Nintendo Wii U Controller Unveiled at E3

With a glossy white front face and smooth contours, the Wii U controller tablet has an uncanny resemblance to something Apple would conjure up. It also looks like a giant bottom half of a DSi XL, with dual analog pads added. The tablet is roughly the size of many 7-inch tablets, but with a larger bezel, thicker chassis, and more controller-like feel. It's lightweight enough to hold for the sessions we used, but after a few minutes of motion use it felt less ergonomic than a Wii remote.

No technical specs are known yet about the resolution, battery life, or processing power of either the tablet or its base console, but here's what we do know: the tablet controller has dual analog pads, a crosspad, buttons, trigger buttons on the back, a stylus or finger-activated touchscreen, a microphone, front and rear-facing cameras, and a gyroscopic motion sensor.

The cameras and microphone will enable video chat according to Nintendo, while the gyro motion controls enable augmented reality-style movement of the 6-inch screen's viewpoint. Games demoed show how the tablet's second screen can be used for a unique player's perspective, or a device that can enhance, interact with, or magnify action seen on the TV. Aiming the tablet camera at the TV might enable a pitch-control interface in a baseball game, or a close-up sniper view in a shooter.

While the tablet can act as a stand-alone gaming device while the TV connected to the Wii U is in use by someone else, according to Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto the Wii U's tablet is a living room device meant to be used in the home, preferably not far from the TV it's paired to. Technically, the wirelessly-connected device could be used to play games on its own, but it sounds like the base Wii U console will need to be on in order to enable that game play.

The tablet's display was crisp and bright in our hands-on use, somewhere in the iPad 2 range of quality, and definitely better than a Nintendo DSi or 3DS. Resolution isn't known yet, but it looked as good as any 7-inch tablet we've seen.

Source Cnet

Nintendo Wii 2, Real or Rumor?

Nintendo could be revealing a HD successor to the Wii console this summer, according to new reports.

There hasn’t been a new gaming console since the launch of the Wii and PlayStation 3 in November 2006. However, Microsoft has breathed new life into its console, the Xbox 360, thanks to the Kinect. The Wii, which has been best the best-selling console for years, is about to lose its first place position.

While Nintendo intends to respond to the Xbox threat by cutting the Wii’s price next month, it looks like the gaming company has another trick up its sleeve: a brand new HD console. According to Game Informer‘s sources, Nintendo plans to unveil a new console at the E3 conference in Los Angeles in June or potentially sooner.

Very little is known about the rumored console, not even the name (Wii 2? Wii HD? Wii 360?), but it’s likely to be more powerful than the Xbox 360 or the PlayStation 3, according to Kotaku. Nintendo has apparently been showing off the system to third-party developers so they can prepare titles for the console’s eventual launch in late 2012.

The Wii captured the hearts and minds of casual gamers with its innovative controller system and its lower price point, but the specs and visuals of its rival consoles are far stronger, giving them greater longevity. Microsoft has also mitigated the Wii’s advantage with causal gamers, thanks to Kinect. Perhaps that’s what is driving Nintendo’s rumored decision to be first on the market with a new console.
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