Tuesday 7 June 2011

First look at Wii U



During Nintendo's media briefing at this year's E3, the company's next generation console was conspicuous by its, apparent, absence.

You had to be closely watching the promo video for the Wii U's touchscreen controller add-on to spy what looked like an iOmega Drive sat next to a HDTV!



The new controller incorporates a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touchscreen and traditional button controls, including two analog Circle Pads. This combination removes the traditional barriers between games, players and the TV by creating a second window into the video game world. The rechargeable controller includes a Power button, Home button, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons. It includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, camera, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.

On Twitter I posited whether or not the Wii U add-on was tantamount to Sega's ill-fated 32X? @joshshabtai made a compelling point that Nintendo could pull off a gaming paradigm that an Apple TV and iPad combo can't!

The Wii U hardware supports full 1080p, via HDMI, and features a bespoke multi-core PowerPC processor from IBM. As with the GameCube and Wii, the Wii U's optical drive will playback proprietary optical discs (including Wii) to prevent piracy. Incidentally, there will be no GameCube support. Is this a good move in an era of digital downloads?

Nintendo is serious about courting casual and gaming enthusiasts alike. Third-party titles announced include Tekken, Batman: Arkham Asylum and LEGO City Stories.

What are you thoughts on the Wii U and touchscreen controller add-on? Will you be lining up to buy one in 2012?

1 comment:

  1. I not sure what the hell is going on with them the cost of the screen must be massive & it look more like My first Sony (http://gdgt.com/sony/my-first-sony/hb-a5000/) but white.

    I will need to play with one b4 I can comment further :(

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