Nintendo WiiU - E3 2011

Nintendo’s E3 press conference took place last week during E3, where the company revealed its new console the WiiU. Production is said to be commencing this October, leading us to expect a 2012 release as early as late Spring. Additionally, we can guess from its graphics chip that it will be at least slightly more powerful than its competitors the PS3 and Xbox360. What sets it apart, in theory, is the controller.

Somewhat larger than an iPad, the WiiU controller is a 10.5 by 6.8 inch block of plastic featuring a 6.2-inch 16:9 touch-screen (without multitouch) and traditional buttons (A/B/X/Y, D-Pad, analog sticks, shoulder and trigger buttons). One can only hope the final design of this device is not yet settled, as those two analog sticks (“circle pads” to Nintendo) are positioned above the buttons... quite unusual for at least the right side where we’ve been tuned by every controller since last generation to reach for the secondary analog below the buttons. This controller has an accelerometer, gyroscope, rumble, camera, microphone, speakers, wii remote sensor bar, and it’s rechargeable! It’s definitely a big bag of features.

The console supports up to 1080p with its custom Radeon GPU and IBM multi-core processor. It will offer backwards compatibility to Wii games (but not Gamecube), supporting all Wii-era peripherals and controllers like the Balance Board and classic controllers (not Gamecube controllers). WiiU games use proprietary 25GB discs, somewhat smaller than a single layer BluRay, but respectable. There’s internal flash memory, SD card support, and 4 USB ports that can connect to external hard drives (not Gamecubes, though). Online options remain vague, but developers have been talking as though there are no friend codes and the services provided are more on par with Xbox Live. At least it’s better than the Gamecube’s modem.

First party games already confirmed include Pikmin 3, Smash Brothers, and a new New Super Mario Brothers. Third parties are on board, too, with titles like Arkham City and Darksiders 2 already confirmed for launch. During the WiiU’s presentation, a wide variety of developers including Irrational’s Ken Levine and EA’s John Riccitiello expressed excitement for the console.

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Nintendo demonstrated a lot of different ways the new controller can be used, emphasizing its versatility. A lot of it seemed to push the motion control gimmick, but some seem to have genuine hardcore gaming applications. As with the early DS games, the usage we’ll see most is handling of user interfaces. This approach takes every nonessential piece of UI (menus, maps) and puts it onto the controller screen. Consider a game like Metal Gear Solid 3 and its constant menu navigation for patching up wounds and switching around inventory... and imagine if that process never interrupted gameplay. Clever designers could take this additional screen straight to the bank if they explore options only possible with that sort of screen thoroughly. Unfortunately, we probably won’t see much of that since third parties want to release their big budget titles cross-platform. They need to design a traditional UI anyway, so the WiiU screen will probably become an afterthought in many cases.

While it’s probably foolish to ever expect a 3D traditional Pokémon adventure, perhaps there’s a spinoff featuring a pocket-sized traveling companion in lieu of a traditional 6-member team. You’d go about playing the regular game, whatever it entails, while having this companion Pokémon living on your controller screen, reacting and helping however it may. You’d do all the digital pet stuff from the controller; take care of it, or heal it, talk to it. Because this interaction is so closely connected to the rest of the game, occurring simultaneously, it has more value as a feature. Suppose this were the case for mags from PSO or Chao’s from Sonic Adventure - certainly those features would become more meaningful. Any NPC companion might benefit from “living” on this screen - someone like Midna from Twilight Princess, Kazooie from Banjo Kazooie... it would allow you a more immediate connection to this NPC that’s supposed to be with you at all times.

We saw GBA-GCN interaction during the Gamecube era see extremely limited success thanks to the high install cost. Although the WiiU seems to allow for only one touchpad controller, bringing a 3DS or two to the mix would allow for a similar level of multiplayer options. Four Swords Adventure was a fantastic co-op adventure whose concept could benefit greatly from this new technology.

There are lot of possibilities ahead for the WiiU, but appeal relies heavily upon third party support. If that controller doesn’t become a must-have feature for WiiU versions of a game, there will be little reason to own this new console beyond the usual draw of first party titles. Perhaps Nintendo has earned the right to expect such support with its Wii success. Perhaps the PSVita will be able to interact with the PS3 in a similar manner, encouraging third parties to put time and energy into developing those unique UI features. WiiU faces an uphill battle as Sony and Microsoft approach their next console releases in the coming years, especially if those competitors are still early enough in the planning stage to introduce features like the WiiU’s.