Wii U: white Premium bundle headed to Japan, and more

Nintendo Japan has made a bunch of Wii U announcements today, starting with a new white Premium bundle, a larger battery for the Game Pad, a new Nintendo Land and Remote Plus bundle, and an new official charger.

The Wii U ordinarily comes in two flavours - a white Standard package, which includes an 8GB hard drive, and the Premium which has a 32 GB HDD but is black. The new offering, due in Japan on July 13, offers Premium purchasers the option of a white console and GamePad instead.

The company also announced a new battery for the Game Pad controller. The 2550mAh capacity pack lasts btween five and eight hours, and is a significant upgrade from the standard 1500mAh version bundled with the console. It will retail for ¥3,150 and releases on July 25.

Continuing its peripheral obsession, Nintendo has revealed an official Quick Charge Set for Wii Remotes, finally providing an answer to third-party manufacturer's efforts in this area. As well as a battery pack and charging dock, the ¥4,200 bundle includes a WiiMote wrapper and strap. Plus, the charging cable is compatible with the 3DS. It will be available from July 13.

Finally, Nintendo Land will soon be available in a new bundle which includes a blue or pink WiiMote Plus. It's priced at ¥5,985 but the controller is pretty essential to full enjoyment of the mini-game collection.

If any of these offerings are headed west, we'll likely hear about it in the next few days directly from regional Nintendo representatives. Stay tuned.

Thanks, Vooks.