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[Skiesofwonder]

In short, Nintendo's gamble works. The controller is the best of both worlds, mixing traditional button inputs with the advantage of having an interface unlike anything we've seen from a home console.
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One of the more interesting alterations to conventional design is the system features two analog sliders at the top of the controller rather than traditional sticks. Don't make the mistake of thinking these sliders are like the 3DS "circle pad." The texture and top shape of the sliders are much more akin to Wii's nunchuk, meaning the grip and precision of movement are much better.
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The tablet itself appears large, but is actually quite comfortable to grip. The two sliders both being located at the top of the tablet make holding it considerably easier. A staggered configuration would only have worked with a much smaller design. Nintendo was also smart in making the new controller extremely light for its size, resulting in something that might look strange but is not as burdensome as it would seem.
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Nintendo played an interactive cinematic that put all my fears to rest. The difference in quality between that sequence and this was light years apart, making me wonder why I watched the hawk video in the first place.

The second major tech demonstration featured live footage of Japan, with a camera moving down a crowded street, hovering above vehicles. Like the hawk demo, the tablet was also featuring the footage shown on the television. But as I moved the new controller, I was able to see more of the city around me, without altering what was being shown on the larger screen. I could move the tablet upward to see the sky, or downward to see the street moving under me. Even more impressive, I could start to rotate the controller or "aim" it behind me to see where I had been. Pressing a button would also flip the portable display behind me, allowing me to see backwards similar to a rearview mirror. The potential for racing games with this sort of technology is truly impressive.
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I played two Mii mini-games on the new console. In a word, they are both fantastic. In concept, execution, scope and entertainment, they are leaps and bounds beyond what you experienced on Wii.
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I wasn't able to control Link, but the battle between him and Gohma that I saw was breathtaking nonetheless. Between changing the lighting, camera controls and even the tablet's display, this (Zelda) demo above all the others proved how Nintendo franchises might benefit from increased power. This was gorgeous stuff.

Entire IGN impressions here.

 

[Razorskin]

I wonder what battery life will be like.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

People that actually played the system like it, you don't say!!!!!!

Nice impressions.

 

[bananas]

Interesting. I'm really excited at the prospects of the new controller interacting with the console.

Release it for under $299 and I'll get one day one.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I wonder what battery life will be like.

Looks like there's a usb port or something at the bottom for recharging, but I'm guessing 10-12 hours personally.

 

[MrDanger88]

Still not sold. People including myself loved the Wii when they first played it. Now it's my least favorite console.

 

[Insaniac]

I really think there is a lot of potential for cool gameplay with this controller.

 

[AceBandage]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

 

[Galang]

I really think there is a lot of potential for cool gameplay with this controller.

Agreed, now hopefully developers utilize it unlike majority of the games on Wii.

 

[Pre]

Still not sold. People including myself loved the Wii when they first played it. Now it's my least favorite console.

It's better to have gamed and lost than to have never gamed at all.

 

[belvedere]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

You beat them to it.

 

[farnham]

well at least it gets a decent zelda game (darksiders 2)

 

[BorkBork]

Hands-On: With Wii U’s Touchscreen Controller, Nintendo Could Radically Change Games

Wired Impressions.

 

[N4Us]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

"But is it a controller or a console!?!?"

 

[Eradicate]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

Yeah, this is my first E3 here, and it's just a parade of stupidity right now.

I've been on the boards for a while now, and all of a sudden, all these usernames come up that I've never seen just to criticize every, single, little, thing. It's obnoxious in every way.

Thank you for this though. I'm just trying to see what hands-on impressions for this are like. There are some videos of it out there on Kotaku and elsewhere that seem really cool.

Hopefully, during a round table, more information about the console itself may be revealed. But, I'm liking what I see with the controller.

 

[jamesinclair]

I wonder what battery life will be like.

All the processing is done by the console, not the controller.

Should have no problem lasting 10 hours. Its just a screen with wireless.

 

[DarkPanda]

Don't make the mistake of thinking these sliders are like the 3DS "circle pad." The texture and top shape of the sliders are much more akin to Wii's nunchuk, meaning the grip and precision of movement are much better.

