Wii U Believe This Rumor? (HaHa!)

So November has come and gone, and we have yet to hear any local Wii U release information. But fret not! Your resident ninja here has got some scoops!
We did a bit of talks with a few gamers on the street and contrary to what many would think, Singaporeans (and fellow gamers in regional countries) are actually looking forward to laying their hands on a Wii U console. “I can’t wait to play a Mario and Zelda game in high-definition!” trumped up Alexander Lee, a 28-years old self-confessed Nintendo fanboy.

Some key retailers that we spoke to are a little bit cautious, however. The key concern is pricing. In the US, the Wii U Basic and Wii U Deluxe are priced at US$299.99 and US$349.99 respectively. Bear in mind that this is before State’s tax is included in (e.g., California sales tax is at 8.75%). While local distributor Maxsoft has yet to confirm a release data, much less local pricing, a couple of sources have revealed to us that Singapore will see a limited launch (due to global shortage) sometime mid of this month.

Additionally, the same retailers also told that the two SKUs will likely be priced at S$479 and S$579 (GST included). Although a separate fan site (http://www.facebook.com/NintendoWiiUSingapore) claimed that their own source has pointed towards a pricier $499 and $599. The marked up in pricing factored in shipping cost as well as replacing the power adapter to one that’s compatible with our local voltage – nothing surprising here, since this is how Maxsoft have always formulated their pricing with previous Nintendo hardware (by factoring in shipping and local power adaptor costs).

What seems to be clear though, is that the signs are pointing towards a S$479-S$499 and S$579-S$599 price points for both the Wii U Basic and Deluxe sets respectively. Wii U software will also very likely follow current market pricing, at S$60-S$80 depending on titles. Maxsoft has yet to confirmed an exact launch date, but it is hard to imagine them missing out on a potentially bumper Christmas season sale. So don’t be surprise to see these consoles up on sale quietly even as early as next week.

But remember, all of these are still rumours and hearsay at the moment. Nothing official from Nintendo and Maxsoft. So I hope you took a bagful of salt earlier.