Wii U

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The Wii U is Nintendo's latest upcoming console and the successor to the Wii. It was announced during Nintendo's conference at E³ 2011. The main feature of the Wii U is its controller, the GamePad, that has a touch screen in it, camera, buttons and other new characteristics.

The game console is similar in appearance to the Wii, except with rounder sides and a slot to insert 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs as well as the Wii's DVD optical discs. The console can play high-definition games at 720p and 1080p, the first of Nintendo's consoles to manufacture. The console itself is approximately 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide, and 10.5 inches long. The Wii U supports all of the controllers (and respective peripherals) used with the Wii: the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk controller, the Wii Remote Plus, the Classic Controller, the Classic Controller Pro, and the Wii Balance Board. However, it is not compatible with the Nintendo GameCube hardware or software, unlike the Wii. Currently, the Wii U has support for only one controller, thus leading to the possibility of five-player games if four players using the Wii Remote control are included. Like Nintendo's previous home consoles, it won't play DVDs or Blu-ray discs. 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. Games will also be digitally downloaded from the console.

The specific release date of the Wii U is yet to be revealed but is expected to be launched around Holiday 2012 worldwide.

Peripherals

Wii U GamePad

Detail of the Wii U GamePad displaying an untitled Mario game with Miis chatting while playing.

The Wii U GamePad is the main controller of the Wii U console. The controller has a 6.2 inch touch screen in the center with the traditional to the left of the screen and the , , , and buttons to the right. The GamePad has two traditional , one on each side of the screen and over the traditional buttons. The sticks are slightly displaced nearer to the edges of the controller and are clickable. The and buttons are located behind the GamePad, as are the and buttons. Below the screen is the button, situated between the microphone aperture and the battery light, and next to the light there is the TV button. The select button and start button are found below the ABYX buttons. The button is directly below the screen right to the TV button. The controller also has a NFC sensor, able to read objects or codes near to the controller. It can be used with a stylus and features a frontal camera, a microphone, a stereo speaker, sensor strip, rumble system, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, rechargeable battery and built-in flash memory to store data. Using the controller, one can browse the internet, send videos, flip channels, and chatting while playing any game. Games for this console can be played on the TV screen, the controller screen, or a combination of both.

Wii U Pro Controller

File:Wii-U-Pro-Controller.jpg

A Black Wii U Pro Controller

The Wii U Pro Controller is an alternate peripheral for the Wii U console. It was introduced by Satoru Iwata in a Nintendo Direct video on June 3, 2012. The Wii U Pro Controller is somewhat similar to the Wii's Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro by the frontal button layout and that it has grips. However, the , , , , and the are found below the , also clickable. The player's number's lights from the Wii Remote, and the , have been added in the center of the controller, as it's wireless and it is battery-powered. The Wii U Pro Controller is also bulkier in appearance than the Wii's wired controllers, and the and are arranged differently on the top. Its appearance overall makes a vague resemblance to the XBOX 360's controllers.

Software

Miiverse

File:Miiverse.jpg

The Miiverse

The Miiverse is an special social network and the main menu of the Wii U. This software allows players to see amount of Miis on screen gathering around accessible tiles. The Miis represent all the player's friends, familiars and miscellaneus individuals that are using the service and the tiles they are surrounding are the site they are communicating in real time. Being a social network, the user can explore the topics on every tile and look up for their friends what games they are playing. The Miiverse also offers chat, video conference and information sharing, and can be quickly acessed even when playing a game by pressing the .

Mario Games Confirmed

• Super Smash Bros. (tentative title)
• Untitled Super Mario Bros. game

Gallery

• 

  The Wii U logo.

• WiiU-Controller.png

  The Wii U GamePad prototype shown at E3 2011.

• WiiU-Controller2.png

  The Wii U GamePad, displaying gameplay from New Super Mario Bros. Mii.

• WiiU-Controller3.png

  The Wii U GamePad and Stylus.

• WiiU-Controller4.png

  The rear side of the Wii U GamePad.

• Wii-U-Pro-Controller.jpg

  A black Wii U Pro Controller.

Trivia

• This is the first Nintendo home console since the SNES to share a portion of its name with its predecessor.
• According to Yoshiaki Koizumi, the Wii U was never shown to Nintendo's software development team prior to its unveiling at E3 2011.
• While players might have the option of downloading Nintendo GameCube games on the Wii U, it is not known if other consoles will be represented.