UK retailer pins £399 price point on Wii U

UK retailer Zavvi has priced Wii U at £399.85, pinning a 20th July 2012 release date on Nintendo's next console.

[iamnsuperman]

They best not. £400 is way to much. I guess Zavvi did this to cover their tracks. Retailers (for example Game) tend not to charge you if you preorder something and the price goes up but give you money back if the price goes down. So just covering themselves just in case the price does go into the 300-400(max)range.

[maawdawg]

That is equivalent to $650 right now. Nintendo is crazy if they think that is a good idea.

[iamnsuperman]

bear in mind things sold in the US are often cheaper (Taxes, import costs) but yes expensive. I think its just Zavvi covering themselves.

[fei-hung]

i think it is the controller which is bumping the price up. The specs on that controller must be pretty cool if it can do all that they say it can.

[Shadow Flare]

The PS3 was £425 at launch in the uk. Those WiiU controllers seem pricey though so I imagine they add on the costs. That's too expensive though

[sikbeta]

I can't be that much, sure it's speculation, but if I have to be honest, those big-@ss controllers look expensive...

[Ju]

That usually translates to Eur. 400, or something in the range of $400 in the US (or 450). Pricing usually is not bound to a simple exchange ratio. Sounds about right to me. And yet, too high.

[Wh15ky]

@Fei-hung

"I think it is the controller which is bumping the price up."

I agree, although I don't think the console will cost as much as £399.99 but one thing is for sure: the console will only come with one controller.

Therefore, another big question is - How much will the stand alone controllers cost?

[Kran]

WWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA AAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?

Ummmmmmmmmm..... yeah...

[news4geeks]

don't worry Kran, they just do this so as to not undercharge. There's no way this junk is gonna be priced like that.

[xtreampro_REVENGE!]

AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! You gotta be joking with that sheet!

[Nate-Dog]

It won't happen. It'll still be more expensive in UK/EU than in NA (as always) but yeah, won't be that much.

[VampiricDragon]

These are all just estimates people

Nintendo hasnt revealed anything regarding a price.

Dont go overboard

[zoks310]

This is all speculation not facts.

[perfectCarbonara]

I already wasn't planning on getting this, but now I'm SUPER not planning on getting it.

[koehler83]

Gotta be speculation.

[solidjun5]

Meh. I'll wait till the price is officially announced. I'm thinking next year E3. I have a feeling the console will be released next November.

[maawdawg]

Next year's E3 would be right before this speculated July launch, they would have to come out with a price well before that.

[solidjun5]

That's the thing...it's speculated. I'm speculating as well. I still think it's going to be launched in November with the official price revealed at E3 2011. I could be wrong and that's fine. I'll wait till everything is official by Nintendo, from the price to the date. Time will only tell.

[Vip3r]

lol'd.

[SonyNGP]

If I were to estimate, I would say around £279.99 to £319.99 is a more plausible pricepoint. There's no way it's gonna cost £400.

But in the end, we'll truly find out either later this year or next year.

[dan_chan89]

Gotta be kidding me

[Optical_Matrix]

PS3 retailed for £425 at launch in the UK. Nintendo is high if they think they can sell it for that much. £299.99-349.99

[Prcko]

LOLOLOL
200$ maybe,but wtf they thinking?

[sukas]

wiiU is actually no next gen console it`s a current-gen console and i`am not paying 499 $ for it.

in 2012 the price of the ps3 will be around 199 or 249.
and the psvita 249.

so what would i buy wiiU: dont no know all spec`s but it`s not a blu-ray player so it`s not going to be like a media-center.

controller device only works short range within the same room of the wiiU console.

as allways third party support fails on a nintendo console, yeah there will be support especially launch titels and cheap port`s but on long term look at the previous nintendo console`s wii, ds, 3ds ... .

online network ? i am pretty sure not as big as xbox-lvie and psn, gamescore, trophy, achievements, chat, videostore, tv, ...

ps3 + psvita = better than wiiU ? yes sure !

why?

because the psvita is similar to the wiiu controller and now nintendo just showed sony and the sony psvita developers how the can combine the ps3 and psvita by takeing advantage of the vita as a new controller for the ps3.

great third party support exclusive content, like that what was announced at e3, saint row, bioshock, startrek, battlefield 3,...

and you still can use the psvita as a handheld console wherever you want because its a true portable console better than 3ds and at the same price and the wiiu is a portable controller not a portable console.

and the wiiu will support still wiiplus motion controller no update on that one, ps move controller is much better.

wiiu coming out 2012, thats too late because the real next-gen xbox720 and ps4 will be launching maybe already
2013 or 2014, so the wiiu will only have life of maximum 2 years, what youre going with the console then its not a blu-ray player, only option, garbage can

if you got a ps3 just buy the psvita, no reason to buy wiiu, ps3+psvita it`s better much cheaper and better overall.

if you dont have a ps3, then wiiu 399 or by 2012 the ps3 will get definitely a price cut maybe 199,229,249 so 249 for ps3+ psvita 249= 500 $ for better playstation experience than wiiu.

except you want to play mario, zelda, super smash bors,... thats the only reason to buy a wiiu.

but than again you wont get uncharted, killzone, resistance, twisted metal, last guardian, killzone, god ofw ratchet & Clank, sly, starhawk, ................. and all those other triple aaa immersive games form sony first party developer`s.

wiiu is for me personally uninteresting dont play that much nintendo first party games, i got a xbox360 and ps3 looking forward to the psvita i think psvita+ps3 its going to be fascinating

[iamnsuperman]

"wiiU is actually no next gen console it`s a current-gen console and i`am not paying 499 $ for it. " with a new controller. From what is being speculated it is going to produce games of quality of PS3 if not slightly better. I would say its not next gen but more just Wii 1.5. The only reason why people are excited with the third party support is because the Wii didn't. They are offering nothing new except the controller gameplay. Third party games are going to look and play the same. Anyone who says otherwise is going to be bitterly disappointed. Look at the PS3 and 360. PS3 has shown it can produce stunning graphics but the third party multiplat are always going to look and play the same

[Venjense]

I wouldn't pay more than 300 for it provided it has a jump in graphics,

[Dark_Overlord]

If Nintendo do charge anywhere near this, they can say goodbye to that casual market they love so much

[NewsForSnowflakes]

ebgames.com.au have the console listed for $600.

[Jdoki]

We have to remember that Nintendo never make a loss on their hardware - so they could end up charging more than anticipated for the Wii U.

But I would be surprised if it's more than 299 at launch (with no bundled games).

The new controller does look quite neat, but from what I can see it's pretty much a 'dumb' terminal that receives content via the console. This means the controller itself is going to be fairly simple which should keep costs down - but relative to other controllers the Bill of Materials may still be way above average.

Finally, as the Wii U console works with existing Wiimotes and controllers, they could go for a low end bundle that does NOT include the new controller.

[Ghost_Sparta]

Let's imagine this: I bought Wii U and there is a game that is awesome to play whith my family...HOW MUCH FOR A NEW CONTROLLER?????????? I don't see anyone thinking about this! I really don't think that if we want to buy a second controller, this one will be cheap as the others!

[mamotte]

People here should be guessing the next world cup champions. Their ability to say things while knowing nothing is awesome.

[Half-Mafia]

the PS3 cost me £425 5 years ago, something that has the same graphics as a 5 year old console is not worth another near £400 even with that the new controller.