The much-anticipated Wii U release date has been allegedly leaked. And according to published reports, the date is set for Nov. 18.
The supposed leak came from an unexpected source (guess that's why it's called a leak) -- a peripherals manufacturer called Performance Designed Products, or PDP.
It's been reported that the gaming accessory manufacturer let the release date slip during the annual GameStop Managers Conference in San Antonio today.
In fact, the PDP representative purportedly concluded his presentation of the company's fall line of accessories by saying that the peripherals would be available ahead of the Wii U's Nov.18 launch date.
This may step on Nintendo's toes, as the release date and price of the Wii U wasn't supposed to be announced until a big Sept. 13 event in New York.
PDP tries to stop the rumor mill
Supposedly, the PDP rep realized what he said and immediately changed the subject, reports Kotaku - a gaming news site.
And once news of the slip reached critical mass, PDP's wasted no time in putting out an official statement about the "leak" on their website.
Here's their attempt to squelch the rumor they may have accidentally started:
Performance Designed Products ("PDP") is aware of the recent rumors posted alleging that PDP inadvertently "leaked" the official release date of the upcoming Nintendo Wii U gaming system during a trade presentation earlier today. To be clear, PDP has no knowledge whatsoever of the official Wii U release date, and thus it is not possible for PDP to have "leaked" this information.
PDP simply gave a presentation of our fall line of gaming accessories to our customers at a trade event in which we stated that our Wii U accessories would be there at launch. Later in the presentation, we stated that our Epic Mickey II accessories are currently planned to be in stores by November 18. PDP has no knowledge as to whether this is the official Wii U release date or not, and thus nothing was "leaked."
Sincerely,
William Otte
Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing
Wii U may help Nintendo's bottom line
This leak could actually be a boon for Nintendo. The gaming hardware maker has been suffering financially this year.
Nintendo posted its first loss of $533 M (£329m) in April 2012, and flagging Wii and Nintendo 3DS sales haven't helped.
Early buzz could help drive Wii U sales up around the holidays, especially since the rumored release date, Nov. 18, is the last Sunday before the biggest shopping event of the year - Black Friday.
TechRadar will continue to report more on the actual release date as we find out more, or as PDP reps get chatty.
Via Web Pro News, Kotaku , PDP.com
