3DS can 'technically' function as Wii U controller

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the 3DS can act as a controller for the Wii U, but the company is hesitant to use it as such.

Andrew Yoon

July 7, 2011 5:45 PM

The Wii U controller is not unlike the 3DS. In spite of significant advancements made to capacitive screens (like the ones used on most touch screen phones and tablets), both utilize resistive touch screens that work best with a stylus. There may be a reason why the two systems are so similar. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the 3DS can act as a controller for the Wii U. "It is technically possible," he said at Nintendo's recent investors meeting. "However, there are some limitations: While the Nintendo 3DS is communicating with the Wii or the Wii U, the Wii or the Wii U will not be able to access the Internet, and this technical restriction will remain unless we add some special hardware." Although the company was aggressive with its connectivity plans during the Gamecube era, it seems more hesitant to pursue connecting the 3DS and Wii U. "Some consumers might feel that Nintendo is saying that consumers must buy both systems," Iwata explained. "So that consumers will not think of Nintendo as a company that made the Nintendo 3DS a controller because it wanted consumers to buy both hardware systems, we will not adopt this idea unless connecting the two systems is the most natural thing to do."

Pac-Man Vs. is one of Nintendo's first forays into connectivity

Given the Wii U will supposedly only support one controller, perhaps the 3DS can be used as makeshift controllers for local multiplayer sessions? "We would like to think of it as a possibility now that the communication can be done wirelessly, but even if we should do this, we would like to develop this service so that we will not receive comments from consumers saying, 'Why does Nintendo force us to buy both systems?'"

Andrew Yoon

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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July 7, 2011 5:45 PM

Andrew Yoon posted a new article, 3DS can 'technically' function as Wii U controller.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the 3DS can act as a controller for the Wii U, but the company is hesitant to use it as such.
- [deleted] 1177306704
  
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  July 7, 2011 5:48 PM
  
  [deleted]
  - Delrastah
    
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    July 7, 2011 6:24 PM
    
    Reduce, reuse, recycle?
- pillzer
  
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  July 7, 2011 6:57 PM
  
  Is it me or is Nintendo's communication totally weird and hesitant about all this? The E3 reveal was a murky mess. And since then it's been all 'the wiiU can technically do this and that and stuff, but we're hesitant to use it or encourage/enable other developpers to use it'..
  The system is still one year away; and obviously they want go slowly with it; but they don't look slow, they just look like they don't know where they want to go with it..
  - megarust32
    
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    July 7, 2011 7:13 PM
    
    Seems to me they're feeling their way through this. I wonder if the lack of definition will lead to inconsistent implementations. Then again, there's plenty of time.
    - nevlos
      
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      July 7, 2011 8:04 PM
      
      I bet you are correct, sir, on your ponderings. I felt that with the Wii, they could have done so much more... but it fell flat, and collected dust after a week.
  - dpgagnon
    
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    July 7, 2011 10:12 PM
    
    It's because they revealed it too early and the technical specifications aren't finalized yet.
    - Korban
      
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      July 8, 2011 9:02 AM
      
      this is what i was thinking too. they could be waiting on a chipset or something to go down in price so they can squeeze every ounce of power out of the WiiU but not jack up the cost
      - one random winner
        
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        July 8, 2011 9:22 AM
        
        I'm guessing this is where they're at, they're probably still in discussions with AMD and IBM over price even though they've decided what they're going to include.
- PigDick
  
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  July 7, 2011 7:50 PM
  
  What the heck?
  
  Grab a brane, guys.
- Agrona
  
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  July 8, 2011 12:22 AM
  
  I think the wording is a little misleading here.
  
  Given that it's backwards compatible with the Wii; it's got to be able to support 4 Wii Remotes; so it's not like the thing only has one controller at all; just one of the special ones.
- Alexrose
  
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  July 8, 2011 2:50 AM
  
  3DS doesn't have multitouch, bumpers or a second analogue stick, the screen's too small and it's not HD. There's the underlying problem.
  - c_man_tmt
    
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    July 8, 2011 9:05 AM
    
    The Wii U controller does not have multitouch either I thought...
    - derelict515
      
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      July 8, 2011 9:15 AM
      
      correct, nor is it HD
- geedeck
  
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  July 8, 2011 4:17 AM
  
  Hesitant? Well that's because it's a good idea so obviously they'd be scared of it.
  
  Stupid geniuses could pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the sole >:(
- purekillforce
  
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  July 8, 2011 5:09 AM
  
  i don't think they know wtf they are doing with the wiiU yet.
  - Gwyndion
    
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    July 8, 2011 7:50 AM
    
    I'm beginning to think the same thing...
- 3dchipset
  
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  July 8, 2011 8:56 AM
  
  First they say, "It's technically possible to use 2 WiiU remotes at the same time" ... Now they are saying, "It's technically possible to use a 3DS as WiiU controller"? WTF Nintendo, don't you know what your hardware is capable of yet? Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft...
- DrFlammable
  
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  July 8, 2011 8:58 AM
  
  they're just not sure if it prints money yet guys dont worry