Nintendo Reveals Wii U Launch Date, Price

[AzrealMaximillion]

So how long until Sony and Microsoft announce price drops?

The price is decent but 8-32 GB storage worries me. Why so small?

The ability to use a non propriety SDXC/HDD more than make up for it.
Also Bayonetta 2 Wii u exclusive

Uh, Bayonetta 2 is still in borderline "cancelled" status, I don't think its exclusive anything at this point. There's been no details on it and we've been told we're getting Veiwtiful Joe 3 before Bayonetta 2.

My point is Bayonetta 2 may not be an exclusive when it actually gets released.

Actually I was talking about it because it was announced today Wii-u exclusive

Huh, looks cool. I doubt it will stay exclusive though. Exclusives don't sell consoles anymore.

It will stay exclusive.
The game was canceled because of lack of funds. Nintendo offered funding the game if it's a WiiU exclusive.

I just can't see that. Why force people to buy a new console JUST for a sequel? I mean, it was already in development for the other console when it was announced years ago so it's not like they threw the code into the garbage when it was cancelled. And again, Sega's name is still attached so the possibility of this game being released on other consoles after the Wii U release is still considerably decent.

 

[MrPhyntch]

So how long until Sony and Microsoft announce price drops?

The price is decent but 8-32 GB storage worries me. Why so small?

The ability to use a non propriety SDXC/HDD more than make up for it.
Also Bayonetta 2 Wii u exclusive

Uh, Bayonetta 2 is still in borderline "cancelled" status, I don't think its exclusive anything at this point. There's been no details on it and we've been told we're getting Veiwtiful Joe 3 before Bayonetta 2.

My point is Bayonetta 2 may not be an exclusive when it actually gets released.

Actually I was talking about it because it was announced today Wii-u exclusive

Huh, looks cool. I doubt it will stay exclusive though. Exclusives don't sell consoles anymore.

Except that's the only reason to buy the PS3: Exclusive titles and exclusive content on bigger titles (FF13, LA Noire, etc). When everything is made for the same set of consoles, it has to run on all of them, meaning an insignificant difference, if any between version. On non-exclusives, the Xbox and PS3 are exactly the same, with Xbox having the better online service (Which it better if I'm paying for it)(PSN+ is another matter, though...)

Hell, the only reason I bought the Wii is Zelda, Mario, Fire Emblem, and the virtual console titles not available to anyone else. Only reason I bought the PS3 was inFamous and Uncharted (Last of us looks cool too). Only reason I bought the Xbox is Gears of War and Halo. All three systems, it was the exclusives that sold it, not anything else. If I can buy the same games on all three systems, I have no reason to buy more systems. I bought all of them for exclusives. And I know for a fact I'm not alone.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

8GB/32GB? Really? The Xbox 360 launched with 20GB back in 2005. This will SEVERELY limit the it's capabilities as a downloadable platform unless large memory expansion is possible easily and relatively cheaply.

All in all, apart from the memory issue, looks better than i expected to be honest. Time will tell if it can stack up against even this generation's consoles though.

The Xbox required Microsoft hard drives which where 3 times more expensive than regular hard drives. You can use any external HDD for the WiiU. And they are really cheap.
Iwata said that they had to make a decision between a lower price and more memory. A higher price isn't really an option, so they chose less memory.

The Xbox 360 didn't "require" hard drives as you didn't have to install games on it unlike the PS3 and it still came out with 20GB. Now you can get a game console for the same price and 250GB. Why make people buy USB hard drives for their console?

 

[Plinglebob]

I was going to buy this on release, but I've generally been going off playing games recently (would take me about a year to play what I've got backlogged on all 3 consoles and PC) so I'll probably grab one in the 2nd or 3rd wave of release. Will definitely get one eventually though because I love Mario so much.

Just to join in the HDD debate, SSD drives are still very expensive relative to their capacity at the moment so I don't blame Nintendo for going small especially as its cheap and easy to expand it with external drives. The $50 you save buying the basic will buy you at least 100Gb external memory.

Edit:

I bought all of them for exclusives. And I know for a fact I'm not alone.

Just wanted to back you up here. I agree that the only reason to have more then one console is the exclusives so getting something like Bayonetta 2 is a massive coup for Nintendo.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

So how long until Sony and Microsoft announce price drops?

