Nintendo Sings Along to Wii Karaoke U in Japan

How can Nintendo tap into the Japanese market with the Wii U console? The answer might be quite simple with the release of Wii Karaoke U.

Nintendo has teamed up with Joysound to bring over 10,000 songs to the living room via paid subscriptions. According to Siliconera, an hour alone costs 100 yen ($1/65p), a day's worth for 300 yen ($3/£2) with longer durations available. For  1,000 yen ($10/£6.52) players can sing along for 30 days and extend it to 90 days for 2,000 yen ($20/£12).

Songs are selected using the GamePad screen in a similar way to dedicated karaoke bars/rooms around the country. Alongside the huge catalogue of hits and rarities, Mii will strut their stuff on screen, together with a pitch metre to measure accuracy.

The first ad has aired to promote the service with singer Aki Yashiro belting it out to highlight the benefits of Wii Karaoke U.

What do you think of the idea and subscription-based model approach to Wii Karaoke U?