Yea, but they're still sliders. It's a console controller, it should have real sticks.

 

[NotGameboy]

Day one baby, day one.

 

[kirblar]

The possibilities here for sports games seem crazy. Rear-view mirrors, double-blind playcalling, heck, even double-blind character selection in fighting games.

 

[BorkBork]

Playing the #WiiU right now. Really light, crazy ergonomic, and screen looks great. No tech specs released at #GTE3 according to nintendo.

Shane Satterfield Twitter Impressions of the controller.

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

This makes me feel better. I'll have to play it to generate my own opinion though. I just hope those nubs work as well as sticks for FPS.

 

[Plinko]

Impressions are better than I thought they'd be.

Still absolutely crushed about not being able to play around the house, though. Just terrible.

 

[Krowley]

Some of the impressions have really been glowing. I like what I'm hearing, at least in terms of the potential for interesting/bizarre gameplay.

 

[L00P]

Good thing it isn't heavy as it looks. It still is a pretty big game pad, though.

 

[Jangocube]

I think the possibilities of the controller sound great, I'm just not sure developers will use them. I wanted to see some real games from developers put this new thing to use, but I guess it's still a ways off.

I remember when the Wii was announced and it appeared some pretty awesome games could use the motion controls really well, but we never saw it happen. At least not for that many big titles.

I hope developers come up with some great ideas and implement them well. Don't just use this thing as a rear view camera and an inventory screen, please god.

 

[Shogmaster]

Looks like there's a usb port or something at the bottom for recharging, but I'm guessing 10-12 hours personally.

With 6" backlit color LCD? You'd be lucky with 6.

 

[brochiller]

Don't make the mistake of thinking these sliders are like the 3DS "circle pad." The texture and top shape of the sliders are much more akin to Wii's nunchuk, meaning the grip and precision of movement are much better.

Thank FUCK.

 

[Dragon]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

Or...pffh IGN they rated my favorite game a 2 so they suck!!

With 6" backlit color LCD? You'd be lucky with 6.

Yeah unless Stump is aware of some battery tech that I'm not, I don't see how 10-12 hours is viable here.

 

[Etrian Oddity]

Yea, but they're still sliders. It's a console controller, it should have real sticks.

 

[nelsonroyale]

I appreciate Nintendo's willingness to take risks.... Sony goes with power and new features...MS has a conservative approach, treads the middle ground

 

[Stumpokapow]

With 6" backlit color LCD? You'd be lucky with 6.

why do you say that?

my tablet has a 10" backlit color LCD, all the same sensors as the U (minus the rumble motors), and gets 12 hours on medium brightness. naturally the battery would be smaller here, but i assume it'd still take up by far the bulk of the body, and this thing seems thicker than a typical tablet so there's that as well.

 

[perfectnight]

Haha those impressions are all great yet I still have absolutely no desire/reason to own one of these. I have a feeling that most developers aren't going to make use of that controller for much other than separate inventory screen and whatnot.

 

[Skiesofwonder]

The second game, Battle Mii, dropped Miis into a Metroid themed map and pit them against an opponent riding a saucer that’s meant to look like Samus Aran’s spaceship. This time, two players guided their Metroid suited Miis in a split screen hunt for the spaceship in a large space themed level using Wii remotes and nunchuks. Each suited player had 3 health points that could be replenished by hearts floating in bubbles that could be collected once the bubble was popped and it dropped to the ground. In addition, question mark icons could be collected to earn a helmet for the armor suit that upgraded the firing speed.

The player using the tablet to control the ship relied solely on the display, all movement and aiming was controlled by the motion controls and the circle pads, which were used to adjust height and direction. What was especially cool was the ability to use the gyros in the tablet to quickly target your enemies. The simple game of hide and seek was extremely fun and easy to pick up and definitely sold us on the notion of using the tablet’s screen in conjunction with a game.

Overall we have to say we were impressed by what we saw. The way the controller works with the system and game experiences was very clever and offered a wide variety of possibilities that were exciting. The new controller is a very smart element that we reckon will be a gamechanger for what Nintendo does on the console. The backwards compatibility with Wii games and peripherals was also a masterstroke, ensuring consumers will get the most out of the raft of peripherals they undoubtedly own.