The price is decent but 8-32 GB storage worries me. Why so small?

The ability to use a non propriety SDXC/HDD more than make up for it.
Also Bayonetta 2 Wii u exclusive

Uh, Bayonetta 2 is still in borderline "cancelled" status, I don't think its exclusive anything at this point. There's been no details on it and we've been told we're getting Veiwtiful Joe 3 before Bayonetta 2.

My point is Bayonetta 2 may not be an exclusive when it actually gets released.

Actually I was talking about it because it was announced today Wii-u exclusive

Huh, looks cool. I doubt it will stay exclusive though. Exclusives don't sell consoles anymore.

Except that's the only reason to buy the PS3: Exclusive titles and exclusive content on bigger titles (FF13, LA Noire, etc). When everything is made for the same set of consoles, it has to run on all of them, meaning an insignificant difference, if any between version. On non-exclusives, the Xbox and PS3 are exactly the same, with Xbox having the better online service (Which it better if I'm paying for it)(PSN+ is another matter, though...)

Hell, the only reason I bought the Wii is Zelda, Mario, Fire Emblem, and the virtual console titles not available to anyone else. Only reason I bought the PS3 was inFamous and Uncharted (Last of us looks cool too). Only reason I bought the Xbox is Gears of War and Halo. All three systems, it was the exclusives that sold it, not anything else. If I can buy the same games on all three systems, I have no reason to buy more systems. I bought all of them for exclusives. And I know for a fact I'm not alone.

Yet console sales are down overall and the exclusives aren't the highest selling games for either of the except for 1st party Nintendo games. Exclusives selling big has stopped happening this gen. Even the new MGS is coming out on both consoles. Even Final Fantsay went multiplatform. And Bayonetta, while critically acclaimed was NOT a massive seller.

 

[Josh123914]

To those thinking about the loss of DLC potential just remember that this console is being marketed to everyone, and chances are little girls or grandparents won't be buying DLC, if there is any for the games they'd be buying, so it only makes sense that people who would buy it would just get an External Hard drive or something, similar to how it worked on the old 360s, except now they are really cheap.

 

[Callate]

Article here at examiner.com seems to clarify/confirm that the "memory" cited is in the form of an SSD (Sold State Drive): [link]http://www.examiner.com/article/nintendo-reveals-specs-launch-date-and-price-for-wii-u-japan[/link]

Which is, honestly, kind of awesome. Solid State Drives are expensive mofos. But they tend to be good n' speedy.

I'm reasonably pleased with the stats they're offering, though I'm not exactly champing at the bit to own one. The relatively high (for Nintendo) price point does have me a little concerned about how much Sony and MS's new offerings are likely to be asking, though.

 

[medv4380]

I'm going to pretend that, by "memory", you mean "RAM."

So why is the premium console so much more powerful?

They are referring to storage memory. My concern with internal storage is speed. Are we talking 8 Gigs of SSD speed or better or are we talking slow speed like an internal HDD.

RAM is the same in both. 1 Gig, but I've yet to see the spec on the Type of ram or the Processor spec to determine if it's a 1 Gig eDRAM cache which would be nice.

SSD. Also, the WiiU supports USB drives.

There's actually 2GB RAM, 1 for games and 1 for system. Don't know the specs on it.

The processor looks like an IBM POWER7, but I don't have anything more specific than that.

I wonder why they would stat it as 1 Gig for the System and 1 Gig for Games. I don't really see a reason for them to say it that way since while playing a game the system shouldn't need such a large foot print, and a game would be able to utilize more than the 1 Gig.

The Power7 processor should have eDRAM but quantity is what is important. Maybe that's the reason for stating the Ram in that wonky way. Maybe it has a 1 Gig Ram chip and 1 Gig eDRAM. Maybe PR is just confused on how to communicate the tech specifics and don't want to release the detailed spec.

 

[orangeapples]

Is it known if the hard drive is SSD? IIRC 360 and PS3 both use laptop hard drives which are cheaper and have more storage. If the WiiU is using a solid state drive that would explain the low storage, but it would mean for faster performance.

What would be nice is if they followed PS3's example and let users swap out hard drives. If it turns out to be a regular SATA3 SSD I have no problem buying a larger one and swapping it out. Hopefully they don't follow MS and sell a proprietary hard drive >_>

I've been meaning to build my first gaming PC, so if WiiU will be coming with a 32GB SSD I can take out, I'll have myself a nice little boot drive.

