{"id":9965,"date":"2011-06-07T21:25:07","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T21:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gadgets.itwriting.com\/?p=465"},"modified":"2011-06-07T21:25:07","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T21:25:07","slug":"nintendo-bringing-dual-screen-to-the-wii-with-smart-controller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/9965-nintendo-bringing-dual-screen-to-the-wii-with-smart-controller.html","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo bringing dual screen to the Wii with smart controller"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nintendo has announced the Wii U<\/a>, set for release sometime in 2012. If the unique feature of the original Wii was the motion controller, this new one is characterised by a smart controller that is in effect a mini-console in its own right, complete with 6.2″, 16:9 touch screen, accelerometer and gyroscope. In fact, it sounds a lot like a tablet with game controller buttons.<\/p>\n

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As for the console, it is not so different from before except that it now includes an IBM Power-based multi-core processor and from what was seen at E3, a substantial advance in graphical power. The original Wii Remote controllers are still supported, as are accessories like the Wii Balance Board.<\/p>\n

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The console has internal flash memory, but you can attach an external USB hard drive. The disc drive reads a new proprietary high-density format as well as existing Wii titles, with which it is backward-compatible.<\/p>\n

Why two screens? Well, it opens up many new possibilities for game play as well as non-gaming uses. At E3 it was shown being used for video chat.<\/p>\n

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Nintendo spoke of the Wii U having a \u201cstrong bond between games, the TV and the internet,\u201d and the new controller could be used for social interaction while the main screen is showing TV or internet content.<\/p>\n

Having a second screen also means you have use one for navigation and the other for content, which makes a lot of sense.<\/p>\n

I admire Nintendo\u2019s ability to innovate. Now that the other consoles have picked up the idea of motion controllers, Nintendo is branching in a different direction, and this looks like a good upgrade for the Wii.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the similarity of the new controller to an Apple iPad or RIM PlayBook or Android tablet gives me pause for thought. <\/p>\n

First, it is going to be expensive relative to the original Wii. <\/p>\n

Second, what are the possibilities for gaming if Apple put together the iPad and the Mac, or if Microsoft broke with its past and actually integrated Windows 8 on a tablet with the Xbox 360?<\/p>\n

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Nintendo has announced the Wii U, set for release sometime in 2012. If the unique feature of the original Wii was the motion controller, this new one is characterised by a smart controller that is in effect a mini-console in its own right, complete with 6.2″, 16:9 touch screen, accelerometer and gyroscope. In fact, it … Continue reading Nintendo bringing dual screen to the Wii with smart controller<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[1356,994],"class_list":["post-9965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gaming","tag-nintendo","tag-wii"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itwriting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}