Despite rumors to the contrary it looks like the Nintendo Wii U will be available in the U.S. for the holiday shopping season. It's coming just 5 days before Blacck Friday, on November 18. 

This could be one of the hot devices this year! The U is essentially a bigger, better handheld gaming system like a Nintendo DS on steriods. It's going to be available in an 8gb and a 32gb version with suggested retail prices of $299 and $349 respectively.

In addition to being a bigger portable gaming system it offers true split screen playing for teaming up with your friends in multi-player games, a wide range of games and software and a bunch of other cool features.

It not only offers gaming but you can get a big selection of video entertainment from soruces like Netflix, Hulu Plus, or your local tv company. It also offers rich data on the program or sporting event you are watching that you can view on the U screen with the main content displays on your main tv screen.

Given the date it's launching there may not be deep discounts in the Wii U for Black Friday but we suspect it may well be a really hot ticket. Also, it's likely that the big retail chains may have Wii U bundles designed specifically for them so be on the lookout for the best bargain and make sure you compare apples to apples when checking prices.

See a great detailed article on the features of the new Nintendo Wii U.