As the holiday season grows ever closer, doubts were beginning to form in people’s minds about whether the Wii-U would actually make an appearance this year. However in a direct broadcast to North America, Japan and Europe Nintendo revealed almost everything one would need to know about the Wii-U ranging from release dates to colours.

The biggest question that has surrounded the Wii-U has been when it will retail, and more importantly for how much. The console will launch on December 8th in Japan but will be appearing in stores earlier in North America and Europe, on the 18th November and 30th November respectively. As for a price, there a two options. The standard model will retail for $299 and features 8GB of memory, the console (in white), a gamepad, sensor bar, HDMI cable and AC adaptor in the US, and without a sensor bar in the EU.

However there is also a more expensive version, dubbed the Premium,which  is black and has all the same features of the Standard console but has 32gb of memory as well as a premium subscription to  Nintendo Network. It will retail at $349.

So the Wii-U has the hardware but does it have a line up of games to match? Well, yes it does. While the line up of games does feature some that have been around for some time now, such as Mass Effect 3 and Batman Arkham City, it does have some exciting titles including Call of Duty Black Ops II, ZombiU and an exclusive for the Wii-U Bayonetta 2. Below is a complete list of games that ought to be available on launch day.

505 Games

Funky Barn (North America only)

NBA 2K13

007 Legends

Call of Duty: Black Ops II

Transformers Prime

Wipeout 3

Skylanders Giants

Cabela’s Dangerous Hunts 2013 (North America only)

Rapala Pro Bass Fishing (North America only)

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Rise of the Guardians: The Video Game

Ben 10: Omniverse

Family Party: 30 Great Games Obstacle Arcade

Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two

Mass Effect 3

Madden NFL 13

FIFA Soccer 13

Trine 2: Director’s Cut

Bit.Trip Presents: Runner 2 Future Legend of Rhythm Alien

Zumba Fitness Core (North America only)

Jett Tailfin (North America only)

Tekken Tag Tournament 2

Tank! Tank! Tank!

Nintendo Land

New Super Mario Bros. U

Ninja Gaiden III: Razor’s Edge

Sing Party

LEGO City Undercover

Wii Fit U (North America only)

Game & Wario

Pikmin 3 (North America only)

The Wonderful 101 (North America only)

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed

Nano Assault Neo

Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper

Darksiders II

Wheel of Fortune (North America only)

Jeopardy! (North America only)

Toki Tori 2

Assassin’s Creed III

Just Dance 4

Marvel’s The Avengers: Battle for Earth

Rabbids Land

Sports Connection

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved 2013

ZombiU

Rayman Legends

Scribblenauts Unlimited

Game Party Champions

Batman: Arkham City — Armored Edition

Related articles

• Wii U to launch November 18 in North America
• ‘More than 50 games’ launching alongside Wii U this November