The Nintendo Wii U release date and price were inadvertently leaked by a distributor today, letting one of Nintendo’s biggest secrets of 2012 out of the bag before Iwata-san and Reggie got to make the big announcement themselves. That is, of course, if the leak is legit. However, Nintendo hasn’t yet publicly denied the information, which would seem to give the data some relevance.
According to an intranet posting at Video Product Distributors, a wholesaler that works with large online retailers, the Nintendo Wii U release date will be Nov. 11. As for the price, the Wii U will ship with three varieties, according to the intranet posting: $249, $299 and $349. It is unclear exactly how each Wii U bundle would differ in this scenario, as all three cryptic listings merely said “W/GM” (presumably to mean “with game”) but showed no differences from one SKU to the next.
You can see a screen capture of the intranet listings here.
Could it be a difference in hard-drive size? In the number of Wii U Controllers? Perhaps a difference in the number or combination of Wii U new controllers and Wii Remotes?
Without an official statement or announcement from Nintendo — and of course we’re not going to get one from Video Product Distributors — we can’t be sure at this time. But in light of the new console’s HD capabilities (a first for Nintendo) and its innovative new controller, the Wii U bundle pricing seems legit.
Remember to keep this Amazon search bookmarked for future reference, so you know when the official Wii U bundles and pricing is announced: Wii U on Amazon