http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/wii-u-coming-to-america-sunday-november-18/ Wii U will launch in the United States on Sunday, November 18 The system will come in two configurations: A white basic set at $299.99 that comes with 8GB on built-in memory, plus a Wii U GamePad, AC adapter, and HDMI cable. A black deluxe set, costing $349.99, will include everything in the basic bundle plus 32GB of total flash storage, a GamePad charging cradle, stands for the GamePad and console, and a copy of NintendoLand. The deluxe edition will also let users redeem points for every digital download purchased for the system.
Initially, I thought this sounded surprisingly affordable, but that caused me to look at the console more closely. I hadn't done so previously, as I didn't see any games that I wanted on it. Now that I've looked at the game son it and compared it's hardware specs, I can see that the technology in the Wii-U makes it only ever-so-slightly more powerful than the the Xbox 360 and the PS3. . . which were released 7 years ago. . . so Nintendo is again selling people 7-year-old tech at modern-day prices instead of heavily discounting it. Then again, maybe the dollar has just weakened that much. I'm looking at a PS3 and they still want to get $250 for their cheapest model (It has more amenities and a bigger hard drive than the "cheap" $300 Wii-U, but it also has a bunch of games out for it - since you aren't getting a big jump in graphics with the Wii-U, you have to compare it to current-gen game libraries too). Likewise, the cheapest Xbox 360 is $180 and it only comes with 4GB memory (basically game saves and some larger games that want an install won't be playable on it, so it's a trap at that price too). Having said all that, real consumers can now pick up used or refurbished PS3s and Xbox 360s for ~$120-150, so the actual price people will pay is much lower. Don't get me wrong, the Wii-U will be the best looking console out there for a couple of years as it is slightly better than the PS3 and Xbox 360 (again, both very old game consoles), but it will look like shit compared to actual next-gen consoles when Sony or Microsoft decide to release a new one in a couple years.
