Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are Getting Downloadable Retail Software, and the Wii U Will Have a Very Rich Launch Line-Up

Nintendo announced today that New Super Mario Bros. 2 (for 3DS) when released in August will be available not only at retail but also for download on the Nintendo 3DS e-shop (two of my predictions are confirmed in this announcement) and that most first-party games released after August will be available to download (including Wii U launch titles). The president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata also said that the Wii U will have a very rich launch line-up.

As I predicted there was no talk of a Wii U name change or 3DS Lite. Regarding whether or not my prediction that they were going to reveal some E3 Plans was true (there is still no E3 press conference date set, by the way), it depends on your interpretation of this quote from Satoru Iwata:

I believe that you are most interested in the details of the Wii U. Since the Wii U will be launched in Japan, the U.S., Europe and Australia in the year-end sales season… Therefore, we still have some time before the launch and I cannot say anything about the release date, price or the launch titles here. Regarding the Wii U, just as we have been saying until now… We will showcase the final format, and discuss the details and the software lineup for this year at E3 2012, which will be held in Los Angeles in the United States in June this year. Also, in the week after the E3 show, we would like to organize an opportunity where we can showcase the same to the Japanese wholesalers and financial analysts who cannot attend the E3 show. The people in our appropriate sections will let you know as soon as we have settled on further details. Please also be advised that, as we did for previous platforms that were launched in the year-end sales season, we will announce the launch date and price in each market sometime after E3.

Some people think this quote means that Nintendo will not announce the price (in the US or anywhere) of the Wii U until after  E3, while other people think this quote means that Nintendo will announce the price in the US, but not for the rest of the world until after E3.