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The international development industry was rocked last night following the E3 reveal of Nintendo’s Wii U system.
The brand new home console features a ‘game changing’ controller with an in-built screen.
Below you’ll find a visual tour of the hardware, explaining how it will work in practice.
[If you’re more interested in the hardware’s innards, go here to read more about the system’s tech specs.]
Control configurations
Not since the N64’s three-pronged pad has Nintendo offered such an open solution to control.
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Closeups
As Develop’s source claimed last month, the device features a front-facing camera and a stylus for drawing images on the six-inch touch-screen. It’s believed the touch-screen itself is resistance-based, as opoposed to the capacitive screens used in mobile devices like iPhones and iPads.
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Hardware
Nintendo has broken tradition and is creating a console that looks similar to its predecessor. The same goes for the Wii brand itself which, being as ubiquitous as it is today, would have been perhaps too daring a move even for Nintendo.
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In action
Five-player simultaneous multiplayer is promised, as well as backwards compatibility. Visual data can be streamed to the controller, meaning that the TV won’t be essential for playing Wii U games. (Though the TV will still be important, especially for playing legacy Wii games – notice the sensor bar atop the TV). Nintendo claims there is no noticable lag on the visual data sent to the controller.
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Two screens, one game
The new Wii U pad can interact with the TV screen itself, creating a dynamic picture-in-picture in the palm of the user’s hands.
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Catalogue shots
Project Cafe… Oh, of course! Coffee table gaming! It all makes sense now.
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E3
And finally, two pictures of the moment when the games industry turned a corner.
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For Develop’s extensive Wii U coverage, go here
