Wii U dual-GamePad titles to come 'well after launch'
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says that games using two GamePad controllers will come "well after launch."
Nintendo corrected one common criticism of the Wii U at this year's E3 press briefing, with the announcement that the system will support two GamePad tablet controllers at once. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime was a little hazy on the details, and didn't show off any gameplay demonstrations to prove the concept. He said they're currently in development, but apparently they're a long way off.
"Games need to be built that can take advantage of the two GamePad controllers," Fils-Aime told Gamasutra. "It's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life. Asymmetric gameplay is going to be the next major step forward, just like active play was when we launched the Wii. We think that's where developers will focus first, then there will be multiple experiences that have two GamePads."
Using two GamePads also comes with technical considerations as well, which is probably why the company was hesitant to offer the functionality in the first place. A tweet from company president Satoru Iwata (via Kotaku) revealed that a second controller cuts the frame rate in half due to the extra work needed to display on both screens. It's possible that Nintendo will find ways to overcome this limitation, but that may not be true for the first generation of dual GamePad titles.
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Steve Watts posted a new article, Wii U dual-GamePad titles to come 'well after launch'.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says that games using two GamePad controllers will come "well after launch."-
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It seems like they're trying to reach a compromise between casual appeal and gamer appeal and screwing up on both fronts. Conceptually the thing is much weirder and more complicated than the Wii and seems like a hard sell for casual players compared to an iPad. And most of the stuff they showed for traditional games are pure gimmicks that don't change anything meaningful. Pikmin is their flagship franchise this time and it's actually played with the wiimote/nunchuck? Really? After the Wii they have a lot to prove to their gamer demographic and they're just failing at it spectacularly.
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Last E3 I believe, not a new announcement. Although I'm not sure if every Wii game will be compatible most of them should be. If you go http://e3.nintendo.com/wiiu/ you'll see under media it lists both Wii and Wii U optical disks.
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There are 2 Wii-U specific controller options, the Wii U tablet and the Controller Pro (the thingy that looks like an Xbox controller with the buttons and right control stick switched). The Wii U is also compatible with Wii peripherals, and in some cases is the designed method of control for their games e.g. NSMB:U and apparently Pikmin 3, though I believe at least the former will be playable with both the tablet and the Controller Pro as well and the latter maybe just with the tablet and wand+nunchuk.
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