Troy Rawhiti-Forbes gets his hands on the gaming giant's impressive new gadget and some of its new titles.
Nintendo has delivered the first console of the eighth generation, and it is a device of considerable imagination. Much like the Wii before it, the Wii U has stirred excitement among gamers for its outside-the-box features, and concerns about how this unusual animal might stand up to its powerhouse rivals.
What we do know is that the Wii U will go on as its predecessor meant to, and the early signs are encouraging. The new unit includes the GamePad, which looks very much like the child a standard Wii controller might have with an iPad, and what it gives players is a range of first- and second-screen options that might revolutionise gameplay the way the Wii's motion controllers did in 2006.
Nintendo appears to have emphasised heavily what has come to be known as "asymmetric gameplay", where experiences differ depending on the controller you're holding and how many players are involved. This is demonstrated to great effect in the excellent Nintendo Land mini-game Luigi's Ghost Mansion, where one player uses the GamePad's screen to see the entire field of play and, as a ghost, chases the other players down. Opponents view the TV screen, where the ghost is invisible unless illuminated with a torch, and use vibrations in their standard controllers to determine where the ghost is, so they can team up and subdue it.
The Wii U is currently available in two configurations. A basic package, in white, costs around $470 and has limited accessories and 8GB of internal memory. For $100 more, the black premium package includes 32GB of internal memory, a charging dock for the GamePad and, crucially, a copy of Nintendo Land.
