Wii U’s November 18 release date leaked by gaming peripheral-maker

It looks like the Wii U will release on November 18th after all. Nintendo has not yet announced an official release date for the upcoming console, but the date may have been accidently leaked today during a presentation by gaming accessory-maker PDP.

Speaking at a GameStop managers' conference in Texas, according to Kotaku, a PDP rep allegedly let it slip that the peripherals would be available "just ahead of the Wii U's November 18th release date". The same slip up was also posted, by a different person, on NeoGAF. If true, this could be one of the biggest slip-ups in the history of gaming.

Now I'm not saying this is 100% accurate, as rumors like this can sometimes get out of hand quickly, but the November 18th release does fall in line with prior leaks pointing toward a November "Black Friday" week launch.

PDP community manager Candace Hinton has attempted to quiet the rumors, telling Kotaku that "at this time we can't confirm Nintendo's dates and we don't know exactly what was heard, but we simply do not know at this point."

"We are launching accessories, but the date for the accessories doesn't mean a confirmation on the hardware," she added. "If you seek confirmation on the date that is something that is going to need to go specifically through Nintendo, but we can't confirm or deny dates on any of their hardware."

Of course, we all know Nintendo won't say anything. They'll likely let the rumors continue to swirl right up until their official announcement which at this moment is expected to be during a September press event.

The invite-only event is set to take place in New York on Thursday, September 13, but that's pretty much all we know. The invite did mention that it would be hosted by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime and address "how the Wii U will change the future of gaming and entertainment."

In all likelihood, despite official confirmation, we're probably 95% sure the date is legit. Nintendo has a habit of releasing its consoles in November, with the original Wii launching on November 19 and the Gamecube on November 18. A November 18 release for the Wii U puts it just behind the launch of several high profile titles like Halo 4 (November 4) and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (November 13).