Nintendo Wii U Press Conference 2012, Live Streaming: Nintendo to Announce Release Date and Price (Live Streaming)

Tune in at 10 a.m. ET for Nintendo's Press Conference (Photo : Nintendo)

Nintendo will finally break its silence on the price and release date of the Wii U at its NYC press conference on Thursday, paying off over a year's worth of anticipation among fans and press alike. Perhaps Nintendo will even make an effort to win over hardcore gamers once again, but we will have to wait until the event airs at 10 a.m. ET to find out.

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The Big N will be streaming the event through its Facebook page tomorrow morning. Reggie Fils-Aime, the President and chief operating officer of Nintendo of America, took the time to release a promo video for the event, which can be found below.

Last Tuesday, Latinos Post reported leaked price points for the new console, revealing three different SKUs for the device at $249.99, $299.99, and $349.99. If true, the price gradations likely indicate the inclusion of extra controllers or accessories in the higher-tier models.

Computers and Videogames spoke to N'Gai Croal, Consultant for Hit Detection. Here's what he had to say about the Wii U price.

"My guess is, coming off the back of the experience Nintendo had with the 3DS - when it decided it needed to slash the price fairly quickly - I think we'll see the Wii U priced somewhere closer to $249 just so the perception out of the gate is as positive as possible."

Michael Pachter, Research Analyst for Wedbush Securities also spoke to the site.

"From a competitive perspective, they must charge $299 or lower, and must include a game at that price point. Anything higher and they are simply non-competitive with the other consoles."

The online listings that showcased these price points also suggested a November 11 release date. However, November 11 isn't the first rumored release date to emerge in the past few weeks. At a press conference, gaming accessory maker PDP let slip a potential November 18 release of the system.

Wii U Promo