Nintendo details Wii U GamePad, Miiverse social network

[Shawn Knight]

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata posted a pre-E3 video on the company’s website that gives viewers an idea of what to expect at this year’s gaming conference. Specifically, Iwata used his time to detail the Wii U GamePad and the Miiverse social network just days before a planned E3 keynote in Los Angeles.

Nintendo went with the name “GamePad” as a throwback to the original Nintendo controller from the 1980s. At the time, the flat directional pad was a new system over the more commonly used joystick so gamers nicknamed it a gamepad.

The Wii U GamePad will feature a 6.2-inch touchscreen display but unlike the prototype previously shown, the shipping model will feature thumbsticks that are further away from the display as well as a modified rear grip. This was done to improve comfort when playing for long periods of time. There’s also now an NFC reader / writer under the left directional pad as well as a button that allows the user to use the GamePad as a television remote.

Miiverse can be described as Nintendo’s entrance into the world of social gaming. Characters are represented on screen as Mii avatars with the ability to communicate in real-time with others players using the GamePad. Nintendo will eventually link the network to the 3DS, PCs and smartphones.

The idea seems like a long time coming for Nintendo but surely they must realize the waters they are swimming into. For example, if anyone has ever played a game over Xbox Live, you know what kind of nonsense to expect from immature players on the other end of the microphone. This could potentially do damage to Nintendo’s family-friendly reputation.

We can expect to hear more about Nintendo’s upcoming projects on Tuesday morning during their keynote at E3.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/48863-nintendo-details-wii-u-gamepad-miiverse-social-network.html

 

[Guest]

SCREW SOCIAL NETWORKS, make new game franchises.
tired of Zelda,Mario,Sonic and all the other "classics" from Nintendo.

 

[Adhmuz]

Miiverse, that's a joke right? With all the creative talent they posses that's the best they can come up with. Not like it really matters, not buying anything Nintendo anymore, never have, except for the original gameboy, that was actually well designed and still works to this day.

 

[Guest]

The video looks like if it was a part of kill bill, but if I were a kid I would be extreamely hyped by it, saying, ooohhh nintendo.

 

[Ma_ga]

you can extract the info in the video into a 5 minute one. he say way too much to say too little.

Pretty skeptical until I see the thing in action.

 

[Guest]

old man pervert in the wii u family

 

[oldikes]

nintendo has been a joke IMO for 5 years, im really hoping they will snap out of it.

 

[davislane1]

Trying to make gaming more social is unnecessary, as most online titles do this inherently. Sony tried to do this same thing with Playstation Home and still, after years, have yet to get the formula right. As Guest mentioned, they'd probably be better served coming up with some new characters & game universes.

 

[Tygerstrike]

Nintendo suffers from "what worked last time will work this time". Unfortunatly as the gamers get more tech savvy, the needs for entertainment go up. Nintendo cant innovate like they used to, the demand is too high. They dont want to put out a new title or game due to the fact that it requires a substatial amount of cash and talent. A investment Nintendo isnt ready to make yet. They are more concerened with keeping a general market share with hardware then innovating with software.

 

[Guest]

I grew up gaming on NES, SNES and later N64 (I owned other consoles from Sony and Sega too). The problem with Nintendo is that it never delivered a grown up system after N64. As gamers such as myself became older, we never just wanted to play the same kiddie games that we grew up playing. Instead of delivering their staple of games and offering a wide variety of mature 3rd party titles, Nintendo never bothered expanding their game line-up to satisfy the needs of the very gamers who started with Nintendo in the first place. As those gamers grew up, they moved on to more mature gaming systems such as Xbox/PS2/360/PS3 and perhaps later even to PC gaming.

Starting with Gamecube, I already saw Nintendo move away from hardcore/enthusiast gamers and more towards casual games and with Wii that direction was finally cemented. Now with Wii U, it's going to be nearly impossible to get the hardcore gamers back. However, casual gamers are already happy with Wii and tablet/smartphone gaming for $1-2 a game. It's sad to see since if Nintendo had strong 3rd party lineup, amazing graphics and maintained its first party support, it would have been a powerhouse. Looks like Nintendo tries to save too much $ on hardware and then 3rd party developers have no interest in making next generation mature games on an already outdated console. SNES was slightly more powerful than the Genesis/Sega Master System, while N64 was actually more powerful than PS1, but after Gamecube, Nintendo started to cost cut and coincidentally their brand value has gone more and more downhill.

