90°

Wii U out in Australia on November 30th, $349 and $429

Nintendo Australia has just announced the price and date for the Wii U in Australia and we're pretty happy with it. The Wii U will launch in Australia on November 30th, that's the same day as Europe, before Japan and just 12 days after the US. Pretty awesome.

The Wii U will come in two packages here in Australia just like the rest of the world. The Basic Pack will be $349.95 and comes with the 8GB model Wii U. The Premium Pack at $429 will come with the 32GB model. The Premium Pack also contains a stand for the GamePad and console, a charging cradle for the GamePad, a sensor bar and the Nintendo Land software. Both packs also feature an HDMI cable and AC adapters for console and GamePad.

Shok4258d ago

If I was Australian.........I would not be a gamer. The pricing over there for video games is absolutely crazy.

-Mika-4258d ago

Australia Minimum wage is $15 an hour. So they can easily afford this.

Shok4258d ago

Ah, I was not aware of that. I guess that would compensate for the higher prices a bit then.

Megaton4258d ago

If that's true, then I think it's time to move to Australia, giant spiders be damned.

AlucardFury4258d ago

Holy Crap!! Minimum Wage? Damn!

AusRogo4258d ago

Haha yeah but still blows! 350 aint bad though, will consider this.

Rhythmattic4258d ago

Just to add

For junior employees, the minimum rates are:
Under 16 years of age $5.87
At 16 years of age $7.55
At 17 years of age $9.22
At 18 years of age $10.90
At 19 years of age $13.17
At 20 years of age $15.59.

snp4258d ago (Edited 4258d ago )

We get similar 'average wages' though, and have much higher utility costs - and, frankly, all costs of living are higher (food, fuel, transport etc). Australian mortages are up to a few hundred percent higher than US relative to income.

Australia, in other words, doesn't get gouged because it's some sort of rich persons land and the US is third world. Most figures - bar the low 'minimum wage' - favour the US, and disposable income overall there's little difference.

Australia gets gouged because opportunistic companies are able to get away with it.

Rhythmattic4258d ago

smh.com.au/digital-life/games/ blogs/screenplay/aussies-will-b e-charged-australia-tax-for-wii -u-20120914-25vk9.html

specialguest4258d ago

World's most venomous snake, the largest species of crocodile, great white sharks, and baby snatching dingos.

Yet...I would risk all of that just to ride in a kangaroo's pouch and hug a koala and let it nap on my chest.

Salamander4258d ago

@ Special Guest

Kangaroos are more than likely to jump kick your head and koalas well they can gut you with their inch long claws.

Megaton4258d ago

Box jellyfish, too. The most poisonous creature on Earth.

Bathyj4258d ago

Yeah, we have all the good stuff that can kill you. I think we have about 7 of the worlds more poisonous snakes.

@ Megaton. Its the little spiders you have to worry about

@ specialguest.Over 50% of koalas have Chlamydia

specialguest4258d ago

sigh... my childhood dreams have been crushed.

+ Show (10) more repliesLast reply 4258d ago
ShaunCameron4258d ago (Edited 4258d ago )

@ snp

<Australia gets gouged because opportunistic companies are able to get away with it.>

Or because of protectionist economic policies which discourages if not outright ban (foreign) competition, not to mention impose tariffs and duties on anything trying to get in the country. In other words it's the government that created the environment for these opportunistic companies to thrive in.

snp4258d ago (Edited 4258d ago )

True Shaun, more than enough blame to go around. Books for sure what you've said more than applies, as one example - the refusal of fed government to lift protection again there just a couple of years ago was more than idiotic (and proved almost instantly suicidal for our market - Angus and Robertson/Borders).

Regardless where you apportion blame for it beginning, though, it's gotten out of control. I mean, there's examples in the digital sphere where Microsoft is charging Australians $3000 for online digital copies/licenses they charge US citizens $800 for (exact identical product). Real gangster stuff.

Something has to be done about it.

-Superman-4258d ago

My country, Norway minium salary is €2486(month) = 3209 dollars, month. And this is minium.

