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Nintendo confident about Wii U launch sales

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said this week that he is very confident about Wii U launch sales.

The exec says there were strong pre-order figures for the console, in all regions where it is launching. The console will hit North America, Europe and Australia next month and Japan in December.

"If you look at how preorders are doing at the moment, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wii U is sure to sell well in this holiday season," noted Iwata.



Most retailers sold out of both Wii U bundles, and Iwata noted last week there were 250,000 people on a waiting list. By comparison, the best selling console in the U.S. currently, the Xbox 360, sold about 275,000 consoles last month.

Iwata also noted that some launch games have been pushed back to 2013 to keep gamers interested: "Nintendo tends to release too many titles at the launch of a hardware system and as a result suffers a drop in new games for quite some time after launch, and for the Wii U launch, we are being very careful not to let it happen. Fortunately, third-party publishers overseas are launching many titles for us this time, and we were able to push back the release of some of the titles that we had originally intended to release as launch titles until next year."

The Wii U Basic and Deluxe bundles are set for release on November 18th, with the base model costing $300 and the deluxe edition selling for $350. The base model will include the Wii U console with 8GB memory and the Wii U GamePad in all white. The deluxe edition comes with 32GB and a GamePad charging cradle. Additionally, it will come bundled with the game NintendoLand.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Oct 2012 18:02

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• 11 comments

• embo22000

  after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers

  29.10.2012 20:17 #1

• heheheh (unverified)

  Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers LOL No

  29.10.2012 21:44 #2

• Bryan3404

  I don't know why you would want a controller that is basically a larger psp. It would work okay for casual games, but I can't see it working well for hardcore games.

  29.10.2012 21:52 #3

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers I have the feeling of Deja Vu here of similar things said about the original Wii. The only flop here is some people commenting on their own ignorance and hatred.
  
  Originally posted by Bryan3404: I don't know why you would want a controller that is basically a larger psp. It would work okay for casual games, but I can't see it working well for hardcore games. That's the beauty of the system because you can get the pro controller for the games you want that for and use the Gamepad and WiiMotes for the games that play better that way. Nintendo caters to both the casual and the more "hardcore" that way. I mean it is such a bad idea that after Nintendo hinted they were making a tablet type controller that could interact with games and console content that both Microsoft and Sony copied it yet once again with Microsoft SmartGlass and whatever Sony is putting on their tablets now.
  

  AMD Phenom II 965 @ 3.67Ghz, 8GB DDR3, ATI Radeon 5770HD, 256GB OCZ Vertex 4, 2TB Additional HDD, Windows 7 Ultimate.
  
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  29.10.2012 22:05 #4

• embo22000

  Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers I have the feeling of Deja Vu here of similar things said about the original Wii. The only flop here is some people commenting on their own ignorance and hatred.
  
  The wii was a beautiful thingand do so many things i loved it. Its was the first system to really make u move and do so many things with it but the wii u seems lame as hell it does bring innovation but the controller is huge and i know will feel extremelly askward to play with. btw i got 35 games for the wii

  29.10.2012 22:10 #5

• bobiroc

  Originally posted by embo22000: Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers I have the feeling of Deja Vu here of similar things said about the original Wii. The only flop here is some people commenting on their own ignorance and hatred.
  
  The wii was a beautiful thingand do so many things i loved it. Its was the first system to really make u move and do so many things with it but the wii u seems lame as hell it does bring innovation but the controller is huge and i know will feel extremelly askward to play with. btw i got 35 games for the wii
  Have you played it yet? I played it at Best Buy as they have demo units there and I did not find the tablet controller uncomfortable, heavy, or cumbersome. It is comfortable in the hand and easy to use and hold. I am curious if you feel the same about playing games on an iPad or similar tablet because this is much better than that.
  
  As far as innovation goes I think you missed all the demonstrations. There is a whole new level of interaction with the games and having other players interact with the game you are playing. Once again I will repeat that Nintendo's supposed lack of innovation is once again being copied by the competitors offering some of the same interaction that the Wii U does but in most cases falling short.
  