 

[The Great JT]

As if I couldn't care less about Black Friday as is, this thing comes around and makes me care. Don't have the cash to get one right now, but whatevs.

 

[New Frontiersman]

After reading some of the news about this it looks like it's going to be awesome! The announced games all look great, and the system itself looks pretty fun! I'm definitely going to get this.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I'm going to pretend that, by "memory", you mean "RAM."

So why is the premium console so much more powerful?

They are referring to storage memory. My concern with internal storage is speed. Are we talking 8 Gigs of SSD speed or better or are we talking slow speed like an internal HDD.

RAM is the same in both. 1 Gig, but I've yet to see the spec on the Type of ram or the Processor spec to determine if it's a 1 Gig eDRAM cache which would be nice.

I know, I was just being facetious

If that's an 8GB standard HDD then that's pretty unacceptable. We'd be talking more than decade-old tech in that case...

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

On behalf of my retail brethren, I would like to say that it has been an honor serving with you.

Black Friday is going to be MURDER.

You are quite right, sir.

OT: Wow... a next gen console with 8 WHOLE GIGABYTES?! Seriously, the standard should be 32 and the premium should be 100, minimum. If Nintendo wants to do the whole online thing complete with DLC, they're going to have a hard time convincing gamers to do so with such piddly memory. That memory size is just... unacceptable.

Unless... they plan to release a new version of the Wii U with a 150 GB HD, thus enticing gamers into buying the same system again just like Sony and Microsoft did.

 

[Voltano]

The low hard drive space isn't really a surprise. Considering the Wii had a much smaller space, and since Nintendo was never that big on online stuff like DLC, there wasn't much of a reason for lots of memory.

Assuming that the 8/32 Gigabytes of memory refers to the size of the hard drive, it kind of is a big surprise for me that Nintendo would go this route. Didn't they say that every game sold could be purchased via digital download (At the same price as the original retail version, but that is another issue.)? How big are these games in terms of memory, and is there a way to download them again if we need to make room?

The lack of launch titles don't impress me. Most seem to be available on other consoles or PC. I guess in time the Wii-U would look promising, but that hard drive space might kill them if they wish to go into the digital distribution market.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Those aren't even the full system specs I'm guessing but I can already see that this is not a system worth $300. They'll either have to drop the price or release one with better specs. I mean ffs 2gb of ram? Darksiders 2 has a minimum requirement of 2gb and they're only alotting 1gb to processing games? Dude this piece of crap is going to choke on that game alone.

 

[Scars Unseen]

On the one hand, this is coming out on my birthday. On the other hand, I don't buy new consoles(I like to see a healthy game library before I part with hundreds of dollars). Maybe I'll just get a Kindle and some books for my birthday this year...

 

[regalphantom]

The low hard drive space isn't really a surprise. Considering the Wii had a much smaller space, and since Nintendo was never that big on online stuff like DLC, there wasn't much of a reason for lots of memory.

Assuming that the 8/32 Gigabytes of memory refers to the size of the hard drive, it kind of is a big surprise for me that Nintendo would go this route. Didn't they say that every game sold could be purchased via digital download (At the same price as the original retail version, but that is another issue.)? How big are these games in terms of memory, and is there a way to download them again if we need to make room?

The lack of launch titles don't impress me. Most seem to be available on other consoles or PC. I guess in time the Wii-U would look promising, but that hard drive space might kill them if they wish to go into the digital distribution market.

It's been mentioned somewhere that these are going to be solid state drives, not hard drives.

 

[Pandabearparade]

I'm going to pretend that, by "memory", you mean "RAM."

I doubt it. 32 gigs of RAM is a bit overkill.

Not buying.

 

[littlewisp]

I really just want to buy it to play with the tablet to see if they actually utilize it as awesomely as it could be and wait impatiently for zelda. At the end of the day I'm more of a pc gamer, but there's something so nostalgic about console games. Just please, Nintendo, let's get back to fun, okay? Because after my experience with the Wii (we've now gone through three of them) this is kinda your last chance.

Ah, yeah, and I won't be buying it on launch. There's always massive issues with the first few generations.