EB Games asking AUD $598 for Wii U

An Australian retailer has listed the Wii U for pre-order at AUD $598.00, which is about half the price of the moon in real money terms.

EB Games is asking the equivalent of $633 or £390 for the hardware, which Nintendo has said will not dramatically out-perform current consoles due to cost balancing issues.

No official pricing for the console has been set.

For comparison purposes, the Wii launched at AUD $400 and can now be had for under AUD $180. The 3DS is still sitting at around AUD $350.

The PlayStation 3 launched at AUD $999 (the full cost of the moon) as compared to the US's $600. It has since dropped to $498, while the base model Xbox 360 currently goes for AUD $398 in a bundle.

Australian hardware prices are traditionally higher than international price points, even after accounting for currency conversions.

Thanks, VentureBeat.