Nintendo have unveiled some of the specifics of Project Café, their new console. While initial impressions of the tablet-shaped touch-screen controller device were a little confusing the new console, called the Wii U, is indeed an entirely new system rather than just a Wii add-on.
The Wii U’s controller looks similar to the recently launched Ubisoft U-draw peripheral for the Wii, but holds a six inch touch screen, camera and two analogue nubs in addition to all of the buttons found on a Wii Classic Controller. It will feature motion controls, much like the standard Wii-mote. Players will be able to use the touch-screen to play games directly from the main console, meaning that no external screen is required. A decent screen is encouraged however, since the Wii U will support up to 1080p upon launch next year. The Wii U will be powered by a multi-core IBM Power processor.
Titles that were announced for the Wii U at E3 include Assassin’s Creed, Darksiders II and Batman: Arkham City. EA have also commented that they intend bringing their major titles, from Battlefield to Need for Speed, to the new Nintendo console.
Nintendo has stressed that the Wii U controller is not a portable device and will only be capable of streaming from the main console. The Wii U will be backwards compatible with all existing official Wii peripherals and games.
UPDATE: The IBM processor is rumoured to be a multi-core Power 6 CPU based on a 45nm SOI (Silicon-On-Insulator) method. The AMD GPU is believed to be an HD 4000 series DirectX 10 GPU which may allow the Wii U to surpass the Xbox 360 and PS3 in terms of graphical capabilities. AMD says that the GPU will support HD graphics, multimedia acceleration and multiple displays. (courtesy of Michael Reed's rumour-sniffing nose)
Brett Venter
