Story by Staff

Mon, Jun 04, 2012 | 09:31 BST

Wii U Game Pad detailed at Nintendo’s pre-E3 conference

Nintendo gave us a first look at its final Wii U vision tonight, christening its tablet controller the Wii U Game Pad and announcing a traditionally-styled Wii U Pro Controller.

AT A GLANCE

Nintendo chose to focus on the high-level concepts of the Wii U, putting games coverage off until its core E3 conference.

The Wii U’s tablet controller’s final form was shown, complete with analog sticks and under-stick buttons. It’s called the Wii U Game Pad. A black one was shown.

The Wii U will have its own classic-style control, the Pro Controller.

MiiVerse, the Wii U’s main network, was shown. Players will be able to swap status messages, share game content, and connect to each other.

President Satoru Iwata explained that the Wii U is intended to connect people through devices, not just connect them to their devices.

Wii U Game Pad
The tablet controller has been named the Wii U Game Pad and has, as rumoured, two analog sticks rather than the circle pads shown at previous events. The two analog controls feature under-stick buttons, like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, upping the total number of inputs.

The back of the controller and the button layer have been redesigned for comfort, and the Game Pad now includes an NFC reader-writer – like those used for PayWave credit cards and smartphones – which Iwata suggests will be used with “cards or figures”.

The controller works even when the Wii U console is not available; Nintendo president Satorua Iwata stressed that while existing WiiMotes can only turn the console on, the game pad can be used independently of the TV in some instances. The Game Pad also functions as a full-featured TV remote control.

The controller was shown being used as the main monitor for Wii Fit and a Mario game, something Nintendo engineers call “asymmetric diversity”. A black version of the Game Pad was seen in the following video.

Iwata confirmed the Wii U will support existing Wii controls, including the Wiimote, the Nunchuk and the balance board. The Classic controller was not mentioned, but a new controller, the Wii U Pro Controller, was debuted; there’s a screengrab of the new peripheral below.

MiiVerse and Nintendo Network

MiiVerse allows for messaging, content sharing, and other socila features.

MiiVerse is native to Wii U and works with all games. Opening MiiVerse does not disrupt gameplay.

Although it won’t be available when the Wii U launches, MiiVerse and the Nintendo Network will eventually be available from web-enabled devices – the 3DS, PCs and mobiles.

MiiVerse and the human connection
A concept video was rolled, showing a player seeking help from others online directly through the Game Pad. The controller asked the player’s mood and prompted him to post a status update after a failed boss fight.

“Guess I’m not alone after all,” the actor commented when he received a number of sympathetic responses.

During the video, we got a glimpse of something Iwata called MiiVerse. This space is the first and last thing the player sees when the console is activated or deactivated, and is “a place where Miis from around the world can meet and connect”. Iwata mentioned that players can meet Miis from their home territory or preferred language.

The Mii-based social network is “as native to Wii U as the Wii U Game Pad”, can be opened at any time without disrupting gameplay, and will be compatible with all Wii U games.

Iwata admitted that MiiVerse – and the whole concept of a console network – is not new, but said Nintendo’s take is distinctive in a couple of ways. The Game Pad allows players to easily read text material from the network thanks to its handheld display, for example, and the touch pad makes it easy to type or even send handwritten messages and doodles.

The messaging and status update area looked similar to Sony’s LiveArea for Vita, and Iwata also confirmed players will be able to transfer game content through MiiVerse, as with near.

MiiVerse will be available via the Nintendo Network on “any web-enabled mobile device”, including 3DS and even PC, but not at the time of Wii U’s launch. The Wii U’s web browser was shown for the first time, working on both the Game Pad and TV screen.

“I believe when you hear from Nintendo this week, there may be several times when you say to yourself, well, that’s certainly something unique, and hopefully you’ll be thinking about unique in a good way.”

The concept
Speaking from a seventh floor conference room in Nintendo’s Kyoto HQ, Iwata said the room’s single decoration, a piece of Japanese calligraphy, displayed the company’s motto since its earliest days: “creating something unique”.

