Wii U North American launch details

[Jobydrone]

Nintendo of America just concluded a big press event where they announced that their new console, the Wii U will be released in North America on Sunday, November 18.  Two SKUs are planned, one called the "basic set" which includes the console, the tablet controller, and power/HDMI cables for $299.00, and the "Deluxe set" which includes the former plus four times the internal memory (32 GB vs. 8GB), a charging stand for the tablet controller, stands for the console itself and the controller, and a pack in game called Nintendoland for $349.00.

I'm excited to see what this means for the future of home consoles.  Probably not much, though.  The early game line-up looks like mostly ports of games already available on existing consoles.  The tablet controller doesnt appear to change things that dramatically.  They did talk about plans for a feature called Nintendo TVii, which appears to sync with your DVR to allow for control of your cable content as well as access to streaming services like Amazon and Netflix through the tablet controller or your TV.  Again, not groundbreaking but still interesting.  Ultimately I don't see myself waiting outside on the day of release for this, but I will take a wait and see approach to determine if this might be appropriate for the kids when Santa comes a calling.

[Rico]

Can it play Blu-Ray discs?

[Jobydrone]

Can it play Blu-Ray discs?

Definitely not.

edit to add:  honestly this wasn't mentioned but I would be shocked beyond belief if either Nintendo or Microsoft ever added this functionality to their consoles, considering that DVD is still the primary format people are using around the world and that Blu-Ray is a Sony proprietary format.  Actually it wouldn't surprise me if this console didn't even play DVDs, the Wii didn't.