8GB Wii U Basic to be discontinued in Japan

Nintendo’s lowest-tier Wii U offering is to be halted in Japan.

The white Wii U Basic, which includes 8GB of internal storage, is ‘slated to go out of production shortly’, according to the Japanese Nintendo website. (Thanks, Kotaku.)

This will make the remaining Wii U Premium, which includes a black machine with 32GB of storage, the only option for consumers in Japan looking to buy into the platform.

However, Nintendo Japan has already confirmed that it will introduce a white variation of the 32GB console later in June.

The move follows reports two years ago that sales of the Basic edition of the Wii U in the US would be stopped. Nintendo later dismissed the claims, stating that it was instead ‘rebalancing’ stock of both the 8GB and 32GB consoles, and both would continue to go on sale.

MCV reported in December of last year that the trade price of the Basic Wii U had been significantly cut, with one retail source stating that the 70 discount was part of an effort to ‘clear out’ existing stock of the cheaper SKU. The price of the Premium 32GB machine remained untouched.

Nintendo is yet to issue a comment on the future of the Wii U Basic in territories outside of Japan.