We just elbowed our way in the course of the crowds and managed to get our first hands-on time with Nintendo’s revolutionary new controller, the Wii U . As you can find within the images, it is a rather different thing than even the company’s typically unusually styled contraptions. The dominant feature is the heart-mounted 6.2-inch touchscreen, which actually looks extraordinary. We’d expected Nintendo would cheap out to maintain costs low, but that does not seem like the case, a minimum of not in our first impressions. Join us after the break for more details.
Within the hand the controller feels light, and it feels comfortable. It’s most equivalent to the old GameCube controller, really, but much wider and with more buttons. There are four face buttons, hasta hoy-pad, dual-analog sliders, start, select, and 4 more ’round the back: ZL, ZR, L, and R. All fall at hand quite readily, even for gamers with bigger mitts. On reflection at ya is a front-facing camera, and there is a plain plastic stylus tucked within the top, so we’re certainly a resistive touch display.
We got hands-on time with a straightforward game called Shield Pose that could be a good demonstration of the gyro and accelerometer aspects of the sport. Here it’s worthwhile to fend off a vicious flotilla of pirates who’re firing… vicious suction cup arrows at you. It’s worthwhile to swing the controller up and around to catch the arrows from the assorted ships, but in a curious twist of difficulty you really must do it to a really specific beat. So, additionally it is a rhythm title, and a sexy tricky one at that.
We also played a game called Chase Mii, that’s an easy game of tag played with multiple gamers. As much as four players play at the TV, each getting a 3D view at their Mii running through a maze. A fifth character plays at the Wii U controller and has a personal view of the locations of the whole other players, who’re looking to catch him and only have a vague idea of where the most character is because of an arrow. It’s another simple but fun game that shows the possible here.
Finally, there is a title called HD Experience, that’s basically only a tech demo showing what Twilight Princess might appear like rendered in HD. You cannot do much rather than control the camera and alter from day to nighttime however the graphics are certainly impressive — a lot better than the Wii could manage. We are not able to say we’re talking superior graphics to the present competition, the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but it’s certainly an enormous jump forward. And, in fact, having the ability to pump those graphics to either the controller or the television is a pleasant touch.
It’s interesting that Nintendo chose this year to unveil the controller prior to the console, a 180 degree twist from the E3 unveil many years back, where we saw the console first. Does this mean all may be unveiled in Tokyo at TGS in just a few months? We’ll be there to determine.
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