Nintendo Announces Wii U

I’m by no means a gamer. I would like to be more of one, but I consistently find that video games left me behind at least a decade ago (maybe two). I don’t have the time or desire to spend hours learning a game before I really get to enjoy it. I want to be able to jump right in and know how to play immediately and I don’t find too many fulfilling games that work like that.

You can imagine my excitement then when the original Wii came out because that seemed designed specifically for me and featured cool high tech motion controls. Awesome. I was a VERY early adopter of this system and LOVED Wii Sports. Unfortunately, I still don’t think Nintendo has produced a game that has topped that one in terms of the motion controls. So for me at least, the system was fun when you had friends over, but it basically never lived up to its potential.

Fast forward to today, somehow during lunch I stumbled over G4’s coverage of Nintendo’s announcement of their next generation console called Wii U. I didn’t even know this was happening today, though I was vaguely aware the announcement was coming. Strangely, even after watching over an hour of a press conference announcing the new product I wasn’t sure what exactly I had seen. For some odd reason, Nintendo never mentioned any specs about the system and focused its entire presentation solely on the new high tech controller. It was confusing to the point that I KNOW I wasn’t the only one wondering if somehow the controller was the system and that it would somehow work with the current Wii. It sure looks like there’s a current Wii sitting next to the televisions in the video announcing the new system that I’ll embed below.

Anyway, the system has an amazing new controller with a six inch touch screen on it. Weird. The system will also work with Wiimotes and will sometimes use both (check out the golf demo in the video). So what do we know?

• It is a new console and will be out sometime next year.
• It will output video in 1080p and play your existing wii games.
• Existing accessories for Wii such as the Wii balance board will supposedly work with Wii U.
• Wii games will not receive any kind of graphical enhancement when played on Wii U.
• The Wii U version of Smash Brothers will allow you to use the Wii U controller WITH a Nintendo 3DS in some fashion.
• You can switch from playing your game on a TV to playing directly on the controller.
• You can play two player games on the controller.
• You can use the controller as a second screen to accompany the content on the main screen… and lots more. Check out the video below for lots of other interesting awesomeness.
• Batman: Arkham City will be coming to the system. (I’m in.)

What don’t we know?

• When is it coming?
• What will it cost?
• How powerful will the hardware be?
• Will the actual system live up to its potential?
• Why did they pick such a terrible name?

Seriously.