Saving all game details for the full E3 press conference, Iwata chose to focus on the high-level sconcepts behind the Wii U. The president said there is some confusion as to whether the Wii U is a “simple evolution of Wii or something entirely different”, and that the answer is “both”.

“Wii U does what we did, only better, and at the same time, it’s entirely new,” he said.

The Wii U is designed to continue Nintendo’s Wii goal of turning the living room into a playground which connects those sharing the space, but also, “connects people living room to living room” much more effectively. Nintendo’s aim with the Wii U is to introduce a piece of technology which unites, rather than divides, Iwata explained, showing an image of users ignoring each other to focus on devices – “together alone”.

“New technologies in general have made life easier and more efficient but we have to wonder what this will mean for the nature of human relationships moving forward,” Iwata said.

“Even with no-one else in the room, you won’t feel alone,” he added, describing Nintendo’s solution to the “together alone” problem as “together better”.

The presentation
The presentation was broadcast on Nintendo Japan’s website and Facebook. As noted on Nintendo’s Facebook page today, the event gave the public an opportunity to “learn more about the Wii U console”. You can watch the presentation in full below.

Nintendo’s full E3 press conference takes place Tuesday, June 5 at 9.00am PDT/12.00pm EST/5.00pm UK.

For a full run-down of our E3 content next week, take a look at this.

80 comments

Newer Comments

Razor
03/06/12, 8:19 pm

Is this going to be in English and/or have subtitles?

Moonwalker1982
03/06/12, 8:27 pm

I’m doing my best to keep my enthusiasm to a minimum, simply to avoid dissappointmens, but maaaaan am i curious. Although i don’t think we’ll see any games today, but hopefully we can finally put those goddammn rumours to rest about the Wii U being either weaker or stronger than the current consoles.

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 8:32 pm

It’ll be in English, definitely.

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 8:36 pm

Well, specs would be the main story. If it’s less powerful than 360 it’s going to make for a very interesting show.

Razor
03/06/12, 8:37 pm

Awesome.

kony 2012
03/06/12, 8:44 pm

i think they will show the aliens game since gearbox buzz about it so much on the Wii U

kony 2012
03/06/12, 9:27 pm

bet they show of aliens since gearbox are more excited for this on Wii U

AHA-Lambda
03/06/12, 9:35 pm

Ninty has already said that at E3 they won’t talk about price, release dates or specs. So presumably this will be all about games I hope.

Johnny Cullen
03/06/12, 9:47 pm

It won’t be about games. Nintendo said in the Facebook post in the story it won’t be talking games until Tuesday. So my reckoning is it’s gonna be hardware and services.

#10

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 9:55 pm

It’ll answer the question, “What is Wii U?” It’ll primarily be to show final hardware, I reckon.

#11

AHA-Lambda
03/06/12, 10:00 pm

Damn =/

#12

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 10:03 pm

It’s being streamed on Facebook as well. I’ve added a link.

#13

Pytox
03/06/12, 10:10 pm

50minutes to go

#14

kony 2012
03/06/12, 10:14 pm

hope they show aliens on wii U since gearbox talk about it so much

#15

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 10:23 pm

This is it! Good times, hopefully.

#16

Moonwalker1982
03/06/12, 10:24 pm

Which is really good, finally we’ll know what hardware to expect then. Finzally we can put those rumours to rest and what not.

#17

Phoenixblight
03/06/12, 10:27 pm

SO expect hardware but not the specs? Uh kay

#18

Gekidami
03/06/12, 10:29 pm

Expect nothing then, i guess. Besides Reggie talking really slowly, of course.

#19

KrazyKraut
03/06/12, 10:29 pm

thx for the links and the info. You guys should get the webby award: awesome active blog + user affinity. <3 ich liebe euch <3

#20

Ireland Michael
03/06/12, 10:29 pm

Specs don’t matter.

#21

KrazyKraut
03/06/12, 10:30 pm

size doesnt matter.

#22

Moonwalker1982
03/06/12, 10:31 pm

@17

They don’t? Well…like i said..the rumours about whether its weaker/stronger than 360 and PS3 can finally be laid to rest….right? And that’s a good thing in my book.

#23

Ireland Michael
03/06/12, 10:35 pm

@19 No, they don’t.

