Nintendo Wii U - Preview | Price Guide

Wii-U

Manufacturer: Nintendo

Price: $299.99 (Basic) $349.99 (Deluxe)

Release Date: November 18, 2012 (US) 

Nintendo will be releasing their new system this Sunday (November 18, 2012) in the US. This is a quick guide for those who are interested in purchasing one at launch.  

What is it?

The Wii-U is Nintendo’s next generation (8^th to be exact) is home console. It features a sleek design similar to that for original Nintendo Wii. The system actually looks a lot like the Nintendo Wii but the corners are rounded and it is also longer (I wonder is Apple is going to try to sue them due to their newly acquired patient of rounded rectangles?). The real head turner is not the console itself but it is the new gamepad that features a 6.2 inch touch screen with resolution slightly over 480p (854x480 @158ppi).

Difference between Versions…?

Basic: $299.99

-          White Wii U Game Console (8GB)

-          White Wii U Game Pad

-          Wii Sensor Bar

-          Game Pad A/C

-          Console A/C

-          High Speed HDMI Cable

Deluxe: $349.99

-          Black Wii U Game Console (32GB)

-          Black Wii U Game Pad

-          Wii U Game Pad Cradle

-          Wii U Game Pad Stand

-          Wii U Console Stand

-          Nintendo Land

-          Wii Sensor Bar

-          Game Pad A/C Adaptor

-          Console A/C

-          High Speed HDMI Cable

Other Controller Features:

-          Motion sensor

-          Touch Screen

-          Dual along sticks

-          D-Pad

-          Digital buttons (A,B,X,Y,ZL,ZR,R,L,+,-, HOME, TV, POWER, Control Sync )

-          Microphone

-          Gyroscope

-          Accelerometer

-          Magnetometer

-          Extension Connector

-          NFC

-          IR

-          802.11n Wireless communication

-          Bluetooth? (not sure)

-          Front Facing Camera

-          Stylus

-          Rumble (haptic feedback)

-          Headphone Jack

-          Stereo Speakers

Console Features:

-          Backwards compatibility (Wii games as well as the Nintendo Virtual Console. GameCube disks won’t work in the Wii-U so you will have to buy them as the rerelease on the Virtual Console.)

-          Nintendo Network (Similar to that of PSN and Xbox Live. It was originally started on the Nintendo 3DS.)

-          Multimedia (Netflix, Hulu+, Amazon instant video, YouTube)

-          TVii

-          MiiVerse

-          TV Controler

-          Supports all of the Wii accessories

-          Allows up to 2 Wii-U gamepads and up to 4 Wii-motes

-          Bluetooth

-          1080p

-          HDMI

-          Internet browser

-          4 USB 2.0 ports

-          SD / SDHC card slot

-          “AV Multi Out” port

-          8 or 32GB of storage depending on which version you get.

-          2GB of RAM

-          CPU: IBM based multicore processor

-          GPU: AMD Radeon High Definition with an eDRAM cache built into the die.

 

Accessories:

-          Wii-U Pro controller- It looks like an Xbox360 Controller.  (Retails at $49.99)

-          As well as the Nintendo Wii accessories (balance board, etc.)

-          USB Microphone

Notable Launch Titles: (Retails at $49.99 – $59.99)

-          Assassins Creed III (UbiSoft)

-          Batman Arkham City: Armored Edition (RockSteady Studios)

-          Call of Duty: Black Ops II (Treyarch)

-          FIFA 13 (EA Canada)

-          Mass Effect 3: Special Edition (Straight Right / EA)  

-          Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate (CAPCOM)

-          New Super Mario Bros. U (Nintendo)

-          Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge (Team Ninja)

-          Nintendo Land (Nintendo)

-          Sing Party (FreeStyleGames)

-          Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (Sumo Digital / Sega)

-          Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition (Namco Bandai Games)

-          Wipeout: The Game 3 (Activision)

-          Zombi U (UbiSoft)

My Thoughts:

I’ve recently had the pleasure to play around with the Wii U  at the Nintendo World Store in NYC as well as in my local Target Store and the first thing that came into my head was “Wow this gamepad is a lot lighter and more comfortable than I thought it would be”. It not overly light to feel cheap and not to solid to feel like a brick, it has a nice middle ground. As I said earlier in this story the console is a bit bigger than the original Wii. The only game I was able to play was a Rayman game and let’s just say it not one that I would buy, but then again it wasn’t really aimed at the target audience that I fall in. Anyways I have high hopes for the Wii U; Personally I won’t be picking up one at launch due to the fact that there aren’t any games that I really want on it now. I will be getting one in the first quarter of next year though…