Nintendo caused mass confusion a few minutes ago when they officially announced the successor to the Wii. The name of the console is Wii U which Nintendo says reflects the nature of the console, but I think I speak for us all when I say its dumb! While the Wii was a great tool to get families gathered together around the TV, the Wii U is said to provide a more personal experience although multiplayer gaming with the aid of current Wii peripherals is encouraged.
Not much was said regarding the console itself but based on third party montage that was shown the system appears to be on par with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The system will also be backwards compatible with Wii games but no word on Gamecube as of yet.
The real highlight of the system is it’s revolutionary new controller which sports a 6.2″ touch screen display, two analog sticks, an inward facing camera, a microphone, gyroscope and an accelerometer.
Depending on the game, players can either use the Wii U’s touch display as a second screen to compliment the game that they’re currently playing (ie. as a quick item selection tool in an upcoming Zelda game) or in some cases you can play games entirely on the the touch panel while others in your home use the TV to watch Sports or Desperate Housewives.
If you’re still confused that’s because Nintendo’s press conference was very vague. Despite the fact that the system launches next year we saw no real games for it, just concepts and ports of current-gen games like Ninja Gaiden 3. Hopefully Nintendo will clarify some more details shortly but in the meantime take a look at the annoucement video below…
