Nintendo Reveals ‘Wii U.’ Pictures, Details, and Games Inside.
Nintendo’s revealed their successor to the Wii, titled “Wii U.” Come inside for a collection of captivating morsels. Or just all the known news so far.
The Controller:
You can play games solely on the controller, which handles like a tablet and presumably includes the stylus we saw interacting with it during the reveal. It’s got a 6.2 inch screen, is backward compatible with all Wii games, Wii Remotes and other accessories — a video showed showed it being used with the Balance Board and as a Wii Remote, so it’s got motion controls built in. An example during the reveal showed an individual using it in a golf game, just like a Wiimote.
It’s got rumble, trigger buttons, touch-screen, microphone and speakers, and an accelerometer. It’s also got a camera built in. Iwata says it’s got support for the “widest variety of games can be supported” and can play games independently of the Wii itself. Oh, and it’s HD.
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Nintendo detailed two unique functions of the giant touchscreen controller: video calls and web browsing. Internet and the equivalent of Apple’s FaceTime on Nintendo hardware? We’re just as shocked as you are. We’ll be sure to update you with more information as it comes in.
The Games:
Arkham City
Darksiders 2
Tekken
Assassin’s Creed
Ninja Gaiden 3
Dirt
Ghost Recon Online
Metro: Last Light
Aliens Colonial Marines
Misc Stats:
So here they are: the console itself will run in full HD, via HDMI, but the touchscreen isn’t HD. The console has internal Flash memory which can be augmented with “SD Card or USB solutions”. It will play optical disks and downloadable content, and will be backwards-compatible with Wii software. And it will launch some time between 1 April and 31 December 2012.
Teased Zelda for Wii U:
While much of Nintendo’s hype for its new HD console, the Wii U, has been focused on the innovative controller technology and exciting third-party software, the big N clearly wanted to leave fans with one exciting morsel related to one of its several huge first-party properties. Enter the very first glimpse of Zelda in HD.
The very short demo shown by Nintendo involved no gameplay, although Nintendo promised that it was all real-time. The minimal action can be summed up in a short sentence: Link walks into a temple, looks around a bit, and is attacked by a giant, ferocious spider creature. It’s nothing we haven’t seen in a Zelda game before, but we’ve never seen it looking this beautiful. A button on the touch-screen allowed them to change from daytime to night, showing off some fairly impressive lighting technology.
Cross-Platform Smash Bros. Between 3DS and Wii U:
A new Smash Bros. games is in development that will be playable on Nintendo’s 3DS handheld and new Wii U console. There are no details at the moment, but we will add them as soon as we get them.
Thoughts, true believers?