E3 Announcments : Nintendo Wii U

News & General Discussion
1

E3 just announced a new product set to launch holidays 2012. The Wii U is a handheld device, similar to the DS device series, with the functionality of the Wii. So far, all of the demos were “prototypes”, but the capabilities of this handheld, just in the graphics alone, were very impressive. Moreover, titles that we’ve come to know on Xbox and PlayStation 3 are going to make a move to Wii U. Tekken, Ninja Gaiden, and even DiRT will be made available for Wii U.

The device will feature dual thumbsticks, 6.5" touch screen, accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, camera, and much more. Now then, I haven’t been much of a fan of Nintendo in recent years (not saying their stuff is bad, just not my style), but I have to say I am drawn to it.

Now whether or not this thing is a console or a controller is still kept under wraps, because they never mentioned the word “console”.

But it plays all existing Wii games.

But it can act as a standalone for certain games.

But it has HD.

Something’s up, and this thing is interesting.

I’d provide more images, but it hasn’t even been half an hour since the announcement, so the press hasn’t had much of a chance to get images up.

Now then, one can only start to imagine the development potential of such a device. Obviously, Unity cannot publish to the device, even though Wii publishing is available for Unity, because the device will obviously require some new libraries for it’s SDK.

I cannot even start to describe in a single post what this thing is, but it’s a very interesting move on Nintendo’s part. Imagine combining an iPad with a Nintendo 3Ds and Wii…

So, question is, would you be interested in developing if you had the capabilities? If so, tell us why in the comments below, and what you could do with.

2

I think you missed . It’s not a handheld. The thing you’re talking about is the controller. I think it’s awesome; we already got a taste of this tech in 1999 with Sega’s VMU, and I was a big fan of that. I just wonder if the Apple TV will have similar functionality enabled before the Wii U’s launch, and steal its thunder.

3

This is basically nintendo’s answer to the 360 and PS3. I like it.

4

It’s an update to the Wii, more or less, so I wouldn’t say it’s an answer to the consoles, but rather the consoles update. When the PS3 Move and 360 Kinect were introduced last holiday season, the closest thing Nintendo came up with to an update was a special edition red Wii…

I guess this is their compensation for such a lacking…er…colour change.

5

This is an amazing announcement. Nintendo finally goes HD.
And that controller- I do very much prefer it to the wiimote.
It’s also gunna be able to run the frostbite engine, minimum. I hope us Unity Devs get a shot at it!

6

Well I think they said the devkits are already being VERY EXCLUSIVELY released to one or two studios. But the device isn’t set to launch until 2012, so Unity may not get a license until well into summer 2012, if not later.

Tt Studios has the SDK already. They are already at work creating “Lego: City Stories”.

7

This is not even new to Nintendo … anyone who has the GBA ↔ GC connection and played final fantasy back then knows what I mean :wink:

Main difference is that this is worlds more advanced and focused and I’m sure we have only seen the “surface information” so far with most of the tricks being unknown yet as usually for nintendo

Nintendo only gives away the cheapo crap early on to create some confusion and “whats the matter with it” to drop the real bomb less than a month upfront the jp launch

8

Like a teaser? Seems brilliant. But the part about giving out the cheapo crap early on seems not-so-smart…

9

Flop…

10

Same goes for PS Vita + PS3.

One concern I have so far is that I haven’t seen anything with more than one Wii U controller at a time. I know they’re going to be expensive, and I think that will lead to the system’s failure and Microsoft or Apple acquiring Nintendo (I predict late 2013-early 2014 timeframe for this), but I just wonder if it is technically feasible to run more than one. That’s a heck of a lot of wireless data to stream.

The 3DS isn’t a good enough controller, so Nintendo couldn’t use that, but they have no other options. Apple has the iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, and Sony has the Vita. What’s going to inspire someone to buy just an expensive controller, when the competition has expensive controllers that do a heck of a lot more?

Now, that said, the Wii U controller is the best tool for the job, but I don’t think that’s going to be enough. I’m going to buy one, if only to eliminate a bunch of cables for when I want to play my Metroid Prime Trilogy, the only Wii game I own. But I don’t know if there’s going to be a mass audience for it. The last Nintendo console, but great inspiration for the competition, is how I call it.

11

Oh my, you’re quite right. Of course, maybe Japan has come up with something new to make wireless much faster. That’s a massive maybe though.

12

Well perhaps it WILL do more. Nintendo included a browser on the Wii, recognizing that people might want to do more than just play games. I expect this controller to at least be a decent internet-browsing tablet. The question for me is how tightly will they tie it to the console. IE, can I take it with me to use as a tablet but I just can’t play the latest First-party game? Will Indy devs be able to write small games directly to this controller?