 

[Tygerstrike]

@ Above Guest

You are correct!!! Not only has Nintendos game quality gone done as well their focus on hardcore gaming. I only have 1 dispute with what you wrote. The N64 was when Nintendo fully focused on "Family Freindly" gameing. It wasnt until the game cube came out that we saw a shift back towards hardcore gamers with titles like Star Wars. Tony Hawk. Gauntlet. Once the Wii came out the shift once again went to family freindly. Now that they are introducing a new platform, we may see them shift back.
My one serious beef with Nintendo has always been with the "Nintendo Seal of Approval".
When that was on a Nintendo game your were normally able to see 60-90 hrs of great game play. Since the Wii came out it seems as if Nintendo has disregarded that seal. I saw many games that I know as a long time Nintendo fan that came out w/o that seal where the games have truly blown chunks.

 

[Burty117]

games have truly blown chunks.</p>

That is Disgusting...

 

[Guest]

the problem with all these harsh comments about nintendo is that this website is plagued with hardcore gamers, of course the comments are gonna mostly the same, but the reality is that Wii was a total, crushing success, and there is a chance history will repeat.
( this comment was written by a 70% ps3 gamer, 30% PC gamer)

 

[Tygerstrike]

You are 100% correct. Most of the ppl here arent your grandma and grampa gamers. Yes the Wii was a crushing success. I ran a GameCrazy store when the Wii came out. Many times we would run out of Wii. But in that same vein, the games with a few notable exceptions really sucked. They tried a few adult titles and fell on its face. Half the games released for the Wii really had horrible game play lousy stories, and limited playability. To be fair, the Wii did bring non-gamers to the gaming world. And titles like Wii Fit, Wii Sports, and Lets Dance took the standard of couch gaming to a new level.

 

[Guest]

"Hardcore gamers" are the people who will most likely scoff at the wonderful innovation Nintendo is bringing to the table yet again in true fashion. I put hardcore gamers in quotes because it seems that by current standards the deffinition of a hardcore gamer is someone who likes to shoot people/things. Either with the flick of a wrist and a mouse click or by jiggling an analog stick and pressin a shoulder button. Either that or rpg/mmo button mashers. Not putting either genre down, but gaming is and can be so much more than that. Nintendo is obviously aware of this paramount point and will continue to keep the gaming landscape from getting stagnant. I'll interested in the wii u and owning it won't interfere with me also having deep experiences on other platforms including the PC.

 

[Burty117]

<p>"Hardcore gamers" are the people who will most likely scoff at the wonderful innovation Nintendo is bringing to the table yet again in true fashion. I put hardcore gamers in quotes because it seems that by current standards the deffinition of a hardcore gamer is someone who likes to shoot people/things. Either with the flick of a wrist and a mouse click or by jiggling an analog stick and pressin a shoulder button. Either that or rpg/mmo button mashers. Not putting either genre down, but gaming is and can be so much more than that. Nintendo is obviously aware of this paramount point and will continue to keep the gaming landscape from getting stagnant. I'll interested in the wii u and owning it won't interfere with me also having deep experiences on other platforms including the PC.</p>

Well Nintendo are obviously trying to bring back Hardcore gamers though, Have you even seen the Wii U Pro Controller?
http://cdn.medialib.computerandvideogames.com/screens/screenshot_283790_thumb_wide620.jpg
It quite clearly looks like an Xbox 360 controller but slightly different for copyright and patent reasons, They are definitely going to get my vote if they can prove the Wii U Pro controllers will get decent use with games (By that I mean, I won't have to shake it every 5 minutes for some in-game reason or have to use the other remote as a camera to watch me wave my arm in the air) and they get decent 3rd party developers back and cross platform games such as Call of Duty (most popular fps so don't slander me for using it as an example!) then it may be worth purchasing, I mean, if my mum can happily go on the Wii board to do her usual routines, My younger Bro can play his Lego Star Wars and me and my other bro can play Doom 4, Call of Duty 127 and if 3rd party's actually get involved, the next gears of war or halo for the Wii may actually happen! Which again if I could predict the future and I knew 3rd parties would get involved in this way then I would pre-order my Wii U right now!

 

[Guest]

Contrary to what some may believe, Nintendo has a very large following. Fans that have been fans for decades. I hope they don't pander to increase an already large base of fans who only wants to see Nintendo do/be Nintendo. Innovation is their forte and catering to select demographics isn't wrong or narrow minded... it's buisness and also about loyalty.

 

[Tygerstrike]

Loyalty only goes so far. How can you be loyal to a company that doesnt cater to their fans demands? I point out your comment "catering to select demographics isnt wrong". Yes it is if it isnt the fans that put money in their coffers. Seems like Nintendo has catered to Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa. Ive been a Nintendo fan from WAAAYYYY back in the day. Right when they came out exactly. I have watched as Nintendo rose to a highly dominate position to loosing that position because they chose to stay "kiddy". I think I can sum up what ppl want. Give them games they WANT to play. Innovate the game line. And stop treating your customer base like some 10yr old kid who happens to get lucky enough to buy their product.