LOS ANGELES — Nintendo’s new video game system, Wii U, aims for success by attracting hard-core video game fans, as well as the casual players who embraced the Wii.
Targeted to arrive in stores in 2012 between April and December, the Wii U sports a new wireless controller pad with a 6.2-inch touch-screen display that bridges the world of console video games and the current wave of portable and tablet-based games. No price was announced.
Video games will appear in high-definition — a first for a Nintendo device — and can be displayed simultaneously on the controller pad and the TV, with different points of view for each. Some games can be played solely on the controller display. However, the game is not a portable.
But will the new system, introduced Tuesday at theElectronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, be a game-changer for the industry
At first glimpse, the Wii U is an evolutionary move, incorporating technology found in other devices, such as a touch-screen, motion control and HD graphics, says analyst Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.
To be revolutionary, Nintendo’s top-tier game designers must create video game experiences as yet unimagined, Divnich says. But he predicts it will be “a top-selling system” as Nintendo continues to go toe-to-toe with Microsoft and Sony for years to come.
