“The new platform will provide deeper game experiences than what even the most passionate gamer has realized before, and it will offer wider appeal all gamers, wider
even than Wii,” said Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, at the company’s E3 2011 media briefing today.
Following this, Nintendo announced the Wii U. “It’s a system we will all enjoy together, but it’s tailor-made for you,” explained Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime.
The new controller for the Wii U will be capable of a number of different functions, indicated by Nintendo’s trailer for the system. It will take the shape of a tablet-like device with the layout of a regular controller (yes, it has dual-analog sticks). It will also include a touchscreen, gyroscope, internal camera.
The screen won’t only be used for touch control. You will be able to play Wii U games either on your television or stream the visuals to the controller itself and play it there. However, it is not intended to be a standalone portable device.
A trailer for the device showed a number of interesting uses, such as using the controller as a traditional game pad, placing it on the floor to use as a golf ball stand, using it to aim a gun at the screen, using it to get readouts from Wii Fit while standing on the balance board, placing it on the palm of one hand and swiping it to fire shurikens and more.
Oh, and you might like this, although it wasn’t confirmed to be a game in development: