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Wii U Information Thread



(alr1ghtstart's post with more pictures from the press assets)

Latest Update: Added links to Zelda HD tech demo off-screen footage in the news section. Also added Tested's video preview.

Nintendo's official E3 site

Official Nintendo E3 2011 Press Conference thread by BY2K

Full E3 Press Conference Dates & Times
E3 2011 Spoiler-Free thread

Welcome to the NeoGAF Project Cafe Wii U E3 2011 Information thread, your one-stop GAF source for all Project Cafe Wii U news coming out of E3! Expect to see a listing of the Wii U-related things that were announced at the conference, news brought out afterwards, and links to threads that focus on specific news items. I've also thrown in a list of E3 press sites, just in case you're stuck in this thread looking for a stream.

- In case the above pictures did not make it clear, I will remind you that the New Controller is NOT the console.

Conference announcements
- Iwata believes that the new platform "deeper gameplay" and "wider appeal."
- Mentions off-hand that it will not come until next year.
- Official name: Wii U
- Controller revealed: Touchscreen, dual-analog + buttons, motion. Rumble, Microphone, speakers, gyroscope, inward-facing camera, sensor bar, IR camera, headphone jack.
- Instead of traditional analog sticks, the analog controls are "sliders," similar in concept to the 3DS circle pad/slide pad. However, IGN's preview says that the texture and top shape gives it a feel close to that of the Nunchuk's analog stick.
- Backwards compatible with Wiimote, Balance Board, and Wii games.
- Zelda tech demo, Wii Play?, and Wii Sports shown in sizzle reel. (Video)
- Games playing on TV can be streamed to the controller, games can use both screens (TV and controller), and there will be games made for the controller.
- Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U. Both versions cross-compatible.
- Tech demos are playable on the show floor. (New Super Mario Bros. Mii, Shield Pose Demo, Chase Mii, Galactic Fighters, and four more)
- Graphics demo shown at conference.
- LEGO City Stories announced for Wii U.
- Batman Arkham City, Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon Online, Darksiders 2, Tekken announced in developer reel. Dirt, Aliens Colonial Marines, Metro Last Light, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge also shown. (Video)
- John Riccitello appeared on stage, mentioned Battlefield 3, FIFA, and Madden in particular. Screen also showed shots from EA titles like Army of Two, The Sims, etc.

ROUNDTABLE 1: At the end, Miyamoto thanked attendees for not asking about Pikmin, and pretty much confirmed that Pikmin 3 is moving to Wii U.

ROUNDTABLE 2: Watch it here
- UbiSoft revealed their five IPs: Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon Online, Raving Rabbids, a multi-sports title, Killer Freaks from Outer Space.
- Ghost Recon Online Trailer shown: Used controller microphone for voice chat, touchscreen for: a tactical map, setting beacons, drone and missile views, steering drone missiles, and weapon customization. Also described the game's online features: personalized accounts, flexible friends lists, ranking, matchmaking, and "ghost feed," a feature that streams info about your friends activities to the controller screen and allows you to schedule a match.
- Killer Freaks from Outer Space: Trailer and demos shown. (Pre-Alpha Screens and CG Trailer) It's a "competitive multi-player" FPS where human survivors fight against hordes of flesh-eating gremlin-style aliens. Had a B-Movie vibe. The new controller is used to look around. They also showed a multiplayer mode where the new controller user was the enemy "director" who had an overhead view of the map and could summon aliens, while the classic controller user was the human. To reiterate, the second player was using a Classic Controller Pro, which indicates that the gyro FPS controls are not mandatory.
- Assassin's Creed: Nothing specific about it. They used this segment to talk about the ease of porting assets and tools, and possible controller functions for AC (Puzzles, Eagle Vision, weapon selection, interactive database).

News
Kotaku: First Official Tech Details on Wii U and its Bold New Controller
- Proprietary High-Density Discs. (Kotaku apparently misheard it as "iDensity")
-- UPDATE: Kotaku has confirmed that the Discs will be 25GB.
- Flash memory, expandable via USB drives and SD cards.
- Release date somewhere between April 1st and December 31st, 2012.
- Supports HDMI output, 1080p

Engadget: IBM puts Watson's brains in Nintendo Wii U
- 45nm custom CPU with "a lot of embedded DRAM"
- Silicon on insulator design; similar to the CPU tech used in IBM's Watson computer; clock speed for Wii U CPU is currently unknown.

Eurogamer: Wii U specs emerge
- Much of the info in the article has already been mentioned here, except for one interesting tidbit: The footage from the third-party sizzle reel came from the 360/PS3 versions of those titles. It's not discussed in any more detail, but I'm guessing that was not the case for Tekken, since it showed Wii U features in action. Then again, they might be porting that Tekken game from Vita or something.

AMD PR: AMD and Nintendo Join Forces...
- Basically, this press release confirms that the GPU in Wii U is a custom AMD Radeon HD chipset. No specific details are mentioned, just the spiel of "HD graphics support, rich multimedia acceleration and playback, and multiple display support."