If it turns out to be a joystick that can stream a feed from the console but cannot do anything else then I’ll skip this one both in terms of playing and developing… If they make it a Nintendo Tablet with some really unique features then I may try to raise some money and target it as a platform. Needless to say in that case my kids would be playing with one in the living room.

13

My Dreamcast’s VMU would like to have a word with you… :stuck_out_tongue:

Hopefully it doesn’t cause brain tumors.

14

Yes, that’s what they said it is, in the keynote. Well, they said that processing happens on the console, anyway. But it’s more than what you say it is. For example, it’s a small TV for using a Wii Remote and nunchuk with, so it could actually a good buy for families without money for consoles and TVs for all the kids. My assumption is that they will release a charging dock that doubles as a stand.

15

Quite some years late then.

16

Oh hay the actually made the thing. I remember reading about it’s prototype awhile ago (like 6 months) and it is pretty much if you combined a souped up wii with a souped up dsi. You got this thing lol. So it really is a hand held AND a console, well that’s what I read anyway lol.

Edit;
It seems to have changed since that article though.

17

Lol talking about expensive controller and in the same round mentioning iPhone and iPad which has a good chance to cost more than the console with 2 controllers on their own.

Also apple has no usable offering, the Apple TV, even if expanded to iPad2 power, isn’t in the range of competitive as it will need quite a few things they were able to omit for the pure stream box and which will raise its price by 200%+ (assuming normal apple margins, by 350-450%+)

it will be interesting to see whats going to happen, but I wouldn’t go as far as consider Apple a competition for the time being. On the gaming end, Nintendo always has been the Innovator and Apple with their point of view and their “cloudification movement” isn’t going to change that, as people aren’t going to fork out 80 - 120 USD for games on the console if they don’t own them and if there is no second hand market (thats the price of console titles from wii up to ps3/x360 here) and the iOS games quality and spectrum and the “trash flood approach” won’t make it a major player in the field as console development won’t shift to a “little to no revenue” platform - the iOS proofs that well enough for 2 years now even less if console + input devices costs beyond a thousand USD for 2 players

18

I do not think Nintendo will ever be bought out. They’ve been leading console sales with the wii for so long, and this improves that; they’re gunna think if it’s anything like the wii, and backwards compatible (Which it is) then i want one. They may even equal sales, if not increase over wii sales, as this now brings nintendo back to the core gamers again. The wii was a sucess, as where many of there other consoles. Their consoles lead the market, in home and handheld versions, because they are the most innovative- and people like that, despite how it looks.

Playstation only exists because Nintendo ditched Sony for developing a console that was originally going to be the SNES Playstation, and to be honest, I think Sony’s show this year was a flop. Microsoft only got into the market because the other two where at it, and they prize power over innovation.

So it’s extremely unlikely Nintendo will be bought out. They are the most successful in terms of first party games and consoles, even if the Wii got buried in shovelware. But the shovelware will still increase sales for any console, and the core gamers will want this one now. Nintendo are back to their roots- serious gaming, while being innovative.

Also, apple isn’t in direct competition with Nintendo. And the iPad is not a next gen HD console- it’s just a tablet thing that they might as well, IMO, not bothered with.

I want a Wii U.
And a name change.

19

People are not going to buy portable Apple devices just to play on their TVs. The point is, they already have these things, or want them for different reasons. Nintendo is making a game console. Sony and Microsoft are making what equates to tablets/smartphones that plug into your TV. Media consumption devices. The Xbox 360 and PS3 were not these things when they came out (aside from Blu Ray), but they have evolved into that. The value of an expensive controller that does nothing without a game console does not match the value of any other expensive device with a screen, even if the Wii U controller comes in at the rumored $150 price point.

However, signs at this point suggest it not being offered as a standalone SKU anyway. If you want the new console, you get the controller, and that’s the only one you can use. Sony and Apple have the potential to make this a multiplayer affair. I like some Nintendo franchises, and plan to get a Wii U, but unlike last time, they’re not offering unique hardware. Even Microsoft can get in on the action by pairing Windows phones with an Xbox. And considering that cuts a bunch of people out, and they can’t make something else that will match the Wii U controller, because Zune hardware is dead, they could allow any iOS or Android device to run an Xbox screen-based controller app.

What else will it need? You think iCloud isn’t going to be able to take care of lack of storage space? If that’s true, then Apple TV could function as a reverse Wii U, with storage being taken care of by the “controllers”.

20

With this big “controller” should I focus on TV or the controller’s screen to play game? I don’t understand.