Did they announce online gameplay for this thing? My biggest complaint about the Wii was the mess that was online capabilities; I'd have really liked to play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii online, but it was always too inconvenient.

That controller would be pretty cool if they had some kind of TV feature (or if they could just stream whatever is on TV at the moment), much like those DirecTV commercials.

It was most definitely the first thing I thought of. If you see "[Name] U" the U generally stands for university.

I can't tell from the picture, but does anyone else think it doesn't look like it has analog triggers? I hope they didn't get that wrong too.

I just left thinking the Wii U might eventually be good given time, went to take a shower, then came out convinced that Nintendo just laid a huge turd.

It basically comes down to this idea that Nintendo is going out to try to convert hardcore XBox or PS players to their new console...with a gimmick. Yes, it'll be 1080, but really will anyone buy this so that when they play Arkum City they will have Batman's toys on a screen in their hands. The CEO of EASports was excited about the possibilities...but it'll just be Madden'12 as it's always been, except with the play selection on the 6" f'n handheld device. Good HD graphics or not, that's a lot of plays to cram into that shitty amount of space. Will hardcord gamers really want to see it that way? And will hardcore gamers, who are so bitchy about which controller is better, going to play with this square controller.

It's the same reason hardcore gamers don't want to play games with the Kinect or Move. Look at Kinect. The best stuff they showed at E3 was the Kinect experimental stuff (which was cool) like face scans and such. But when they showed the actual games it was either kids stuff like Disneyland or Sesame Street, or a boring on the rails Star Wars game. Microsoft clearly got their gimmick device aligned and is directing it at the same kids who wanted a Wii. Move's just become a glorified gun for PS 1st person shooters...and a pointer for Kobe to play a basketball game (one that is so complex that you need every bit of control). Hardcore gamers don't want this shit.

Looking at the demo that Nintendo is showing on the E3 floor, it appears that they are showing gimmicky type stuff. "Just move the Wii U and watch how the screen shows a different perspective. Isn't that neat" Ugh.

I'm sure everyone has already said all this stuff but I actually started to get a bit frustrated with it all and had to get this off my chest. I have a Wii, like it, but felt the need the upgrade to a PS that I now LOVE. It's almost as though I didn't know what I was missing. But seeing how Nintendo completely dropped the ball in the last few years I no longer have faith in them.

Clearly Sony 'won' E3. Nintendo was a joke. XBox showed 3rd party games that will be multiplatform and Kinect stuff. Then Sony came out, apologized, then showed a shitton of great games that made me want to play instantly.

I still don't know what to think about the new Nintendo console. I think that Nintendo screwup on their unveiling along with the name.

I guess the controller is like the second DS screen, a way to display menus and inventory without having to pause the game or clutter the game screen. This would be useful for casual games like Uno, Scrabble, etc, where you don't want others to see your "hand".

I'll definitely have a wait-and-see approach on this system though.

25GB "proprietary" game discs: http://gizmodo.com/5809713/wii-u-dis...e-25gb-in-size

You are. "U" stands for University when it is talking about a university. Here, it clearly isn't.

It will be easier than you think. Plus, I'm sure they aren't doing away with the pause feature all together. Do you have trouble utilizing the second DS screen?

Wow, Skyward Sword's graphics look like shit. I'll still be buying it, but it'll feel like I'm playing a Gamecube game.

Why would they do away with pausing?

And I've never used a DS, so I haven't experienced using a second screen. But there, everything is in such a compact space I imagine it doesn't matter much, since you can probably see both at the same time.

Compare that to what is pictured. If I'm fighting as Link and need to quickly cycle through my weapons, I can't just look to one of the corners of my television, I have to look away from the screen and down at my controller; in some games, that is precious time that could make all the difference. It seems unnecessarily complicated. You'd encounter the same problem in first-person shooters; having to constantly look away from the screen to check your ammo would cause you to miss what was going on in-game and thus put you at risk of being killed. This just seems a perfect example of them trying to fix something that wasn't broken.

Yeah, there's a big difference from the (3)DS, where the second screen is right on top of the other.

But really, dealing with the screen looks like the least of that controller's problems. Maybe the screen will be optional and they'll let you use a Classic Controller (or some new iteration of it).

You're partially right. "U" can mean "you" like in U-Haul or U-Drive. It can mean other things like in USA, HUD or DUI. But until today, "U" at the end of something always meant University. Or almost always. BYU, ASU, OSU, ODU, WSU or my Alma Mata, KU.
Okay, the European Union is the EU, but besides that, "U" at the end usually signifies a university.

So, if you have more than one player, everyone other than player one has to use Wii Remotes.

Hmm..

http://www.popularmechanics.com/tech...3-2011?src=rss

Yea, when you list a bunch of Universities, it's going to stand for University.

Okay. Give me a bunch of commonly recognized English language abbreviations ending in U where the U doesn't stand for University and you'll prove me wrong. I already gave you one

This actually has me intrigued a "little" Makes me wonder if you could just play the game on the "controller" and have something else on the television. While it would not sell me on the system it does make me wonder the possibilities. I must admit that the screenshot of Zelda if possible looked pretty damn sweet.

Note that until the Wii I was a Nintendo diehard with the previous 4 systems but the Wii is not for hardcore gamers in the least. Nothing beats a good ol' controller though in my book and this is why I have not gotten the Kinect either for my 360.

The Wii U can only handle one tablet controller at a time:

http://www.destructoid.com/e3-ninten...--203141.phtml

So much for this being great for co-op games.

Or with this being Video Game Talk, U-Invent.

I understand the point, which is, most people think "university" when they see a word followed by U. It's like "_____ 101," which commonly means an introduction to a subject. Of course in this case the U doesn't actually mean university, but the point is that most people are going to think that when they see it.

If you were to create a game about a dictator and call it "Dr. _____" most people are going to think "doctor," not "dictator," regardless of what it actually means in that case.

In regards to the WiiUniversity...how much do you think it's going to cost?

My guess is 299.

it's even simpler than on screen items... The digital pad doubles for inventory in a shit ton of games. It's simple, instantaneous an effective. I wholeheartedly agree with you, they are trying to fix something that isn't broken. I guess the same thing could be said for the Wiimote.

Speaking of, that Zelda one looks badass. I still have my gold N64 controller.

ICU, NICU, um....CTU.....

I think the more overall point here is the Wii becoming such a household brand name at this point that I don't get where the confusion would come from. If you see the Wii in front of a U most folks are automatically already going to be thinking of the gaming system that even their grandma has. I would tend to think that would put them off the "university" trail. Unless they think it's like some gaming college. Oh man that'd be awesome.

@ CTU

Wii U sounds like Pee U... should be great with the little ones.

I was hoping Nintendo would get out of the gimmick business. Oh well.