As promised, Nintendo announced the Wii U‘s Japanese launch details early this morning on a Nintendo Direct presentation, revealing that the console will come in both a Premium and Basic Set when it releases on December 8th.
The Wii U Premium Set retails for 31,500 yen ($405 USD), and includes; a black Wii U console, AC adapter, GamePad controller, GamePad AC adapter, HDMI cable, stand for the system, stand for the GamePad, and 32 GB of internal storage. Additionally, Premium buyers will be part of the Nintendo Network Premium service, which gives them a 10% discount on digital purchases on Nintendo’s eShop through December 2014.
The Basic Set will sell for 26,250 yen ($338 USD), and includes; a white Wii U console, AC adapter, GamePad controller, GamePad AC adapter, HDMI cable, and 8GB of internal storage.
Additional Wii U GamePad controllers will also be available for purchase separately from the console for 13,440 yen ($173 USD), along with the GamePad’s Charging Stand for 1,870 yen ($24 USD).
Nintendo also announced that the Wii U Pro Controller will launch in both black and white versions alongside the console, and will cost 5,040 yen ($65 USD).
Nintendo didn’t reveal too much out the console’s specifications, but what they did confirm squares with the rumored specs leaked earlier this week. Officially, the Wii U will have a total of 2GB of RAM, split evenly between system memory and what is available for games. Game discs were said to be capped at a 25GB capacity.
As for launch software, Nintendo announced that New Super Mario Bros. U will cost approximately 6,000 yen ($77) and Nintendo Land will run 5,000 yen ($64).
Keep in mind that these prices, details, and dates are for Japan only and will not necessarily translate directly over to the Wii U‘s Western launch. Both Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe are scheduled to announce their own Wii U launch details at 10AM Eastern (3PM UK) today.
We will let you know as soon as the North American and European Wii U launch plans are announced.
