Nintendo Wii U details revealed

Nintendo have now revealed the details for the Australian Wii U launch, following midnight's Nintendo Direct presentation covering Europe. Most importantly the Wii U will be released in Australia on November 30th, with two flavours available - the Basic and Premium varieties.




The easiest way to differentiate the two is colour - the Premium package will be black, with a 32GB HDD, Wii U GamePad, stands and a charging dock for the console and controller - and a Sensor Bar (the one from the Wii) and the game Nintendo Land. The Basic package will be white and comes with a more limited 8GB onboard HDD space and the Wii U GamePad - but no stands, sensor bar or Nintendo Land. The Premium package will set you back $429.95 RRP and the Basic package will set you back $349.95 RRP.

The Premium package also comes with a reward programme called Nintendo Network Premium - by purchasing digital titles from the Nintendo eShop you gain points - and once you hit 500 points you can use them to get discounts on future eShop purchases.

Pricing on peripherals is not yet known, but if it's anything like the US and Japan, purchasing a second GamePad will set you back close to half the price of the Wii U itself. Details were also given on the Pro Controllers - the controllers more similar to Sony and Microsoft's controllers - the Wii U can sync 4 Pro Controllers at once. Don't forget of course, the Wii U will be compatible with the Wii's controllers - so hold onto them if you're going to grab a Wii U.

Several Wii U titles' dates were announced along with the console dates, with Nintendo revealing New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land as launch titles. New Super Mario Bros. U is another Mario game, whoopee - you can watch the trailer for it in our videos library. Nintendo Land is several nice looking smaller games tied together, designed to show off the different aspects of the Wii U - unfortunately however, no trailer for it is available.




Third Party-wise, Rayman Legends, Zombi U were announced for launch - and we learned that in Zombi U death means you begin playing as a new character - and you have to collect your gear off the zombified corpse of the previous survivor you played. A perma-death mode is also available, as is - finally in a video game, hobo code - you can tag symbols around the world for others to see.

Fifa 13 and Mass Effect 3 Special Edition - with additional content - will also be available from launch, as will Call of Duty: Black Ops II - which features local multiplayer - one player on the TV, the other on the GamePad, and single player on the GamePad. Several downloadable titles were also announced for launch, namely Trine 2, Toki Tori 2 and Nano Assault Neo - all of which have specifically designed content for the Wii U.




During the presentation Nintendo said 50 games will come out during the 'launch window' - between the December release of the system and March next year. Several titles were mentioned, although naturally not all of them. Platinum Games' Pikmin-esque P-100 is now known as The Wonderful 101, but the title most people will be more excited about from the Japanese developer is Bayonetta 2 - which is a Wii U exclusive. Personally, I'm looking forward to never having to go near that series ever again.

Monster Hunter 3 Unlimited was announced, due in March 2013 - and it features 3DS connectivity allowing you to transfer your saves between the Wii U and 3DS - along with 4 player local co-op. Other titles due in the launch window include, of course, Assassin's Creed 3, Darksiders 2, Batman: Arkham City, Aliens: Colonial Marines and Lego City Undercover.

Will you be grabbing a Wii U when it hits stores in December? I'll be snagging a Premium pack personally - the price difference is well worth the extras you get in my opinion. What do you think?Let us know in the comments below!