Nintendo Wii U is coming at November 18th

April 5, 2012 | Filed under: Gaming,News | Posted by: Sam Turker

Ahead of the expected Nintendo Wii U release date announcement at E3 2012 in June, new reports have suggested the console will land November 18

Having been officially unveiled at E3 last year, new reports have suggested Japanese gaming giant Nintendo will launch the eagerly awaited Nintendo Wii U on November 18th.

Looking to capitalise on the pre-Christmas shopping rush, the latest claimed Wii U release fits with the company’s announcement earlier in the year that the next-generation console would hit Japanese, US and European markets by the end of 2012.

Nintendo Wii U Release Date

Although far from confirmed, the claimed arrival date has been rumoured for the second time this week with US retailer GameStop seemingly confirming previous reports from Japanese gaming retailer Media Land that the Nintendo Wii replacement will launch on November 18th.

Tipped to hit the US on November 18th, one week ahead of launch in Nintendo’s home country, the claimed Wii U release date has appeared by internal memos from the pair of transcontinental gaming retailers, sparking speculation word has been received from the Japanese based manufacturer.

Although a Sunday arrival might cause a slither of doubt in the minds of wannabe Wii U owners, the console’s predecessor, the original Wii, hit markets on Sunday November 19th back in 2006.

“Wii U will launch some time between E3 – which is in June – at the end of the year so essentially the second half of the year,” Nintendo’s US head Reggie Fils-Aime said recently.

Nintendo Wii U Features

Like the Wii before it, the Nintendo Wii U is as much about the controller as it is the console. Boasting an inbuilt 6.2-inch touchscreen the controller can be used either to display HUD info, for mini-games using the motion control (spinning it round you to aim in shooting games, for example), or simply to mirror what’s happening onscreen in real time.

Around that is a compliment of full, modern controls: a pair of thumbsticks, four action buttons and four rear triggers (two L and two R).

Away from the controller and the next-gen console is to up its gaming ante with the overdue introduction of 1080p HD gaming and internal flash memory that’s upgradable via SD or USB. With downloadable content to be made available through an online store the Wii U is to be backwards compatible with both Wii games and controllers.