Nintendo has said that the Wii U will be deploying for the year-end shopping season. So far, it's looking like a near-simultaneous release across Japan, North America, Europe and Australia.
This is what Satoru Iwata told reporters this week, although the plans are subject to change. It wouldn't be the first time a Nintendo console was planned for a worldwide launch and subsequently staggered its release across regions.
Earlier reports pegged the Wii U for release anywhere between June and the year's end. Such reports have been significantly narrowed down now.
In any case, releasing so close to 2013 seems to be cutting it very fine when we're so close to the end of this console generation. I really am starting to wonder if the Wii U's going to be able to gain any traction, but I guess we'll have to just sit tight and see.
Nintendo: to launch Wii successor in key markets for year-end [Reuters]
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Contest:
10:00 AM on 01.26.2012
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then I might get one
The rest of the launch software will suck like the 3DS.
PURE GOLD
If it launches without one, I'll wait. It's what I did for the 3DS for Ocarina of Time :D
The majority of the 'information' we know about the Wii U is either incredibly vague or a very thin rumor, and none of it has really been directly confirmed by Nintendo.
We know what it looks like, we know the controller has a touchscreen and buttons, we know a bunch of games that are being made, but don't know what's launching with the system. Specs are still pretty much in the dark, multiple tablet controllers may or may not be possible, online may or may not be the focus. And now we have a slightly less vague release date.
No one in these comments is complaining about the Wii. We're complaining about the lack of any real information on the Wii U. The Wii U's still a big question mark, and now Nintendo wants to release it at the end of the year.
I think everyone is just waiting for E3 at this point to see what Nintendo has to offer rather than promising money to Nintendo now for the sole reason of "Oh, it's Nintendo. They'll make a good game for this eventually." I don't see anything wrong with that.
I have to agree with you on this one.
I expect to see a crap load of HD Wii remakes before anything serious is done.
I can safely say I will be waiting some time before buying the Wii-U.
Haha, looks ugly as shit but still better than the original 3DS. :3
Gives me time to work on a ''this how much fuck i give'' picture!
the wii is a toy, not a gaming console.
so by this logic Sony and Microsoft are equally as stupid?
GAMES or GTFO
It sounds like it isn't launching with any major 1st party exclusives, so why anyone would buy it is beyond me.
I think he has sort of a point. The people buying PS3s and Xbox360s are usually more knowledgable than people who would buy a Wii.
Presuming that this logic is sound, that means that Wii-buyers, more likely to be badly informed, might mistake a Wii U as some sort of 'Wii re-release or Wii+' and they will just think "I already have one of those Wii things. No deal!"
I'm sure this won't be a big problem, but I do question the use of the Wii brand for this.
Are you guys stupid or just retarded? The WiiU is on-par, technically, with the current generation of HD consoles. Meaning that any game that you are likely excited for for PS3 or 360 are also going to be on WiiU. For example, I don't know whether to get Darksiders 2 for WiiU or 360! (Who am I kidding; Xbox 360 Achievements > everything)
The question should be whether it will have first party games. They'll probably blow us away with Pikmin 3/ZeldaHD/KidIcarus/SmashBros announcement or some such shit that will make everyone jizz. Because, as of CES, developers already have development kits in-hand, thus any currently-in-development third-party title is already being ported. When it comes to 3rd party support; dey got dis shit, yo.
> "Some of the confirmed developers as of now include Team Ninja, Electronic Arts, Namco Bandai, Sega, Ubisoft, THQ, Codemasters and many more."
Yes, like all those developers that were supporting the 3DS right until it sales hit a brick wall. Then they started vanishing or their games started being delayed. If Nintendo doesn't release with console-moving software (2D Mario, more SNES/NES like software in philosophy), the console will only sell to the PS3/360 gamers...and considering how a lot of them probably feel burned by Nintendo lately, I see no reason for them to get a Wii U when its going to be around the same parity as the PS3/360 and will mostly play ports of those games. Why buy those games when you already can on the systems you already own? And since the Wii audience wasn't buying 360/PS3s for these games, Nintendo won't be enticing with such games, either.
So yeah, saying "We see no compelling software for the system." right now is a pretty valid criticism, especially seeing as the 3DS was pretty much but 3D ports/rehashes of N64/GC games, and nothing new.
So what your saying is we get to shell out for new hardware to play games our current consoles can already play around the time pc games are demonstrating we need new console hardware.
That's not a good selling point at all.
and if they are serious about getting 3rd party support we need to hear about their improved online network, because they are still eons behind Sony and ms in that department and in this multiplayer centric age that's a death sentence.
Maybe, but honestly I see no reason for the Wii U to exist. Nintendo could have been focused on making good, quality games on the Wii, games that sell. They could have been localizing Xenoblade, Last Story, and Pandora's Tower and at least marketing them and giving them a release similar to their other first party titles. They could have been working on a new 2D Mario, a back-to-basics Zelda (without Aonuma involved), or even new IPs.
There's no reason for the Wii U to exist except to masturbate the technophelia of Nintendo's senior management. Though hopefully with the underwhelming performance of the 3DS and Miyamoto no longer in a general manager position, this *might* reverse itself. But right now that's a pretty big if.
> is now successful against just about every set of odds.
<--- mfw people still think they can predict Nintendo.
Yes because the 3DS was such a *success* that it's cost Nintendo close to a billion dollars in losses!
Do people still seriously believe that the 3DS is a failure? Have you been drinking the Kotaku kool-aid or something? 15 million sold buddy. That's MORE than the DS accomplished in the same span of time. Reason for the losses are due to the ridiculously strong Yen which is beating the shit out of every Japanese company.
But sure, just like "teh PS3 has no gaems!!11!", let's just keep believing laughably outdated news and facts.
So, what we should really gleam from this is that Nintendo will be spending another whole year not supporting the Wii and making their profit margin even worse; forcing just about the entire weight of the company -again- on the 3DS, which, unless I'm missing something big, only really has major releases in February (RE and MGS). As well as forcing the entire Wii U launch into the holiday/pre-holiday season, where many people may not be keen on the idea of dropping their "big present" on early adopting a new system that -for all intent and purpose- they don't know will actually go any where.
Can I go back in time and write a "predictions" C-blog for the "of the week" thing? Cause you guys in the past won't even believe the crap I've got to say about this, or this crap at all. The wonders just a few weeks brings.