I am happy to say that the Wii U was shown at this years Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Unfortunately they only showed two game-play demos; one is where the player holds the tablet controller and tries to elude the other players who are looking at the TV screen and using traditional Wii controllers. This demo was already on shown at last years E3. A new demo showed two players with regular Wii controllers trying to shooting down a third player who was flying a space ship. The space ship player was using the new tablet controller.
They did not say what the price would be nor did they give a firm release date. But they did say it will launch this year sometime between June and December. That is a very large gap, but I am confident it will come out close to the holiday season. The holidays have been the typical time period when home consoles were first sold the last few generations.
I can’t wait to hear more about the Wii U, what will it’s online multiplayer structure be like? Will it be subscription based like Xbox Live or will Nintendo retain the use of friend codes? I hope they do away with friend codes and adopt a more PC multiplayer experience where players host games and anyone can join. It will be interesting to see how the developers will use the tablet to enhance games and game-play.
The graphics look amazing for the Zelda HD demo. If you haven’t seen it already head over to youtube and do a search.
The future looks bright for all the Nintendo and video gaming fans out there. If the Wii U is a smash success I wonder if Sony and Microsoft will end up copying the tablet like they did with the motion controls.
I do wonder whether or not the Call of Duty franchise will thrive on a Nintendo console. Time will tell!
If Nintendo can deliver a console with good online multiplayer options, comparable graphics, and tight controls I think it will.