Nintendo Wii-U; Information on the console and my opinion on it's chance of success.

So as we all know, Nintendo have been developing a new console said to cater to the audience they had before. You know, when it wasn't encouraging weighty people to get fit. Well, this year's E3 revealed what they've been working on, and it looks.. interesting.




The Tablet

Wii-U with the HD Zelda Demo.

As you can see, the Wii-U looks extremely similar to the Wii, aside from the slick design. In a way, this reminds me of the Nintendo DS, in that it has 2 screens, one being a touch screen, mainly used for menus.
The tablet features the standard 4-way directional pad (D-Pad for short). It also has the X Y A B buttons, as well as dual circle pads. Of course the Select and Start buttons are there too, alongside the home button. On top are two bumper buttons, and at the back there are two triggers.
Now, judging by how the tablet is layed out, Nintendo will have trouble making games like CoD an enjoyable experience, as they always have. The touchscreen on the controller could prove valuable in games like that though, for example, using it to display the leaderboards/scoreboards.
Interestingly though, whilst this console is targeted at the hardcore gamer, it features a cam in the top center of the tablet. I can't really see a lot of uses for it in the future, but i guess it's just another feature there for those who want it.


Multi-player

One major letdown about this system, is that so far it is only confirmed that ONE tablet can be used per console. The reason being obvious, the tablet is wireless, and synchronizing 4 tablets to one console, and displaying the right image with the right timing and the right frame rate, would be insane!
Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto gave some insight on this:

"Our basic premise is that you can use one with a system."

But don't get all upset about not being able to play with friends. He also said not long after:

"We are doing research about if someone brings their controller to their friend's house and they want to play together on Wii U to whether or not something like that would be possible."

It MAY happen, but the amount of synchronization needed would be huge.


Backwards compatibility

It has also been confirmed, that the Wii-U will not be backwards compatible with previous console games. Obviously this isn't referring to anybody hoping to play standard Wii games, of course that's being considered. This is referring to the smart people, that might be thinking about the Gamecube games.


Games that have been confirmed for the Wii-U

The following is a list of games confirmed for release on the Wii-U.

Super Smash Bros
Lego City Stories
Tekken
Assassin’s Creed
Darksiders 2
Batman Arkham Asylum
Ghost Recon Online
Dirt
Aliens Colonial Marines
Metro Last Light
Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

Also, on the subject of games, it has been confirmed that games from 3rd Party developers will be coming to the Wii-U, as you can see from the list above. This means Nintendo will get some amazing games that will be available on all 3 systems, with similar content. It's not like the CoD games. You know, they're good on Xbox and Playstation, but on the Wii, they completely sucked. Hopefully, it'll be just as good on the Wii-U.

Pricing of the Wii-U

Nintendo has always been relatively cheap compared to its competitors in the game market. This console however, is going to be a lot more expensive. How expensive? Well, EB Games has it listed on their online site for $600AU. Kotaku thinks this may be a bit of a overprice. They believe it'll be released for about $400AU. At any rate, expect it to be around those two, so Nintendo has risen to match Sony and Microsoft in price. Let's just hope it's worth it!


A theory on the direction Nintendo is heading

I originally thought the Wii-U was a horrible idea, and that this had no chance of working. But then I had time to think, setting aside the handheld consoles for a moment, maybe this could be the point where Nintendo split one development line into two.

Line 1 being the party system, complete with motion controls and whatnot, catering to the party/casual audience, who don't mind making fools of themselves.
Line 2 being a handheld controller-type console, catering to the hardcore gamers, who prefer to just sit and play games seriously. Like a boss.


In summary, i think the Wii-U has the potential to bring back the older Nintendo fans that were lost at the Wii, but it'll all depend on the direction the games go, and how Nintendo's competitors will retaliate.