$300 Nintendo Wii U Arriving in the U.S. November 18

Nintendo’s next generation console, the Wii U, is arriving in U.S. stores on Sunday, Nov. 18, starting at $300.

Nintendo’s President of North America, Reggie Fils-Aime, made the announcement this morning onstage in New York City.

There will be two configurations available. The regular set, in white, will cost $299.99, and will include the Wii console and the Wii U GamePad. It will have 8 GB of memory. The deluxe package, in black, costs $349.99 and will ship with 32 GB of capacity, a GamePad charging cradle and the game NintendoLand.

Nintendo also announced it will be offering a new video feature called Nintendo TVii at no additional cost. TVii will allow consumers to search for content across multiple subscription services, including Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Video, and stream content to the TV.

Fils-Aime confirmed that Nintendo will release the games NintendoLand and Super Mario U at the Nov. 18 launch, along with 50 other titles from partners including Electronic Arts, THQ, Disney, Warner Bros., Ubisoft, Activision and many others.

The Wii U was first unveiled more than a year ago at E3, where Nintendo surprised the industry with the first tablet-size controller for a videogame console. The hardware also represents a nice upgrade from the current generation, because it supports HD graphics and hardcore game play. It will be connected online to offer new social experiences, including video chat.

Nintendo’s new system will be the only new console launching this holiday season. Microsoft and Sony have not announced plans for launching new Xbox or PlayStation hardware.

The Wii U will launch nearly a month later in Japan on Dec. 8.

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