Japan: Nintendo now selling stand-alone Wii U GamePads via its online store
Just like in Europe and North America, Nintendo has an official online store in Japan. You can go there in order to buy various accessories for your console (AC Adapters, charging craddle, etc.), but also some controllers, and more. And starting today, you can buy stand-alone GamePads for your Wii U!
The stand-alone Wii U GamePad costs 13 824 Yen (roughly 105€ / £74 / 112$ + shipping fees), and is available in Black and White. It comes with:
- built-in battery
- stylus
However, the AC adapter is not included, and you will have to buy it separately if you don’t already own one.
The question is: why would you want to buy a second GamePad if you already own one?
Well, if yours is still working fine, you don’t really need to buy a second one (even if you want to try some modding, buying one off eBay would probably end up much cheaper). Indeed, Nintendo specifies that the Wii U can only be used with one GamePad, which more or less confirms dual-GamePad support is never coming (which most likely won’t surprise anyone).
Also, if your console is from another region, you better be careful: the firmware of the Wii U GamePads is region-locked, so you will run in trouble if you try importing one and Nintendo updates its console. Finally, Nintendo recommends Japanese users go through customer support if their Wii U GamePad is malfunctioning, rather than directly buying a new one.
Fun fact: Nintendo originally announced that Wii U GamePad would be sold separately in Japan in… September 2012!
Source: Nintendo