Iwata Expects Wii U to be Priced Higher than Wii
- In an interview with Nikkei, Satoru Iwata said that the Wii U's price will likely be higher than the current price of the Wii, which is ¥20,000 in Japan.

We are starting to see some higher quality videos of the tech demos:
- GameTrailers uploaded a pretty good off-screen version of the Zelda HD tech demo, and reznoire uploaded it to Youtube. (Thanks jediyoshi)

-------------------------------------------------

Nintendo's official E3 site
- As pointed out in this thread, videos like the extended developer reel may be worth a watch, since the developers hint at possible titles (Bioshock Infinite) and uses for the system, like Tekken's idea of letting the winner draw silly images on the loser's character.

Andriasang posted some of the assets from the press site
http://www.andriasang.com/e/galleri...cs/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
http://www.andriasang.com/e/galleri...ii/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

It was mentioned in this thread that there is the possibility that only one New Controller can be used at a time, and for local play, everyone else will need to use Wiimote+Nunchuk or Wiimote+Classic Controller (Pro). Several sources have confirmed that currently, only one New Controller is supported per console. However, Nintendo has said that it is looking into making it possible for two New Controllers to be used simultaneously, so this may change.

Online is another open issue. I'm sure many of you saw the MTV Multiplayer blog post where an UbiSoft producer for Ghost Recon Online was interviewed, and talked about what the interviewer thought was the Wii U's online system. Of course, this was posted before Ubi's roundtable, but we still do not know whether that producer was referring to GRO's online structure, or the Wii U online structure as a whole. It also doesn't help that Nintendo has been rather vague and ambiguous on the subject, as shown in some of the threads below. From their answer, the only solid piece of info that could be reasonably gathered is that the Wii U online won't be some towering closed and centralized service like Xbox Live. Though considering the costs involved in such an endeavor, that would pretty much be expected.

Previews/Hands-on impressions
Wired's hands-on
Guardian UK
Kotaku: News, Videos, and previews, Video of the Wii U console itself
Gizmodo: Controller hands-on
IGN's Wii U Previews
1UP's video hands-on
Giant Bomb: New Super Mario Bros. Mii, Chase Mii, Zelda tech demo
GamePro Wii U preview
Shacknews: Nintendo booth tour
Gamespot: Wii U previews
Eurogamer: Wii U Preview
Tested: E3 2011 Hands-on: Nintendo Wii U

Threads
Roundtable #2 thread
Roundtable #1 thread
Official Nintendo E3 2011 Press Conference thread by BY2K
Cheesemeister's Project Cafe Rumor Thread

WiiU hands-on impressions
First Tech Info On Wii U/Controller, Wont Scale Wii Games, Singletouch, Same Room Use
Ubisoft's WiiU support: Assassin's Creed, Rabbids, Ghost Recon, new exclusive FPS
Vigil Games: WiiU is "more powerful" than PS3/360; Darksiders II WiiU hints
New Super Mario Mii (Wii U)
Wii 2 is Wii U
Aliens: Colonial Marines announced, made by Gearbox! Confirms UE3 on Wiiu. [N-Conf]
Gearbox talks Aliens: Colonial Marines on Wii U
IBM: WiiU running on Watson's brain. 45nm MultiCore CPU with "lots" of embedded DRAM.
First Screen of Wii U Zelda HD
Iwata Asks: Wii U (Camera Recognition e.t.c.)
*That* Geoff Keighley interview with Reggie 'My Body Is Not Ready' Fils-Aime
Wii U Nature Graphics Demo
Nintendo looking into games that support two Wii U controllers
Wii U To Use 'Modern', 'Custom' AMD GPU With Multiple Display Support
Cross-Platform Smash Bros. coming to 3DS/WiiU, [Has Not Started Development]
Iwata Expects Wii U to be Priced Higher than Wii
Killer Freaks From Outerspace (Ubisoft) Wii U - CG Trailer, Screens
Lego City stories announced for Wii U & 3DS ( Nintendo Conference )
Ghost Recon Online First Look (Wii U Footage, Free 2 Play PC/Wii U Title)
THQ has Darksiders II running on Wii U
Ninja Gaiden 3 for Wii U Gets Dragon Sword-style Touchscreen Controls
Nintendo Wii U Tablet Screen Resolution Revealed (854 x 480)
Ubisoft Developer conference for Wii U. First look at Wii U games in development.
Nintendo explains WiiU online, makes little sense, doesn't actually say anything

Streams, Liveblogs, and E3 pages
Direct Stream Page links
Nintendo's Official Stream
GameSpot
GamePro
G4TV
GameTrailers (General stream page)
IGN (General stream page)
Youtube (IGN) (Youtube channel page)

E3 2011 hubs
1UP
E3 Insider
G4TV
GamePro
GameSpot
GameTrailers
IGN

Press Release
LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2011 – At the E3
Expo, Nintendo introduced a new paradigm for video games and home entertainment: Wii U™, a new console that includes a controller with a 6.2-inch screen. Adding a second screen to the living room creates a multitude of new video game experiences while offering families a variety of options to customize their entertainment.

