Wii U gamepads are now being sold by Nintendo that can be purchased outside of the main console for the first time since the console’s launch. The caveat? For now, it’s only happening in Japan.
The gamepad is available directly from Nintendo and costs ¥12,800, which equates to roughly $104. No details were revealed as to whether the gamepad will be sold in regions outside of Japan.
Currently, the Wii U only supports a single gamepad at one time, but in 2012, Engadget reported that multi-gamepad support was planned.
“Much to our delight, the company just said in its live keynote that the final console will support two. As such, it’ll be possible to have truly equal two-player games instead of relegating a friend to the old-fashioned Wii remote and Nunchuk. Of course, how much that extra Gamepad will cost we have yet to know — along with whether or not it’ll be possible to have strictly Gamepad-to-Gamepad titles that skip the TV entirely. We expect to find out soon,” the article reads.