Wii U Midnight Launch in Europe

The Nintendo Wii U launched across the continent today, in what’s no doubt to be the biggest console launch in over half a decade.

The UK launch was held at HMV’s flagship Oxford St. store, where the queue was brought indoors, out of the freezing cold London streets, to be greeted by Mario, Luigi, and a number of rather convincing zombies, to take part in a pre-launch raffle. Winners walked away with Wii U consoles, games and Nintendo related goody bags.

At midnight the Wii U officially went on sale and the tills opened. Mario and Luigi were of course on the cashier’s counter, serving customers with their Italian charm.

We spoke with HMV’s Gennaro Castaldo, who informed us that the Oxford Street store had been assigned extra stock of the Wii U, to hopefully allow shoppers a chance to pick up the new console right up until Christmas. Whether stocks last that long though is anyone’s bet. The limited edition ZombiU package was sold out instantly at midnight due to pre-orders, leaving only Wii U Premium bundles on sale.

Early adopters were rewarded with a Nintendo goodybag, and the first 100 customers also received 2 free games, courtesy of Nintendo.

For £299.99 you could get your hands on the Premium bundle, which is one of, if not the cheapest place on the high street at the time of writing. With the Pro Controller coming in at £39.99, we spoke to shoppers who were buying the Premium bundle with a separate Pro Controller, and receiving New Super Mario Bros. U and Zombi U as their two free games – with the addition of Nintendo Land in the bundle, for a wallet-saving £339.98. Certainly better than any other offer we can find.

Most games sites this morning will have quotes with the Nintendo fan who queued from Saturday, or the fan with the Nintendo tattoo on his leg, but as the last person in the country to purchase a Wii U last night, at something past 1 in the morning, long after all the  shoppers had gone home, photos had been taken, interviews recorded, and HMV had closed around me, I can confirm that I was one happy shopper. Now, may the firmware updates commence…

If you were lucky enough to grab a Wii U at a midnight launch near you last night, please tell us about it in the comments below.