Wii U launches in the UK at midnight tonight

by Mark Tyson on 29 November 2012, 18:20

Tags: Nintendo (TYO:7974), PC

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Nintendo will launch the Wii U on Friday and it will be available to eager British shoppers from midnight tonight at 195 GAME stores around the country and the HMV flagship store in Oxford Street, London. Gaming magazine MCV reports that 50 of GAME’s stores will have demo systems available for gamers to test before the Big Ben strikes midnight. Also there are some special incentives to be the first in line at buying time.

MCV notes that the GAME within Hamleys famous toy store is selling its first 100 Premium and ZombiU SKUs “at £249.99 and £299.99 respectively”. That’s about a £50 reduction on RRPs. Also console buyers will be able to pick up either “Sports Connection, Just Dance 4, Darksiders II or Epic Mickey 2 for just £20”. If you want to check that your local GAME is on the list of participating stores just check out the list on MCV.

HMV Oxford Street hosts the official Wii U launch

The venue for the UK’s official launch of the Nintendo Wii U is HMV’s flagship store in London’s Oxford Street. If you are one of the first 100 in the queue at the HMV store for the launch you can get “a free copy of New Super Mario Bros. U and another free Wii U game of their choice from an unspecified selection” says the Metro. Also the first 500 at the HMV flagship store will get a free “goodybag”.

The HMV official launch offer has inspired four students who have been “camping out in the rain and the cold” for five days waiting for Wii U launch time, according to MCV. The four students are members of a development company called Vertalex Studios and the queuing has brought a good bit of publicity for them.

Already sold out?

Worryingly, the freebie newspaper Metro is reporting that many online stores and others who haven’t reserved stock for bricks and mortar store visitors have sold out. The newspaper notes that Argos has no stock and recommends people pre-order on the internet to avoid disappointment, it thoughtfully includes links to a host of online stores such as Amazon, ShopTo, Tesco and Zavvi. I’ve just checked these four and they do say they have stock. Of the supermarkets it seems that Sainsburys have no stock online.

Launch titles

The Wii U has 24 UK launch titles as below, according to the Huffingon Post:

  • Funky Barn
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
  • Skylanders Giants
  • Transformers Prime
  • Disney Epic Mickey 2. The Power Of Two
  • FIFA 13
  • Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
  • Ben 10: Omniverse
  • Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade
  • Tank! Tank! Tank!
  • Tekken Tag Tournament 2
  • Nintendo Land - the 'Wii Sports' for the new console
  • New Super Mario Bros. U
  • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
  • Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper
  • Darksiders 2
  • Assassin's Creed 3
  • Just Dance 4
  • Rabbids Land
  • Sports Connection
  • Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013
  • ZombiU
  • Batman: Arkham City Armoured Edition
  • Game Party Champions

 

Good luck to you if you want one or are queuing; it’s going to dip below zero degrees in many UK regions tonight!



HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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Four guys in a one man tent for five days? The smell must be gettin, lets say, a bit peculiar.
Pre-ordered this. Looks good :).
Mine arrived today from Amazon. I'm a bit bemused by this because it says on the order that it will be released tomorrow.
Oh well, I'm not complaining. :-)
No midnight releases in Banbury.
A sad time for humans when you spend a week in a tent, on a pavement waiting for a lacklustre games console. Even if the console was actually worth having, queuing for days in a tent is still a futile exercise (oh, snap!)