This 350 us dollars WiiU is damn cheap

Ck1x4258d ago

Damn $15 for minimum wage! Wow

Relientk774258d ago

Wow, thats like double us here in the U.S.

blumatt4258d ago

Here in Kentucky it's only a mere $7.25 an hour for minimum wage.

I never knew Aussies had such a high minimum wage.

Gaming is getting too expensive everywhere honestly.

Salamander4258d ago

I live in Victoria and ive never earned less than $21 an hour, im currently earning $31 an hour... i still consider myself to be struggling.

Argento-Nox4258d ago

I'm in Vancouver, Canada and the minimum wage here is $10.25. I make about $31 per hr but the cost of living here is pretty high =(.

Australia is a nice place, I have good memories of my trip there but I found things pretty pricey there.

Picture_Dancer4258d ago

In Poland WiiU will cost about 1700zł with minimum wage of 8zł/h, so it's 213 hours of work, so it's 27 days, but including weekends it's about 2 months of work for WiiU.

How can people in rich countries like USA or UK even complain about console and game prices?

GenericNameHere4258d ago

Dear Australia,

Y U GET DOUBLE THE AMOUNT FOR MINIMUM WAGE THAN AMEREEKA??

Yours truly, a non-Australian person

live2play4258d ago

because they have the worlds most dangerous creatures there
people even get killed by hippos

they offer more money so people will go live there

but at a riskm:o

Salamander4258d ago

Hmm im not sure about hippos man, you might be refering to Africa.

BitbyDeath4258d ago

The most dangerous creature in Oz is the bogan.
They are pretty common and can often be found in groups around trains, schools, pubs even just walking down the street.

Bathyj4258d ago

@ BitbyDeath.

at least they are easily recognisable.
If you see flannel shirts and mullets, hide.

cloud4954258d ago

In NZ it's $480 and $580. :(

urwifeminder4258d ago

Struth you guys i love the giant spider action and snakes ,but bitbydeath is right boguns and drop bears are scary as hell the fear has made me dry like a dead dingoes donger.

Show all comments (34)
80°

Game Developers Have Begun Confirming Nintendo Switch 2 Support

Game developers have already started to confirm that they will support the Nintendo Switch 2 with their future titles.

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How Many More Victims, Like Garry's Mod, Will Nintendo's Hurtful Crusade Create?

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RiseNShine7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

The irony that some of the most disgusting business practices come from companies like Disney or Nintendo, i can't even begin to understand what terrible damage was Garrys Mod making to Nintendo bottom line, imho they're getting pretty nervous about where they're heading in the future, handhelds are no longer something exclusive to Nintendo, from Steam Deck to many others, now you can play the latest games and pay a fraction of the price on Steam sales, so it's up to their exclusives, which just on their own would make hard to justify purchasing a closed overpriced hardware with outrageous price policies (Super Mario Odyssey is still 60 euro 6 years later!), and as a home console they're always underperforming compared to Sony or Xbox.

gold_drake7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

i cam guarantee you, that their exclusives alone is what drives switch sales. they sell in the 10s of millions of copies.

nintendo created their franchises to be sort of nostalgia driven, exclusive only on nintendo.

people will always buy the pkmn games as they always bring in new younger fans amd is family friendly

mario kart, the same thing, mario games in general.

zelda games are system sellers. animal crossing for the casual gamers.

nintendo doesnt need third vame devs essentially. they made sure with the switch and the limitations that they looked more to pc ps and xbox.

its sad, but nintendo is more than fine with what they're doing. they positioned themselves to appeal to the more casual gamers.

but to your point, im not sure why they're doing this rly.

Inverno7d ago

Look at how they handled Nintendo games being streamed or uploaded on YouTube in the past. They killed Yuzu and Citra even when they had nothing to do with ToTK being leaked, not to mention it was basically unplayable on emulation the week it was leaked. Smash Bros tournament, that was fairly recent. They shut down their online services without any care for purchases made. I bought a switch after skipping their last 2 consoles and handhelds but I don't plan on buying anything Nintendo in the future. They take things to the extremes, they legitimately hate their fans. They're honestly right up there with the likes of Acti, EA, and Ubi, only difference is that they disguise themselves as being family friendly all the while being shady.

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