Previously, video games played on a home console have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. Furthermore, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Visitors to the E3 Expo will see firsthand the type of gaming experiences made possible by Wii U and the new controller such as:
• In single-player games:
o The new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV.
o The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope.

• In multiplayer games:
o The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV. This will offer a wide variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

In addition to the 6.2-inch screen, the new controller also features an accelerometer and a gyroscope, a rumble feature, an inward-facing camera, a microphone and speakers. Adding these features to the Classic Controller™ button scheme – two analog Circle Pads, +Control Pad, A/B/X/Y buttons, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR buttons – will enable a breadth of game-play experiences while appealing to both casual and dedicated video game players.

Wii U combines motion-sensing game play with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be partnered with a new controller and can also use up to four additional Wii Remote™ or Wii Remote Plus controllers. The system is also backward compatible and can play all Wii games and use all Wii accessories. The Wii console has sold more than 86 million units globally and greatly expanded the overall audience for video games. Wii U aims to expand that audience even further. Developers worldwide are already working on new games and experiences for the console.

“Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together,” said Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. “The experience enabled by Wii U and the new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers.”
(Rest of PR covers 3DS and Zelda stuff at the conference)

Fact Sheet image (Thanks JohnTinker!):
rp87k.png


Other image of the controller (Thanks JohnTinker!):
lUUrl.png
 

Bit-Bit

Member
I can't believe I have to miss the conference since work needs me to go in early. I won't get to see it till around 11pm. FML
 
D

Deleted member 8095

Unconfirmed Member
I cannot wait for this conference! Will Nintendo really recapture the hardcore market?
 
Thunder Monkey said:
Dude that thread hyped me up hardcore!

People I love on this forum were so unbelievably wrong.

Makes me wonder how wrong all of us will be on this next batch of consoles.

Exactly :(
 
DragonKnight said:
You're mistaking what I'm meaning though.

By that time we already knew the relative power of the system, most of it's hooks, the name, and we were still completely wrong. This next console the only thing we "know" is that Nintendo is making it. We've got some vastly different ideas on the power of the platform, no real idea of the hooks, and no name. We can't be wrong. Not like the way that thread made us look with the Wii.
 
Nintendo has a chance of "winning" this E3 if the rumors about hardcore games (read GTAV) and Cafe being much more powerful than PS3 or 360 is true.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
they better make this huge

I want it to start with pyrotechnic explosions and reggie being lowered onto the stage with wires, clutching a single nintendo weinerpoop in his hands

"prepare your fap rags, it's time to do this shit"
 
abstract alien said:
They will laugh just like they did when they announced Saints Row for the 3ds. Unless they do a live stage demonstration o_O
It'd be funny if all of this complaining we've all done toward Nintendo ends with them paying for GTAV's development.
 
Honestly, if Rockstar hit up Nintendo's conference with an exclusive GTA V.. that would be the best news to ever come out of nintendo since, well, EVER.

I mean, what a way to make damn fucking sure that everyone is ready for the new nintendo to be a hardcore gamer machine. Hell, at least have Mass Effect or something for it at launch.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
FoxMcCloudDS said:
Honestly, if Rockstar hit up Nintendo's conference with an exclusive GTA V.. that would be the best news to ever come out of nintendo since, well, EVER.

I'm skeptical about that rumor, but this would be huge.
 
Snuggler said:
I'm skeptical about that rumor, but this would be huge.

It would NOT happen. I am just saying, if it did... That would mean the cod crowd and gta crowd would be uniquely attracted to a Nintendo for once. MMMmmmMMM. I love my nintendo! :D
 

alphaNoid

Banned
FoxMcCloudDS said:
Honestly, if Rockstar hit up Nintendo's conference with an exclusive GTA V.. that would be the best news to ever come out of nintendo since, well, EVER.

I mean, what a way to make damn fucking sure that everyone is ready for the new nintendo to be a hardcore gamer machine. Hell, at least have Mass Effect or something for it at launch.
Wait, wait.. let me get this straight. You somehow think Rockstar is going to announce GTAV exclusive to Cafe? Exclusive? lol

Oh GAF never change.
 
Truth101 said:
This thread will be closed soon.
Hopefully.
Nirolak is offline right now, and if Nirolak will remain offline for a while, does anyone know of any other mods who might want to close this until the conference?

Remember everybody, this thread is only intended for Cafe news, BY2K has the press conference thread, so go there to discuss it when it opens:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=432783

In the meantime, everyone should keep all pre-conference and rumor discussion in Cheesemeister's rumor thread:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=27727884&postcount=1
 
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