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The Nintendo Wii U press conference: Join us Thursday (live blog)

Join CNET for live coverage from Nintendo's event, which starts at 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT on Thursday.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman
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CNET/Dan Ackerman

Since they were first teased more than one year ago at E3 2011, we've seen and sampled Wii U hardware and games a few times, but without any official information on how much the system and its accessories will cost, or when it would be available, beyond the holiday 2012 time frame.

All that is expected to change on Thursday morning in New York, where Nintendo is hosting a press conference just one day after Apple's iPhone 5 event.

Tune in to CNET's live blog from Nintendo's New York press conference, starting at 9:30 a.m. ET / 6:30 a.m. PT on Thursday, September 13.

As the first shot in the next-gen console wars, there is a tremendous amount of pressure on the Wii U to live up to the success of the original Wii. The base console itself has not garnered nearly the same level of attention to date as its tablet controller, a well-timed accessory if there ever was one, with tablet fever sweeping the technology industry.

A cross between a slate-style tablet and a traditional console game controller, the tablet, called the GamePad, has a 6-inch screen surrounded by two analog sticks, a directional pad, four face buttons, and trigger/shoulder buttons. Announced games run the gamut from the family-friendly Nintendo Land to the Mature-rated ZombiU.

The press conference begins at 10:00 a.m. ET tomorrow, and we'll be opening the live blog for discussion and reader comments about 30 minutes earlier. Following the press conference, look for updated hands-on impressions, confirmation of the release date and price details, and more.

Editors' note: The original version of this story was posted September 12 at 2:45 p.m. PT.