E3 2011 – Nintendo Wii U & the new controller
June 8, 2011 
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[By Gophn]
An exciting start to this year’s E3 with the announcement of the new Nintendo Wii U. And if you are wondering what the “U” stands for, I do not know but I am thinking it’s something like “ultra” or “universe”.
According to the official details, this system should be coming out in 2012… no details on when during that time, but I have a good feeling it will probably show up again at the next E3 2012 and then get launched immediate after that.
The system itself seems similar to the original Wii, but much more curvy and glossy.
The highlights about the Nintendo Wii U are:
- it finally has an HDMI port (for up to 1080p output)
- it is backwards compatible with current Wii games and accessories (such as the Wiimotes and Balance Boards)
- has a new slot loading optical drive using a proprietary 12 centimeter disc with the capacity of 25GB
- it supports that new tablet-like Wii U controller.
The new Wii U wireless controller has had many rumors and speculations recently about it having a touchscreen and LCD, which turned out to be pretty accurate.
The specifics about this new controller are:
- 6.2-inch LCD screen
- has a 16:9 ratio screen (resolution is unknown at the moment)
- has the traditional Nintendo button controls (A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons)
- the standard directional pad, as well as two analog sticks
- can be used to play games with or without a TV
- adds a “second window into the videogame world”
- has a rechargeable battery built-in
- and it includes a built-in accelerometer and gyroscope, rumble feature, two cameras, a microphone, stereo speakers, a sensor strip and a stylus.
My thoughts:
This systems looks like it might actually bring in more than just the casual gaming crowd. The video footage and the video game titles in the lineup looks like what the doctor ordered.
The new controller seems to also fit the tradition for Nintendo, especially since it feels like the “second window” giving the consumer a Nintendo DS in a home console environment. I think a lot of games can take advantage of the touchscreen for maps, equipment, writing words, etc.
It should be interesting for this upcoming year for the next-generation Wii U.
-Gophn
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