More Here.

 

[Choppasmith]

Definitely Day 1 here. I have to admit it looks uncomfortable, but if it really is as light and manageable as they say, I'm good. I have to say the potential for unique gameplay experiences will be the freshest and best thing since the original DS.

 

[Tobor]

Is the touchscreen multi-touch? Capacitive?

 

[survivor]

Are there any demos of the 3rd party games they showed in the conference or is it just the tech demos Nintendo setup?

 

[Dragon]

why do you say that?

my tablet has a 10" backlit color LCD, all the same sensors as the U (minus the rumble motors), and gets 12 hours on medium brightness. naturally the battery would be smaller here, but i assume it'd still take up by far the bulk of the body, and this thing seems thicker than a typical tablet so there's that as well.

Your tablet accepts remote streaming from another device constantly too?

 

[bengraven]

I'm a bit worried about Nintendo. I think this is a grab at bringing back the hardcore gamers while potentially alienating the casuals.

And I mean alienating because even as a hardcore gamer, I have no clue what the system is all about.

 

[ascii42]

With 6" backlit color LCD? You'd be lucky with 6.

The iPad gets better than that with a larger screen and processors.

Your tablet accepts remote streaming from another device constantly too?

There is that though...

 

[Ocellatus]

The possibilities here for sports games seem crazy. Rear-view mirrors, double-blind playcalling, heck, even double-blind character selection in fighting games.

Welcome to 1999. Deamcast controller had Double Blind Playcalling. It was awesome. I have been wishing it would find it's way back since then.

I am concerned about battery life and replacement cost of these controllers, however.

 

[smallios74]

Wonder how many Game Journos are hyping this to the hilt so they dont get egg on face like they did with the wii>

 

[Always-honest]

i just want that zelda game NOAAAAW

 

[orion434]

Has there been any word on how much each controller will cost?

 

[Pocks]

Engadget Hands-on Impression — Highlights


Screen
The dominant feature is the center-mounted 6.2-inch touchscreen, which actually looks really good. We'd expected Nintendo would cheap out to keep costs low, but that doesn't appear to be the case, at least not in our first impressions.

... we're certainly looking at a resistive touch display.

Controller weight / feel
In the hand the controller feels light, and it feels comfortable. It's most similar to the old GameCube controller, really, but much wider and with more buttons.

HD Zelda
Finally, there's a title called HD Experience, which is basically just a tech demo showing what Twilight Princess might look like rendered in HD. You can't do much other than control the camera and change from day to night but the graphics are certainly impressive -- much better than the Wii could manage. We're not ready to say we're talking superior graphics to the current competition, the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but it's certainly a big jump forward. And, of course, being able to pump those graphics to either the controller or the TV is a nice touch.

 

[bananas]

You know... nothing's really stopping Sony from doing the same type of thing between the PS3 and Vita.

Hell, if the PS3 price drop to $199 is true, they could release a PS3+Vita bundle for $399.

 

[TheExecutive]

I personally find it very interesting. It looks fun to goof around with. Will await more information until I get excited. It looks like a fall release next year at the earliest anyway. Cool nonetheless.

 

[mj1108]

And now for GAF to ignore all positive impressions and continue to bitch...

Don't you mean....

And now for GAF to ignore all the impressions of the people who have actually used it and continue to bitch....

I'm sure some of these people will be foaming at the mouth when Sony and Microsoft launch their next systems with screens on their controllers and call it BEST INVENTCHUN EVAR!1!!11

 

[Jarmel]

Gaming journalism. Did anyone expect any serious negative comments? Journalists need this to be successful in order for them to eat.

 

[iamvin22]

Wait GAF honestly expects someone from the media to say anything bad about the controller on the first day it's revealed???

Edit: Damn it damn near word for word quoted the above post Lol. Touche!!!

 

[Jangocube]

You know... nothing's really stopping Sony from doing the same type of thing between the PS3 and Vita.

Hell, if the PS3 price drop to $199 is true, they could release a PS3+Vita bundle for $399.

Yes there is. Input lag for fast paced games.