Despite announcing the Wii U more than a year and a half ago at E3 2011, Nintendo does not actually own the domain name, WiiU.com. Upon visiting the website, it leads you to affiliate offers that include links to a variety of products related to the Wii U among other things.
So why is this so important? Because earlier this month, according to WHOIS records, the domain name expired. WiiU.com has been replaced with a parking page indicating the name has expired and is actually listed on the domain auction marketplace SnapNames.
The minimum bid for WiiU.com is $69, but it will likely sell for much higher given the overall popularity of the keyword. Rough estimates by analytics site Compete, indicate about 7,000 unique visitors to the site per month — meaning there’s some good investment potential in the domain name.
It’s unknown why the domain name expired, but it could be possible that Nintendo has sent the owner a cease-and-desist letter.
