Nintendo TVii launching December 8 in Japan, US and Europe in 2013 [update]

Nintendo has announced that TVii, the Wii U’s multimedia TV guide, will launch alongside the console’s Japan launch on December 8, while US and European users will have to until 2013 in order to get TVii functionality. TVii pulls data from Rovi’s G-Guide and lets gamers scroll through listings using the GamePad.

UPDATE: It’s confirmed that Europe will see the 2013 delay, but a solid release date for the US is actually still unknown. The last we heard, TVii was delayed into December, so it’s possible we may see it on the 8th along with Japan, but no official word from Nintendo on that yet.

Earlier this month, Nintendo announced that TVii was delayed into December, and would not coincide with the American launch of the console. However, the feature has been delayed once again for both US and European gamers to sometime in 2013. Japan gamers, however, will be able to take advantage of TVii right at launch.

However, one feature that Nintendo is charging for is the ability the Wii U’s GamePad as a television remote control in Nintendo TVii. Users who want this feature will have to pay a one-time fee of ¥100 ($1.22). A strange fee, indeed, but then again, gamers are paying double digits every year to watch Netflix on their Xbox 360, so it’s probably something that we don’t need to complain about too much.

The Wii U had a respectable launch week after its release on November 18, with over 400,000 consoles sold in the US during the first week. That’s a respectable number, and Nintendo may be close to edging Microsoft to the number of consoles sold per month, which Microsoft has held the crown for the past 20 months or so.