Nintendo Shines At E3 With The New Wii U

The stake was high and all eyes were on them but Nintendo certainly didn’t disappoint at their E3 2011 Media Briefing event. Just like how they brought forward casual gaming into the limelight with Wii, they have shocked the industry once again with the unveiling of their new console - the Wii U – that features a revolutionary controller and powerful hardware.
Together with the traditional controller buttons and a pair of analog Circle Pads, the Wii U’s controller is equipped with a 6.2-inch touch screen that does not only act as another interaction device with game or contents that are being displayed on TV but can also be used as a stand-alone device. Not enough with that, Nintendo has equipped the controller with camera, microphone, stereo speakers, and stylus which give the controller even more capabilities such as video calls and drawing canvas.

However, the Wii U console itself is able to support only one Wii U controller but fortunately, users can also connect up to four more Wiimotes at the same time for multiplayer goodness. The new Wii U console also supports existing official Wii peripherals such as the Nunchuck controller, Classic Controller and Wii Balance Board.
As for the console’s internal hardware, the Wii U is said to be powered by a multi-core IBM Power-based processor that is paired together with a custom made AMD Radeon HD GPU capable of churning out output at 1080p Full HD resolution. In terms of media disc, games for Wii U will be using new proprietary high-density optical discs while at the same time, the console still supports existing Wii optical discs. The console will also come with built-in flash memory as well as the support for SD card and USB hard disk drive. 

As you might remember, a lot of gamers criticized the original Nintendo Wii for the lack of hardcore games and relying too heavily on casual games. However, Nintendo Wii U will see the return of traditional gaming experience on top of Wii’s established casual games as the company has enlisted the help of developers throughout the industry to come out with quite a number of games that previously would not be associated with Wii. Heck, even the ultra-violence Ninja Gaiden will also be available on the new console soon.
In a nutshell, the new Nintendo Wii U showed a lot of potential even though technically, what was shown at Nintendo’s E3 presentation is still in prototype stage. As you can see from the games line-up and technical demos that were shown at E3, there is no doubt that the Nintendo has crafted Wii U to handle both serious and casual gamers...finally. Obviously, we can’t wait to check out the finalized version of Nintendo Wii U which is expected to be available to consumers sometime in 2012.