According to French game retailer FNAC, the Wii U will indeed be delayed in Europe. The retail chain has started advertising the Wii U with a launch date set for December 7, 2012. And quite surprisingly, the launch price is set at €350, which would translate into almost $450. That’s an unreasonably high price and highly unlikely to be the final retail price of the console.
The reason FNAC lists the Wii U at €350 is most likely because retailers will always price the hardware as high as possible when there is no official price from Nintendo. That way, if the Wii U costs less than €350, they can offer cash or gift cards to those who paid more. If it was the other way around, the retailer would lose money on the deal. This is the same route Amazon chose in Germany, offering the Wii U for pre-order with a price tag of up to €400.
Regarding the launch date, it’s been rumored several times before that Nintendo will delay the Wii U in Europe due to manufacturing shortages. Yesterday we reported that the Wii U could launch in 3 different SKUs with prices ranging from $250 to $350.
