Iwata will pose with Wii U

Nintendo has announced today that there will be a Japanese Nintendo Direct broadcast on Thursday, making the Wii U reveal a truly global endeavour. As Japan is Nintendo's homeland, it's hardly surprising that it'll be the earliest announcement of the lot, with the system's price and launch date promised.

The broadcast has been confirmed by Nintendo on its official Twitter account, which directs you to the official page where the video stream will be hosted. It takes place at 4pm Japanese time, which is 8am in the UK, 9am in Central Europe, 3am Eastern US, 2am Central US and 1am Pacific US. It's all happening rather early — or late, depending on how you look at it — for those of you in North America particularly, but we'll be watching and sharing any interesting announcements.

This event is very likely to focus on launch details specific to Japan, or course, but if Nintendo does have any brand new announcements about the system or upcoming games, this may be the first time we hear them.

Thanks to WiiLovePeace for the tip.

[source nintendo.co.jp]