Nintendo really hit it out of the park during their big New York announcement event for the Wii U yesterday.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime revealed a console more powerful than either the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, a large and varied lineup of games (including “hardcore” titles, and Bayonetta 2 as a console exclusive), and a streaming video service on-par (or better) than anything yet seen on a console. The odd concept of playing videogames on a TV while integrating a tablet was well-explained and demonstrated to be a desired feature.
Not everything is perfect, however. Nintendo fans who are loaded with expendable income might be disappointed to learn that Wii U GamePads will not be sold separately at the time of launch. Fils-Aime revealed this detail during a Q&A session after the announcement event, according to engadget.
It is possible that the reason for this is that manufacturing of the GamePads has been delayed, and any extras are certainly needed to make the pushed-back launch of the Wii U in Europe. Customers looking to stock-up on launch day will be out of luck.
All of this is a little moot, however, because no launch titles for the console will support two GamePads. Fils-Aime did say that GamePads will go on sale when games that support it are released. Also, when the GamePads do go on sale, they will undoubtedly be very expensive. Though a U.S. price for the Wii U GamePads has not been announced, the Japanese price has: 13,440 Yen, or about $172. That’s over 51% of the basic model Wii U console’s price.