250$ - 300$ in NA to be anywhere near attractive of a purchase at launch.

Damn Patrick, you were up so early to post this news. Impressive.

This is all fairly in line with what I was expecting. 32 gigs is lower than I would like (lower than any sane person would like at this point), but frankly, higher than I expected.

The size of the HDDs on both models is shocking.

GPGPU? that's been a load of hot air on the PC for years!

Even if they manage to get the price down to $250 for the US launch I can't see myself buying in the first year

The HDD space is insulting I would rather they sold it with no HDD and just told me to go buy a external HDD.

@Clint said:

GPGPU is a General Purpose GPU. In games, that basically means Physicssssss. Or, if you prefer, PhysX.

Hmm... and now suddenly I'm interested to see Batman run on this thing just to see if it could do all the fancy PC PhsyX stuff.

I want all those GPGPU.

@punkxblaze said:

Wow. Better luck next time, Nintendo. If there is a next time.

Starting to feel the same way. Unless this thing sells incredible numbers in year 1, it is going to get destroyed when the other two consoles show up... and I can't see them catching lighting in a bottle twice.

Just releasing a Mario or Zelda game and thinking that'll keep them plowing ahead aint gonna cut it in 2013.

it'll be £220 for basic and £270 for prem over here any dearer and it'll flop

retailers are already taking preorders for £279

checking my order for the wii on launch day it cost me £180 so £220 for basic should be about right