Tonight, for the first time, Nintendo will be divulging concrete information on its upcoming Wii U console for the Japanese market. Release dates, prices, specs, the works.


While much of it will be of direct relevance only to the Japanese market, we should be able to divulge hints as to Western availability and pricing from the information, ahead of more official announcements due in the morning.

Join us for live coverage of the news.

This post will be updated as news comes to hand.

4:02 - 2GB MEMORY - The Wii U will have 2GB of memory. 1GB for games, 1GB for system memory.


4:03 - 25GB DISCS - Wii U game discs will have a 25GB capacity.

4:08 - WII COMPATIBILITY - While we knew the system was backwards compatible with the Wii, Nintendo says all Wii accessories, like the balance board, will also work out of the box with the Wii U.

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4:10 - CLUTTER - Nintendo says a big plus for the Wii U's controller is that the smaller, second screen frees up more space on your TV, making things less cluttered.

4:12 - NEVER ALONE - With the Wii U's Mii Universe, you're never really playing alone.


4:13 - LAUNCH GAMES - New Super Mario Bros and Nintendoland will be launch titles.


4:14 - PRO PAD - The Xbox 360-a-like Pro controller will retail for ¥5040


4:15 - Wii U Pad - The Wii U's controller will retail for ¥13440

4:15 - Launch Bundles - The Wii U will launch in two bundles. The "basic", a white console, will sell with the Wii U, a controller and an 8GB HDD. A "premium" bundle, the black console will sell with HDMI cable, power cradles for your Wii U pad and a 32GB HDD.


4:19 - LAUNCH - The Wii U will launch in Japan on December 8. The basic model is priced at ¥26250, while the premium model is ¥31,500.


And that's it! There'll be more news later tonight about Wii U games when Nintendo Japan holds a second, software-oriented press briefing. Western release details are being revealed at an event in New York on Thursday morning.