Nintendo announces Wii U controller for new console, coming in 2012

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Nintendo teases with a hybrid controller-tablet sidekick to the upcoming Wii U console. The “Swiss Army knife of controllers” does everything from draw to double as a second screen in some games.

Rather than introduce a successor to the popular Nintendo Wii console, Nintendo unveiled the Wii U controller (pronounced “We-U”) for the next platform instead at E3 in Los Angeles today. According to Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils Aime, “It’ll change the way you play.”

To call this new device a controller doesn’t quite capture all the interactive possibilities it offers. It is more like a sidekick to the upcoming console (and television) that doubles as an extra controller in some games, and works standalone gaming device in other scenarios. Think of it as a hybrid controller and tablet with a 6.2″ touchscreen.

It turns out the rumors about Project Cafe were correct: the Wii U has a 6.2″ touchscreen (with stylus), with the typical control pad and buttons, circle pads on either side, left and right shoulder buttons embedded into the top two corners, rumble motor, a sensor strip and the gyroscope and accelerometer sensors built-in like other Wii-motes. It also includes other features not typically found in a video game controller like a microphone, camera and speakers, because the Wii U controller “it’s not meant to be a portable gaming system even though it shares some characteristics,” said Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata.

Like any good sidekick, the Wii U controller can enhance gameplay and hold its own when not linked to the console:

• Wii U controller offers a second screen: There are many different uses for a second screen in a Wii U game. Here are just a few of the ones mentioned today.In a Chase Mii game demoed on the Nintendo channel after the official press conference, players can play digital hide and seek, with one player using the Wii U controller’s screen as a map of all the other players so she can better hide from her friends. The other players using the original Wii-motes only have the main television screen to navigate the game.

  Another example presented on stage involved using the Wii U controller to display your golf ball and the TV screen to display the fairway to simulate 3D gameplay (see below).
  

• Continue console game on Wii U controller: For the times when the television cannot be used to play the Wii, the Wii U allows the player to continue to game on the device.
• Play games on the Wii U controller: As a portable device with a larger screen than the Nintendo 3DS, the Wii U can also transform into a digital game board for an impromptu game of chess.
• Transfer content from Wii U controller to television: You can share the video you are watching on the Wii U with your television so more people can enjoy the same content but on a larger screen.
• Make art on the Wii U controller: The touchscreen is another surface for artists to hone their craft.
  
• Video chat on the Wii U controller: That’s pretty self-explanatory.
• Browse a Web page on the Wii U controller: See above.
• Use Wii U controller as an universal peripheral: One of the developers featured in the video reel called the Wii U controller “the Swiss Army knife of controllers” and he wasn’t kidding. With the large built-in touchscreen, the device can morph from one weapon to the next in an instant, as shown below:
  

Other technical specs available are as follows:

• Dimensions: 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide and 10.5 inches long.
• Media: A single self-loading media bay will play 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs for the new console, as well as 12-centimeter Wii optical discs.
• Output Resolution: 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i. Compatible cables include HDMI, component, S-video and composite.
• Audio Output:Uses AV Multi Out connector. Six-channel PCM linear output through HDMI.
• Storage: The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive.
• CPU: IBM Power®-based multi-core microprocessor.
• Adapters: Four USB 2.0 connector slots are included. The new console is backward compatible with Wii games and Wii accessories.

The Wii U controller looks like it has a lot of promise but it’s hard to tell what the console portion will look like if the so-called controller already has a built-in media slot. Without a doubt, the next console is in the works as both Iwata and Aime made of a point of inviting Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello on stage to tease that the new console will feature “deeper online capabilities.”

No word yet on how much the Wii U controller will retail or when you should expect it in-store sometime in 2012.

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