It’s been proven countless times that specs don’t make a game, good gameplay does. It doesn’t matter how powerful or weak the hardware is if it doesn’t have the games to support it, and despite always being a generation behind in the hardware, Nintendo has consistently come out on top in the last two generations.

#24

Phoenixblight
03/06/12, 10:41 pm

@20
Specs kind of do matter since if they are not at the same curb as the current gen. They won’t get 3rd party support which will once again create a machine that is a paper weight unless Nintendo releases a first party game. THat is one of the reason why I sold the Wii because all I was doing was waiting for the next Ninty game since there were no third party games worthy of playing on it.

#25

Moonwalker1982
03/06/12, 10:46 pm

@20

Ah like that, yes true, but absolutely not for me. Nintendo with Wii was very dissappointing for me, i absolutely didn’t like it at all. I hope they are finally gonna come with some great third party exclusives and just some games that ‘hardcore’ gamers will like. I hope Ninty gives us reason to look forward to the Wii U.

Fact is, they are coming with a brand new console, if they are not gonna be at least as powerful or more powerful than current consoles..why even bother making a HD console then?

#26

Patrick Garratt
03/06/12, 10:51 pm

Ten minutes!

#27

Ireland Michael
03/06/12, 10:53 pm

@22 Although hardware leaps are beneficial to a point, it’ll obviously be HD-ready and have a decent online infrastructure, so that’s more than enough for me.

I’m of the apparently unpopular belief that current console graphics are more than satisfactory, and development costs *really* don’t need to be getting any higher right now.

#28

Gekidami
03/06/12, 10:54 pm

@20 They’ve come out on top in the last 2 gens? …What? In what universe did the Gamecube “come out on top” of the PS2? Not only did the system sell less, but it was seriously lacking in games compared to the PS2.

And please, the Wii has had terrible software sales besides Nintendo’s own franchises and thats only because they were big, recognised names, and quite honestly, a terrible software lineup all round. Sure it had some gems, but compared to the 360 & PS3 it was horribly lacking in quality games, all because its specs stopped it from getting the same third party games.

the Wii’s massive sales had nothing to do with the specs, everything to do with the motion control gimmick catching the mass markets eye. They’re ‘low spec’ approach has proven nothing.

#29

daytripper
03/06/12, 10:59 pm

Thought the Gamecube was brilliant myself, Rogue Squadron, Resident Evil 4, Mario Sunshine, great little console with a comfortable controller.

#30

Colin Gallacher
03/06/12, 11:00 pm

HERE WE GO!

#31

Ireland Michael
03/06/12, 11:01 pm

@25 Up until the last two years, Nintendo were the hardware leaders on all fronts. The Wii was outselling everything, and the DS was outselling everything. The 3DS looks to end up doing the same, now that the early hardware slump has stopped.

The Gamecube clearly wasn’t a success, but those other three formats obviously were.

“They’re ‘low spec’ approach has proven nothing.”

It proves that the mass market consumers doesn’t care about specs.

#32

Sadismek
03/06/12, 11:02 pm

Yeap. Glad it’s in English.

#33

Gekidami
03/06/12, 11:02 pm

@26
I thought those games were great too, but then i also think getting time off work when you have the flu is great. See, you can easily cherry pick and only remember the best, but it wont change the reality that whilst you’re off work, you’re also vomiting all over the place and feel like shit.

@28
Nope, it proves that a gimmick and a low price will sell your stuff, even if you’ve got no real substance to go with it.

Also this is worth pointing out:

“63% of developers who spoke to IGN said the Wii U would be the most challenging platform to develop for. One creator went as far as saying, “we won’t be working on Wii U due to these complexities””
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/01/the-next-generation-according-to-game-developers

#34

KrazyKraut
03/06/12, 11:02 pm

“create something unique” like this motto

#35

Sadismek
03/06/12, 11:05 pm

Wow they’re showing the controller now… Looks… meh? The screen is quite small.

Edit: Screw that, it’s way better than before.

#36

KrazyKraut
03/06/12, 11:12 pm

backwards support + classic controller. NICE!

#37

KrazyKraut
03/06/12, 11:16 pm