That certainly didn’t take long. Hours after Nintendo announced the availability date and pricing for their upcoming Wii U console, Gamestop has already begun taking preorders. They were the first, several hours ahead of the others. Best Buy and Toys “R” Us have also begun their preorders.
The Wii U will come in two flavors at launch: a black, 32GB model, and a white 8GB system. The white system will be $299 and the black with additional storage capacity will run you a $50 premium. 64 days from now, you could have a glossy new console in your home. The question between now and then will be: will it be sold out everywhere this holiday season? Should you get your preorders done now and hope to get a console before you’re stuck without one? Or will you wait and try your luck, and believe that this generation of Nintendo console isn’t as big of a deal as the last? Although I’m certainly not expecting it to live up to the hype of the Wii, which was “hard to get” for three holiday seasons in a row, I would expect it to be a top ticket item this year.
As of the time of publication, we’re still waiting for Amazon’s preorder page to go live, but we’ll be sure to update with a link when it becomes available.