Wii U launches in UK

Report from HMV London.

Published 2012-11-30

Nineteen months after its announcement, and twelve days after its US debut, the Wii U has went on sale in the UK.

Nintendo's newest console has been ushered in at multiple midnight launches across the country, and across multiple retail outlets - including a special event at HMV's Oxford Street store.

By the time the store opened its doors at 11pm, the queue - including some who'd clocked some 120 hours lining up outside - had stretched to the end of the block.

The last sixty minutes had the early adopters, split into two for those with pre-orders and those without, watching on-stage demos of the likes of Super Mario Bros. U, Nintendo Land and ZombiU (getting the biggest cheer of the night) by Official Nintendo Magazine and Ubisoft representatives.

With countdown over and AC/DC blaring from the store's speaker system, consoles and games were picked up and gamers plunged into the darkness to battle freezing temperatures, drunken souls and London's public transport system to get home and get playing.

We'll have much more Wii U coverage in the days to come, but for now here's a few snaps capturing the arrival of the first new home console to the UK in half a decade.

Back