The Gaming Update Nintendo Wii U Report for E3 2011

While there were rumors of an important console announcement to be made by Nintendo at E3, the chaos of the approaching storm of the Expo combined with the reluctance of the company to say too much in its pre-event publicity meant that we could not know for sure...

The first indication that there was to be movement on the 8th Generation of Console Technology actually came during Sony's pre-even press conference, when they unveiled their Vita portable console -- so naturally there was speculation that we might see major movement from Nintendo in that direction. We already knew that Microsoft was not going to be making that sort of announcement as their presser had occurred the previous day, and there was none.

When the images were flashed on the big screen and we heard the details, it was a stunning revelation, but when we thought about it, the fact that it was to be Nintendo who would make the first inroads into the 8th Generation of Games Consoles really was not that big a surprise.

Nintendo has always been oriented towards innovation, and has always been willing to take the sort of risks that make the huge leaps in gaming tech that influence the entire market -- their pioneering efforts in full-motion control of games and the subsequent efforts that Sony and Microsoft made to get on to that tech train are a thing of legend after all...

Comes the Wii U

At the E3 Expo, Nintendo did not simply introduce a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment in its Wii U, it kicked open the door and blasted us with a fire hose. The fact that it was not simply an announcement, but also a reveal, and that working units for the incredible new controller would be on display at the Nintendo booth, well, that was a very big deal indeed.

The new console -- the Wii U -- is half the story, with the other half being the new controllers that feature a 6.2-inch video display screen that is capable of functioning both as an assigned POV screen, as well as taking over for the main display should the TV be needed to watch other programming, well, that was also part of the magic of the announcement.

The gist of the intention was easily grasped -- the new controllers not only add in POV elements to games that have long needed them like baseball and shooters, creating a multitude of new video game experiences while offering families a variety of options to customize their entertainment.

The Official Word

Following their E3 presser, Nintendo had a lot to say about the new combination of gaming tech, including:

"Previously, video games played on a home console have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. Furthermore, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Visitors to the E3 Expo will see firsthand the type of gaming experiences made possible by Wii U and the new controller such as:

"In single-player games the new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV. The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.

"In multiplayer games the player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV. This will offer a wide variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

"In addition to the 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller button scheme -- two analog Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons -- will enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players.

"Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further. Developers worldwide are already working on new games and experiences for the console."

In addition to the basic stats, there was the to be expected declarations:

"Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together," says Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. "The experience enabled by Wii U and the new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers."

Prying Out More Details

Once the official word was passed, and in spite of all of the information that the gaming giant willingly shared with the media and the gaming public at E3, there was a mad dash to leverage official and unofficial contacts at Nintendo, and to call in all markers to obtain more information about the Wii U and the video controller, as games journalists scrambled to get the scoop that could make their report shine.

Our efforts to obtain additional information on the record were not productive -- just like all the other journo's -- because Nintendo had officially said all that it meant to say. The controllers were there in the exhibit space for us to experience -- and we did -- but that was all that we were going to get. Officially.

Unofficially it was not hard to get additional information about the devices at all. In fact all that we had to do was park ourselves over at the counter that was set aside for investors and the trade, just a dozen feet in distance from the counter where the news media liaison was stonewalling us!

As we sat and listened to VP's and marketing people from the company talking to the VIP's who wandered up to the counter, we learned that the Wii U will initially support two of the video controller units in full independent display mode -- and that eventually the plan was for support of four units, which means that games like Mario Kart (that was a specific example that was used in the conversations) would allow four local players to see their game session independently from the main display, which could be set to show a long-view of the track.

There is more at stake here than simply providing multiple local players with their own POV of a game. The independent displays of the controllers when they are connected to the Wii U (as opposed to a standard Wii) will serve as independent access points to the services of the Wii U itself, allowing one user to play a game on the TV or the TV combined with a video controller, while another user can stream media or watch a movie at the same time.

It is clear from the big talk about the Wii U and those controllers that Nintendo has only scratched the surface of where it intends to take that hardware over the course of the next five years -- and clearly it has potential that goes way beyond what they have publicly stated. And of course none of that includes the innovations that independent games studios may find as they make use of the hardware!

It is safe to say that E3 2011 was an exciting time to be covering the games industry, and safer indeed to say that the future will hold some interesting news for this new 8th Gen console -- and Gaming Update will stay right on top of the news, and keep you informed, because hey, it is what we do.