It's like...why does the basic version even exist? lol

For people like me who can't find the other model for launch.

@Ericca_Hartmann: For gamers who aren't interested in taking advantage of digital downloads, i.e. mostly the casuals.

So I'm a casual then, because I'm not going to download the retail games. (I don't download much in general, lol)

@Erica_Hartmann: I meant casuals in the general majority, seeing as they would be the least likely to be interested in digital downloads. They'll be too busy dancing the Gangnam Style with Just Dance 4.

And falling into their TV breaking it.

I know I am certainly not a casual; Otherwise I would say Pokepark Wii was the best game of all time instead of saying it's the worst wii game I've ever played like I currently do (It isn't hard enough and seems meant for children only even though pokemon as a series isn't.)

if my experience with XBLA is any indication, if you download enough downloadable things, the same problem will occur soon enough anyway. Especially bigger examples of DLC.

I don't do much DLC. lol

What about demo's? I wonder how big each demo will be am guessing basic users will only be able to fit 2 on at a time?

Don't be too sure. One would imagine a casual getting the Deluxe because it's cheaper than getting the Basic + Nintendoland. Also, one would imagine a hardcore gamer going Basic because 1) Nintendoland isn't for them, 2) going digital would still require them getting an external HDD, so rather than playing that extra $50 for an extra 24GB, they could put that towards an external HDD with far more space, and/or 3) Sales of physical retail games might be cheaper than digital, even with the 10% discount (which won't last forever).

That's why I bought it

And who knows how big any system and game updates will be. I've seen some games on PS3 with huge downloadable updates (LittleBigPlanet being one example) and smaller system updates. That plus any DLC would render the basic system useless.

@Discostew: A hardcore gamer would certainly find the extra accessories useful (chargers, stands and such), and the digital promotion would also come in as an attractive deal. A 10% discount of digital games for two years? That's a seller for digital-hungry gamers.

As for Nintendo Land not appealing to hardcore gamers, that's subjective. To me, it's just like an advanced packed-in Wii Sports/Wii Sports Resort, and that's something many gamers found attractive in a bundle.

In my experience, most casuals wouldn't be informed enough to see anything of use to them with the extra $50 on the Deluxe Bundle. A few chargers and stands won't come in necessary to them and an extra 32GB as storage they probably aren't even going to use isn't going to be seen as something of value to a casual consumer, hence directly going for the Basic Bundle and a copy of Nintendo Land. They'll overlook the bare maths.

Lol! Wow that is sad having only 5GB of usuable memory on an 8GB console I am glad I went with the deluxe console. But why is memory such an issue? The console supports SD memory cards, which are cheap for large cards like 32 GB. Usb flash drives are also cheap. Not to mention you can add a hard drive for a few more bucks. For me personally I wont use much memeory on Wii U. My PS3's HD already holds most of our photos, music, movies, and mp
3's. I have also learned the disadvantages of downloading games digitally and tying up the consoles precious on board memory. I could easily get by on the basic 8GB consoles memory.

Worth also pointing out that HDD prices haven't exactly been stable lately. Floods in Taiwan caused prices for HDDs to almost double from late 2011 and they're only just getting back to the prices they were in mid 2011. I doubt that influenced Nintendo's decision but if they had put a HDD in it the extra cost wouldn't have been much cheaper than the cost of buying an external HDD yourself if at all.