Can Nintendo score with Wii U?

The company will begin selling its new console on Nov. 18 at a starting price of $300.

By Kim Peterson Sep 13, 2012 3:11PM
Nintendo (NTDOY) is hoping to strike gold again in a home gaming console, this time with the Wii U. The company announced Thursday that the new system will launch Nov. 18 in North America for $300.

Does the company have another success on its hands? The Wii, released in 2006, was a smash hit whose success surprised many doubters. It still has a prime spot in living rooms around the world.

Post continues below.

But things are vastly different now. Kids are playing games on smartphones and iPads. The Xbox 360 from Microsoft (MSFT) has staying power, as does the PlayStation 3 from Sony (SNE). Is there room for another gaming console in the mix?Credit: Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Caption: The new WiiU video-game handheld console

The Wii U has some nice innovations going for it, particularly a touch screen GamePad controller that looks like a small tablet. The controller can be used to stream videos from Netflix (NFLX) and Amazon (AMZN). It also has a camera and a stylus. Really, the controller can run as its own gaming and entertainment system, to some extent.

To see how it works, check out this video about the upcoming "Lego City: Undercover" game for the Wii U. It looks awesome.

A white, 8GB version of the Wii U will sell for $300. A $350 deluxe version is black and comes with 32GB of storage space and a copy of "Nintendoland."

"The Wii U will change the way you play games," said Reggie Fils-Aime, the head of Nintendo U.S. Is he right? I've learned not to underestimate Nintendo after the surprising success of the original Wii.

(Microsoft owns and publishes Top Stocks, an MSN Money site.)

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3Comments
Sep 18, 2012 10:39AM
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Why vote him down? Working Dad is just stating the obvious. Nintendo will cease to exist as we know it if this machine fails. Core gamers are not looking to this machine to replace the 360 or PS3, at most it is for casual gamers who bought the wii, and used it for a couple weeks and then let it collect dust.
Sep 17, 2012 1:49PM
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Just one thing that I noticed, Kim. In both the video and the article I saw the terms "smartphones and iPads." While smartphones is the correct term, iPads is not correct. Tablets would be the correct term to use.

Sep 14, 2012 2:24PM
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If this bombs it will be the end of Nintendo as we know it. They cannot afford for this to fail, but honestly no one in the US is really talking about it.
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