Although the Nintendo WiiPad sells for more than $150 per unit, Nintendo isn’t selling the device separately after launch. That’s going to be bad news for everyone in America who breaks their first one.

According to Engadget (via Joystiq), the option to buy a standalone WiiPad tablet controller won’t be on the table for North America since most games at launch won’t need them:

“Through the launch window, there are no games that leverage a second controller,” Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime told Engadget. “And so, during the launch window here in NOA territories, we will not be selling at retail a second gamepad. But certainly, when the games come out, we’ll be making that accessory available.”

We haven’t previewed or seen any WiiU games that use a second WiiPad, so our speculation is that Japanese developers have those projects in the works, or Nintendo is stemming their production supply for demand elsewhere.

Either way, that’s not going to be good news for people prone to breaking their new toys. I’m already looking forward to the inevitable YouTube videos of people tossing their WiiPads through TVs and open windows.

Also, can we decide on a name for the controller and stick with it? Everyone was saying “GamePad” until earlier today.

Source: Joystiq