At their Nintendo Direct event which was held today, the Japanese console manufacturer finally coughed up those long awaited release date, release price and launch line-up details for the successor to the Wii, the Wii U.

The HD enabled Nintendo home console will land in homes across North America on November 18th, while the old world will receive the Wii U will release on November 30th.  The Japanese release details were given earlier, with the machine due to launch over there on December 8th.

In terms of RRP Nintendo are releasing two SKU’s.  There will be the ‘Basic’ bundle (costing $299) that comes with a white Wii U console, gamepad and 8GB Harddrive, while the ‘Premium/Deluxe’ bundle (costing $349) comes with a black Wii U Console packing a 32GB harddrive, the NintendoLand game,  additional stands and docks and more importantly, access to Nintendo Network Premium; a scheme that gives players 10% back on digital purchases and allows them to accrue loyalty points for use in later transactions.

Purchasing the Premium bundle will be the only way to gain access to Nintendo Network Premium.

Inside every Wii U box will be the hardware, a GamePad, an AC adaptor, a GamePad AC adaptor and an HDMI cable.  The latter being quite the surprise given the usual tendency for manufacturers of HD consoles to shove in sub-par composite cables with their hardware units.

Additionally, a Wii U black premium bundle will be available with Zombi U on launch day.

The all important launch line-up looks like this:

• New Super Mario Bros U
• Rayman Legends
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
• Zombi U
• FIFA 13
• Mass Effect 3: Special Edition
• Trine 2: Director’s Cut (Downloadable only)
• Toki Tori 2 (Downloadable only)
• Nano Assault Neo (Downloadable only)