We already knew it would release by the end of the year, though this announcement confirms that they will release it in every major region around the same time (like they did with the Wii).

If theres one thing that we know. Nintendo ALWAYS gives us wonderful things Mid November. Im going to say November 18th or 17th for Wii U! :D

You're right, syrindigo. I'm going to do what I did with the 3DS (I believe I called the day and was only $50 off the price on the Newscast prediction show in early 2011).

November 18, 2012. Book it. Wii U all over your face.

I hope it comes with a towel.

Price? I predict $279.99.

The RFN staff predicts that you can easily walk into any bigger retail store and get one on launch day.

I'm wondering how many generations its going to be to live that one down.

What I think is strange is that Reggie Fils-Aime reiterated at CES that the console would come out some time between E3 and the end of the year. Satoru Iwata’s words have been translated on some sites as: (paraphrasing) “The console will be out FOR the end of the year” only a few weeks later.  To me this seems improbable. The release of the Wii U is dependent on the current line-up of Wii games (of which there are none). It’s also dependent upon Nintendo’s Wii U launch-window game library, which hasn’t been announced. If Nintendo doesn’t have anything substantial to offer on the Wii console for the next six months, why would they delay the Wii U launch until the end of the year? I’m still sticking by my July-September launch date prediction and hoping this was just a translation error.

They need to have software ready for the Wii U launch and afterwards, and need to have enough supplies to not have a shortage for the system hardware. And there are still plenty of Wii games coming out, just maybe none that you are interested in. I don't see a summer launch, sales are just not strong in that period and it would go against what Nintendo tends to do.

I think this has November written all over it. After E3 we'll see no imiedeate commercials then Baam!! October they hit it hard and BLACK FRIDAY, everyone pounces on it.

As much as I hate to wait almost a year for the Wii U, waiting for the holiday season is a good idea. That's when sales go up for stores across the board. But needless to say, I can NOT wait for the Nintendo Wii U to hit stores!

@TJ SPIKE: I absolutely agree, Nintendo needs to have an extensive Wii U games line-up ready by the end of the year. However, to me, (not to be presumptuous) Mario Party 9 and Xenoblade aren’t going to hold me until September (I don’t plan on getting either).  I also agree with you that summer launches don’t work, because consumers are spending their money on vacation, not gaming. In addition, I feel like I may have misrepresented my initial point, the console’s release will be dependent upon the games available for both Wii and Wii U. I don’t see how Nintendo will lose sales by releasing a console a few months before peak sales season; which is primarily in the U.S. anyway; the other half of the worldwide sales don’t necessarily follow the Christmas sales boom. E3 is still five months away, I feel like anything could change (3DS price-drop anyone?) before then.  All I know is, Nintendo fans should be receiving the most encouraging gaming news this year.

See 3DS launch. See 3DS launch fail. See Nintendo avoid having a 3DS launch. See Nintendo wait for stable of strong games to be ready for Wii U launch.

November 18, 2012. All your dreams will be finally wii-u-lized.

But anyway, I see your point, but having a few dying Wii months is better than having the Wii U launch followed by a few dying months. Maybe it'll be October? Honestly, that's what I thought they'd do with Zelda and they didn't.

November 18, 2012.

Releasing at the end of the year is a bad move because it doesn't give them much of a head start over the competition. What happens if the NeXbox420 releases in March 2013? What then? Then the Wii U has only had a few months head start instead of almost a year like they could if they were to launch in say June.

Oh, that is gloriously terrible. Now I need a towel, to snap you with.

I lol'd.

Neal, I am fairly certain that some of my dreams will be Wii-U-lized in 2012, thank you for the reassurance.  I must admit, I initially felt Wii U would be the launched at the end of 2012 when it was revealed at E3. Maybe I’m being anxious, but I don’t see any software on the horizon to support Nintendo until November. At the same time my feelings are a confluence of “what’s reasonably next?” Of course, I know NWR will have me covered.
On a side note, the “Nintendo’s Developers” feature was excellent; I found it very informative.  Thank you Neal and everyone at NWR who contributed.

Thanks for the kind words.

To elongate what I said before, I'd be shocked if Wii U hits in summer or Sept/Oct. The main problem with 3DS was that it honestly released too early. It didn't have a great stable of games ready at launch. It really took until the holidays to get going.

Nintendo's going to be safe and deliberate with the launch of Wii U. That's why I'm confident that it will hit on their typical big release day of the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It needs to launch with a solid lineup of games and have a system seller.

I guessed November 2012 way back when, so this is in line with what I expected. Now I just hope that they are actually prepared for the launch, unlike with the 3DS.

We knew it was coming in 2012, and the holidays happen at the end of 2012 so the fact its releasing before the holidays is something we already knew. Plus it wouldn't make sense for Nintendo to delay it beyond the holidays and miss out on the enormous sales potential.

That said, I would rather it came out earlier than the holidays. I don't want to wait, and the more of a headstart the system has over the PS420 the better. We know it has to launch sometime after March because that's when the fiscal year ends, so it can happen anytime after E3 and before christmas. June would be an ideal month, imho.

Well it will be welcomed with open arms, as my Wii is getting some Skyward Sword game time, and XenoBlades when that comes out, and since we won't be getting the Last Story here, then my Wii will be collecting dust as it won't be used much.

I don't know about you, but I'll be getting the The Last Story here. I don't understand why people won't just mod their Wii to revolt. NOA screwed up, but you shouldn't have to pay because of that. IMPORT both of these fantastic games. I can't wait to play Sakaguchi's latest masterpiece.

Actually, that depends on how well Xenoblade does.