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Nintendo Announces New Console: Wii U
_xeno_ writes "Nintendo has announced the official name for what had been known as 'Project Cafe:' the Wii U. It is an HD console, it retains backwards compatibility with the Wii (it's unclear if this includes GameCube software), and the controller does, in fact, have a touch screen on it. Nintendo demoed moving a game off the TV and playing it solely on the Wii U controller."
Also in E3 news, cylonlover writes "At its E3 press conference Sony finally revealed that its next generation handheld — previously codenamed the NGP — will carry the official moniker of the 'PlayStation Vita.' The PS Vita — which is Latin for 'life' — will come in two flavors: a Wi-Fi only version priced at $249 in the US, JPY24,980 in Japan, and EUR249 in Europe, and a 3G/Wi-Fi version going for US$299, JPY29,980 and EUR299."
My Hands hurt just looking at that controller.
those controllers look like they are going to cost more than the console...
No, that's the next version of the Wii - the Wii U2. It comes with a Bono and The Edge faceplate.
They call that a controller? Yeah maybe for a giant. The way the Wii was designed in the past you want real movement and reflexes with the controller.
Just thinking back to those people who accidentally threw their Wiimotes into their TVs, can you imagine the mess that one would cause :)
Pii U.
PlayStation Vista. I bet THAT ONE will be AWESOME.
Shiny. Let's be bad guys.
Actually it's just an evolution of some ideas they've been poking around with tethering DSs to the Wii. There were a few games where you could use the DS as a Wiimote, and you had your own individual screen info.
Magic doesn't work in my presence. My power of disbelief is too strong.
> The PS Vita — which is Latin for 'life'
Vita - which is a Romanian derogatory term for "cow / bovine" :-)
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This controller seems like it's well suited for turn based RPGs and that's about it. You have to LOOK at the controller to do anything on that touch screen, and that goes against much of the philosophy of modern games. I get the general idea, you put your status indicators and such on the controller screen, but to really register anything you're going to have to be looking at it all the time.
I'm hoping that this is a mistake that this is the default controller and they expect you to normally used an evolved version of the current controller.
I also don't know that it'll work well this time around. The Wii did well because it sold kinda like a board game: Many people bought it that weren't in to video games. They often didn't play it a lot, putting it away only to take it out for parties, but they bought it. Ok fine. However this? Not sure you'll sell people on it. Particularly since a controller like this is going to be all kinds of expensive. A nice large LCD costs money, no way around it.
We'll have to see what goes on but Nintendo may have a dud this time around. Gimmicks can be great when they work, but they often flop hard.
I find it strange the whole concept of a second movable screen for gaming strange. How exactly do games benefit from this? If you're aiming for casual gamers, then the second screen will likely add "workload" (for the lack of a better term), as a player will have to share his attention between two screens. Will casual gamers want this? If you're aiming for the more hardcore gamers, than two screens can decrease immersion, as the player has to stop focusing on the game to twiddle with a touch screen. If the touchscreen also contains some important game functions like inventory as shown in one of the screenshots, then hilarity can ensue when you accidentally swipe the screen while trying to wrangle with that gigantic controller. I can imagine some multiplayer games benefiting from this, but it simply seems like a gimmick, not an innovation. Sorry Nintendo.
I haven't seen mention of how many of these new uber controllers can be active at a time. Just one? Hopefully two. I'm guessing the streaming video will limit on the number they can support.
I always liked my Atari Jaguar, but the thing that always bothered me the controller wasn't big enough. Thank god someone finally got around to making an even bigger controller to finally accommodate me.
As opposed to the rest that think that a bump in resolution, polygon crunching ability, and CPU power is "innovation"?
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal
I look at that controller and I think both "Wow, cool!" and "Holy crap its big!" But it wouldn't be the first time we've all thought the Big N has lost their collective marbles only to be right. When they announced the N64 with its 3-prong controller, everyone said that looked like the most uncomfortable thing they'd ever seen -- and it was maybe the most comfortable one I've ever used, even to this day. When they announced the DS, everyone thought they were certifiable, and it turned into the best selling handheld of all time (no, we're not counting the goddamn iPhone just because it can play games). And I seem to recall that the Wii's announcement was also met with a fair bit of ridicule and it outsold its competitors (at least console-wise).
Of course, they also released the Virtual Boy (or whatever that thing was called) and that was a trainwreck. Still, I'm going to withhold judgement until I can try it for myself. At the very least, it sounds like there's some real possibility there. I just hope I'm not paying $150 a controller!
Wood Shavings!
- Godai
That Wii U photo makes it look a whole lot like one of several makes of Small UAV hand controllers.
A lot of work goes into the ergonomics of these things, because soldiers spend a lot of time using them, so there's a reason they all look very similar. Several ergonomic factors, obvious from the convergence of these designs, appear to be universal:
- Touchscreens are sexy but impractical. They're imprecise without a stylus, awkward to hold, and you have to obscure your view of the action to effect a control.
- It's nearly impossible make the screen too large. There's a reason the screen is big and dominates the faces of all of these units.
- Controls are arranged on the sides so that the fingers can take the weight while the thumbs work the controls without requiring the user adjust his grip.
- Control paradigms are borrowed from the original Playstation hand controllers because most users have prior experience with them.
- Light weight tradeoff against battery life, screen size, and ruggedness.
Looks like the convergence is happening from both directions. And it's not surprising because the human interface requirements are very similar in both applications.
I can see the fnords!
Just thinking back to those people who accidentally threw their Wiimotes into their TVs, can you imagine the mess that one would cause :)
If you look at the Nintendo website you can see that the new system will also support the old Wii motes (and Wii motes with motion plus). You would likely use those for the more active (sports) games, and the new controllers for the games that are more similar to what is played on other consoles currently.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
If Nintendo get off their collective asses and add some decent HTPC capability to this unit, that remote would be quite awesome.
"In the absence of the ability to establish the attribute of truth they tried to establish the noble attributes."