Wii U GamePads Will Not Be Sold Separately in North America at Launch

<p>We&&num;8217&semi;ve known for months now that<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wii&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank"> the WiiU console can support two of its rather innovative GamePads being used on one system at the same time<&sol;a> and we&&num;8217&semi;ve also known that <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wii-games-focus-single-gamepad-usage&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">absolutely none of the launch titles for the console will actually support or have functions for two GamePads at once&period;<&sol;a> It is thanks to this that Nintendo of America have decided not to sell GamePads separately at launch&comma; preferring to wait until after the console&&num;8217&semi;s launch window has closed before sending them out&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Reggie Fils-Aime let the news slip yesterday afternoon in a Q&amp&semi;A session with investors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote><p>Through the launch window&comma; there are no games that leverage a second controller&period; And so&comma; during the launch window here in NOA &lbrack;Nintendo Of America&rsqb; territories&comma; we will not be selling at retail a second GamePad&period; But certainly&comma; when the games come out&comma; we&&num;8217&semi;ll be making that accessory available&period;<&sol;p><&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>Considering the fact that <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;industrygamers&period;com&sol;news&sol;nintendo-wii-u-only-supports-a-single-controller-due-to-cost&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Nintendo originally announced that the WiiU would only support one GamePad<&sol;a> and then had to switch gears after fans complained&comma; this is understandable from a game perspective&period; None of them would have been able to put a Two-GamePad mode in there seeing as that wasn&&num;8217&semi;t revealed until E3 of this year&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But&comma; from a consumer perspective&comma; this is a slight problem&period; People who purchase the WiiU console would probably like a second GamePad immediately for future-proofing&semi; be that future &&num;8220&semi;playing with other people&&num;8221&semi; or &&num;8220&semi;as a spare from when some idiot accidentally breaks the first one&&num;8221&semi;&period; For that second option&comma; in the meantime&comma; North American WiiU owners should contact Nintendo support if&sol;when a GamePad does get damaged or becomes&comma; for some reason&comma; &&num;8220&semi;undesirable&&num;8221&semi;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Japanese consumers can&comma; however&comma; get their hands on an extra GamePad around launch for the &&num;8220&semi;Not-At-All-Ridiculous-Price&&num;8221&semi; of ¥13&comma;440 &lpar;which transfers to &dollar;173&comma; if you&&num;8217&semi;re wondering&rpar;&period; The WiiU launches in North America on November 18th and Japan on December 8th&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sources&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;escapistmagazine&period;com&sol;news&sol;view&sol;119596-Wii-GamePad-Wont-Be-Sold-Separately-at-Launch-in-NA" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">The Escapist<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;joystiq&period;com&sol;2012&sol;09&sol;13&sol;wii-u-wiipads-wont-be-sold-separately-at-launch-in-us-will-be&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Joystiq<&sol;a>&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;engadget&period;com&sol;2012&sol;09&sol;13&sol;nintendo-wii-u-gamepad-not-at-launch&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Engadget<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;