Nintendo Wii U

The Nintendo Wii U, successor to the hugely popular Wii, is a new console with a new style GamePad controller.

This revoluntionary controller features a 6.2 inch touch screen, gyroscope, accelerometer, microphone, speakers, a rumble feature and inward pointing camera. Two analogue clickable sticks are introduced together with a home button, power button A/B/X/Y buttons, +Control Pad, L/R buttons and ZL/ZR button. It is also fully rechargable without the need of replacing expensive batteries.

Under single player gameplay, the GamePad screen can display different information on it's screen than that on the TV. Also, based on the orientation of the gyroscope, it can show a different viewpoint and information. During multiplayer games, the player using the GamePad controller can have a different display to those watching the TV and thus creating a wider variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities.

An updated version of the classic controller, called the Pro Controller, has also been introduced which will target the more hard core gamers. The Wii U is backward compatible and will play all the original Wii games and accessories.

The Wii U was initially conceived in 2008 to try and counter the public opinion that the Wii catered primarily for casual gamers. At the time the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sported much more powerful graphic capabilities together full high definition displays. Nintendo believe the Wii U will cater to a much wider audiance of video gamers and was officially announced at the E3 conference in Los Angeles in June 2011.

The original Wii has sold more than 86 million units worldwide and introduced a new market of video gamers. The Wii U aims to increase this audience even further.