  AMD Phenom II 965 @ 3.67Ghz, 8GB DDR3, ATI Radeon 5770HD, 256GB OCZ Vertex 4, 2TB Additional HDD, Windows 7 Ultimate.
  
  http://www.facebook.com/BlueLightningTechnicalServices

  29.10.2012 22:18 #6

• megadunderhead

  You guys don't understand anything.
  
  ok i went to a wii u experience here is what you need to know a replacement controller is 130.00 but you can only use one tablet controller the rest of the players are on the wii remote or the new wii u pad controller not on the tablet you cannot run 4 tablet controllers it doesn't function that way.
  
  Also you think kids are going to break it i watched a drop demo it will take a lot to damage the controller the only way i can think of right now is to kick the screen in...
  
  So you really don't know anything yet and even better the 32 gig model will support 64 gig sdhc cards so plan on your console going to 95 gig's of storage
  

  30.10.2012 01:54 #7

• embo22000

  Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers I have the feeling of Deja Vu here of similar things said about the original Wii. The only flop here is some people commenting on their own ignorance and hatred.
  
  The wii was a beautiful thingand do so many things i loved it. Its was the first system to really make u move and do so many things with it but the wii u seems lame as hell it does bring innovation but the controller is huge and i know will feel extremelly askward to play with. btw i got 35 games for the wii
  Have you played it yet? I played it at Best Buy as they have demo units there and I did not find the tablet controller uncomfortable, heavy, or cumbersome. It is comfortable in the hand and easy to use and hold. I am curious if you feel the same about playing games on an iPad or similar tablet because this is much better than that.
  
  As far as innovation goes I think you missed all the demonstrations. There is a whole new level of interaction with the games and having other players interact with the game you are playing. Once again I will repeat that Nintendo's supposed lack of innovation is once again being copied by the competitors offering some of the same interaction that the Wii U does but in most cases falling short.

  30.10.2012 09:45 #8

• embo22000

  Originally posted by embo22000: Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: Originally posted by bobiroc: Originally posted by embo22000: after the initial sales i expect the wii u to flop big time excepially when kids start breaking their 130 dollars controllers I have the feeling of Deja Vu here of similar things said about the original Wii. The only flop here is some people commenting on their own ignorance and hatred.
  
  The wii was a beautiful thingand do so many things i loved it. Its was the first system to really make u move and do so many things with it but the wii u seems lame as hell it does bring innovation but the controller is huge and i know will feel extremelly askward to play with. btw i got 35 games for the wii
  Have you played it yet? I played it at Best Buy as they have demo units there and I did not find the tablet controller uncomfortable, heavy, or cumbersome. It is comfortable in the hand and easy to use and hold. I am curious if you feel the same about playing games on an iPad or similar tablet because this is much better than that.
  
  As far as innovation goes I think you missed all the demonstrations. There is a whole new level of interaction with the games and having other players interact with the game you are playing. Once again I will repeat that Nintendo's supposed lack of innovation is once again being copied by the competitors offering some of the same interaction that the Wii U does but in most cases falling short. You are definitelly a nintendo fan boy. Anyways nintedo has been copied since the beginning of their company. But it doesnt mean the wii u is gonna be great granted i will get it eventually just because i always get every system certain games attract me especially when they come with metroid zelda and their greats but i dont think itll sell like the original wii did. People already got a wii for their kids they dont need a wii u thats pretty much what im saying.

  30.10.2012 09:49 #9

• SProdigy

  Quote:People already got a wii for their kids they dont need a wii u thats pretty much what im saying. That would be like saying "well I have a Super Nintendo, no need to get any other system."
  
  I remember when the 360 leaped out in front of the Wii and PS3 almost a year in advance. Everyone bashed MS and that console is still going strong. I think Nintendo realized the end of life for the Wii and is smart to plunge head-first into this next generation of consoles.

  30.10.2012 12:50 #10

• Interestx

  I find it quite funny watching the anti-Nintendo spiel some insist on trotting out.
  
  The plain fact is Wii was a smash success and as any business will tell you selling a new version (after a decent interval) after such a smash hit is likely to point to things going in one direction.
  
  The pre-ordering already tells us Wii u is going to do very very well.
  
  I have no doubt the anti gang (amusingly mostly PS3 fanboys) will continue to bash it at every turn and fail to understand its wide appeal, it'll be the Wii tale with them all over again.
  

  30.10.2012 12:56 #11