Wii U Will Download Retail Software at Launch

Nintendo allows customers to choose retail or digital from Day1

 

 Nintendo plans on pushing Wii U into bold new digital territory for a console. In an investor's conference today, global president Satoru Iwata revealed his company plans to allow consumers the ability to purchase Wii U software either in a traditional, packaged form or as a digital download. The publisher plans on having this service in place with the system's launch, though indicated only first party software would be involved at this point.

The Nintendo 3DS will feature the digital/package option first, starting this August with New Super Mario Bros. 2. 3DS owners will be able to download the game to their SD card, either by signing on to the eShop or by purchasing a download code in a retail location.

No further details were given. Iwata did not indicate if Wii U would see any hardware modifications to accomodate this new strategy. Previous iterations of the system did not feature a hard drive, though Nintendo documentation stated an external, USB-based drive would be supported.