Today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo unveiled a new console and tablet-sized touchscreen controller, and it probably wouldn’t be stretch to say that it’s a significant leap forward in gaming technology.
Reports the LA Times:
The Wii U’s white, plastic, controller is about the size of some tablet computers and features a 6.2-inch touch screen, as well as a standard array of gaming controller buttons. But a tablet the Wii U controller is not. Images displayed on the Wii U’s controller are all produced by the Wii U console itself and the screen is just that — another screen.
The display on the Wii U controller can work in a few different ways: as a complement to a game on a TV, adding extra information or control options; as a mirrored screen, displaying the same images as what’s on a TV; or as the only gaming screen, for when a friend may want to watch a TV but a Wii U user might want to keep playing a video game.
The screen’s options will allow users to game at home without being tied to their TVs, but because the controller relies on the Wii U console for everything displayed on the screen, it isn’t a true portable gaming system on its own. The touch-screen will also be compatible with a stylus and feature two cameras, one front and one rear, that can be used for augmented reality games or to conduct a video chat session with friends who also own Wii U systems.
Gizmodo’s Matt Buchanan, who’s early assessment of the Wii U is that it’s “insane,” adds that the device “does video chat, it’s a web browser, and it mirrors photos/videos up on the TV. Nintendo’s being careful to say the controller is not a portable gaming machine. All the images come from the Wii U, wirelessly transmitted.”
Here’s a larger view of what it all looks like…
Here’s the Wii U’s actual console…
And here’s video of a demo of the Wii U taken at the event…
Sick.
(Jo Garcia playing Wii Fit via)
