After months of speculation, rumours and preliminary announcements, the lid has finally been lifted on Nintendo's newest home console. As the E3 trade show gets underway in Los Angeles, Nintendo held a press conference to show its new baby to the world - and what a console it is. Or rather, what a controller it is.
With a 6.2" touch screen, we can't say we didn't see this coming.
To be honest, Nintendo didn't do a very good job of announcing what's what at the conference. At first glance, it may have actually seemed as thought Nintendo had only announced a new controller, as that's practically all they showed. But there's much more to in than that.
The Wii U is an entirely new console, that comes with a new, Wii shaped box of tricks, and a brand new controller, the latter of which you'll find pictured above. Confirming the rumours to be right, the controller comes with a built in, 6.2 inch touch screen, along with all the usual buttons and triggers - including two analogue sticks. The controller will also house a front facing camera, and a microphone, along with a gyroscope and accelerometer for Wii style motion controls.
The console is known as the Wii U - a name that Reggie, the head honcho of Nintendo of America proclaimed stood for Utopia. Nintendo acknowledged that, while it had managed to spectacularly expand the selection of people who actually play games, encouraging everyone from grandparents to young children to pick up and controller and join in, the system had gained a reputation amongst the more traditional 18-35 demographic of having "nothing for them". This is something Nintendo's keen to shake with the Wii U, as the company reiterated their intentions to make this a console that everyone could enjoy - not just one group of players.
A demo of an all-new Zelda game was shown, with the Wii U's controller showing an inventory screen, allowing you to quickly and easily switch between items in the middle of a battle.
Along with confirming the system will be capable of outputting Xbox 360 quality, high definition visuals, Nintendo also showed some strong support from third party publishers, with EA's boss even appearing on the stage to tell the world how much he thought of Nintendo's new system. Other talking heads included some very revered industry personalities saying some very nice things, from Ken Levine, the creator of BioShock, to Warren Spector, the man behind Deus Ex, and the recent Epic Mickey.
Nintendo wouldn't be pressed into showing any official games, but they did announce several were in development. One was LEGO City Stories - an exclusive Wii U game by Travellers Tales, while the conference also confirmed that a new game in the all-star Nintendo beat 'em up series, Smash Bros was in development for the Wii U and 3DS - and announcement that garnered a heck of a reaction from the excitable crowd.
Move the Wii U controller around the screen to block the pirate's arrows.
Aside from the lack of any true games, Nintendo were keen to show off several demonstrations of the Wii U's capabilities, and as such, had prepared several tech demos to show off how their controller worked. The key innovation here is that you now have two screens - one on the TV, and one in your hand. Whether you're blocking arrows that are flying at you, using the screen as a shield (which knows exactly where it's being held thanks to the accelerometers and gyroscopes), as in the Shield Pose demo, or using it as a scanner instead, passing it over an object to reveal a hidden side to them, Nintendo were keen to show how this can offer a different view into the world. While one image gets displayed on your TV, the controller can be moved around at different angles to offer a different viewpoint into the same image. A plausible, if a tad boring, demo showed a Wii Sports style golf game, with the Wii U controller on the floor, showing your ball in the sand pit, while you stood above it with the Wii Remote. Which brings us onto the next point.
In Chase Mii, one player used the Wii U controller, which gave them access to a map of the entire level, while they were chased by four other players, each using a Wii Remote. We can see this being used in Mario Party Wii U.
The Wii U is also full backwards compatible with the Wii. This includes Wii Remotes, Nunchucks, Balance Boards, and, of course, every single game. While Nintendo have said that the console won't upscale Wii games, you will at least be able to play them. And while the new controller looks a bit intimidating, many of the games Nintendo showed utilised the Wii Remotes as the controllers for players 2 - 4, while only one player used the new Wii U controller.
As the conference rolled on, the uses for the controller just kept coming. If someone wants to watch the TV, with the press of a button, you'll be able to transfer your game from the big screen to the controller's screen, and keep on playing. You can also use it as a handy web browser, although Nintendo have confirmed that the controller itself isn't where the power comes from - all it does is stream the picture from the console, to the controller itself. We're still hopeful that it'll at least have a few built-in applications you can use while the console's switched off, though.
Confusing though it may seem, Nintendo have confirmed that information about their latest console will continue to be released as the week rolls on - including news of their revamped online service. Once everything's out in the open, we'll put together a hand FAQ detailing everything we know. In the mean time, make sure you keep checking back for the latest news as and when it breaks!
