Wii U to Launch December 8 in Japan
Nintendo has finally spilled the beans on when we can expect to see the Wii U launch. Yes, it will be here in time for the holiday shopping season.
Nintendo revealed last night via its Twitter feed that it would announce the Wii U's price and release details today. True to its word, Nintendo announced the details of the Wii U's launch very early this morning. At about midnight PST the company revealed that the Wii U would make its Japanese debut on December 8.
The Wii U will be available in two versions, the basic set and the premium set. The basic set will only be available in white, while the premium version will only be available in black. The premium version features four times the storage of the basis set (32GB up from 8GB) and will include the console, the GamePad, a charging stand, a play stand, and a stand for the Wii U itself. The basic bundle cuts out the extras and will only include the white console, a controller and that 8GB drive we mentioned earlier.
Pricewise, you're looking at ¥26,250 for the basic package or ¥31,500 for the premium bundle. This equates to just shy of $340 for the basic and just over $400 for the premium.

Nov. 18 is the launch date for US
8GB model is $300 and the 32GB is $350 (Sadly my connection got cut off just after that so i dont know what's included in each bundle.)
http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu
http://www.nintendo.com/wiiu/buynow/
They also have an "optical drive will support a new proprietary disc format that can store up to 25GB — similar to Blu-ray discs." *cough* Bullsh!t !! *cough*
I'll spend $500 on a new video card or $1000+ on a new rifle but $350 for an already outdated console? no thanks!
PC does what nintendont....
Regardless, a lot like Apple it will still probably sell very well.
It is a hefty price tag, but I doubt most people would buy a second tablet controller. The last I checked only one of those controllers can be used at a time per console.
I don't think it's intended to work like that, contrary to what many people seem to believe. One of the biggest strengths of the controller is a concept called asynchronous gameplay, which allows two users to have their own game experiences while playing against each other or in co-op.
I think this Rayman Legends demonstration is a good example of what the controller is capable of:
http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/06/06/rayman-legends-wii-u-developer-demo-e3-2012
So you are still playing the game that came with the console... almost 10 years ago. You see people... this is why EA keeps selling the same game and just changing the number at the end of it! Cause people keep playing 10 year old games and trying to pawn it off as still fun. Your lack of demand in criteria for a game keeps the game makers and the console makers making the same stuff! If we dont demand better graphics AND game play by not buying stuff that looks like garbage we end up with "call of duty: ancient warfare 10: the french revolution (Bastille edition)" with the same dx9 graphics and zero story line! Then that polished turd gets ported to pc and my high end graphics card goes to waste because there arent any games on the market that actually push it cause they're all crappy console ports!
Its like the new car syndrome. You get a new car and its all fun and new and cool then 10 years later its old and busted and boring so you go get a new car and it starts all over again.
The black console would be nice...
32GB might be nice if I ever use space on a console (unlikley though) plus the console has an SDHC memory card slot so not that important.
I could do without those stands...
I don't think the premium version offers enough for the extra $60, I might get the basic version. (IF I even decide to get one...)
I'm actually leaning toward the X-Box 720 for this coming generation.
I'm tired of people compare console to PC in terms of specs. Because consoles are locked down in terms of parts they can make games with better graphics on less powerful specs then for the PC.
The difference achievable in performance is negligible. The difference in coding care isn't.
Nintendo is not here to give a high-end gaming experience and if you expected that from them, you obviously aren't familiar with what Nintendo does. Nintendo offers a cheap gaming experience. The Wii U will be powerful enough for good 720p/1080p gaming and that's all that it had to do. The point of it is a different experience from the higher-end consoles through the interface and style, not by being more expensive with high-end hardware.