Nintendo: “The Wii U [GamePad] Is Not A Tablet”

President Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo America says the Wii U GamePad is not a tablet; Wii U delivers a two-screen experience, thanks to its controller. Instead of calling it a tablet, Fils-Aime refers to the Wii U GamePad as a controller with a built in screen that allows Nintendo to create multiplayer games that provide different experiences for players. The Wii U GamePad can seemingly “do a lot of things that a tablet can’t do.”

The Wii U is basically a tablet. Is that Nintendo’s answer to the competitive mobile market?

“The Wii U is not a tablet. It’s a two-screen experience. And so you have this unique GamePad that gives you a different way to have a gaming experience. We’ve got a range of different examples that we can show you. It’s everything from the three of us can be playing the game, and I’m using the GamePad to maybe try and attack you with a space ship. We’ve got an attraction called Metroid where literally I’m playing against the two of you, using a space ship trying to shoot you, you’re shooting up on the ground, so we’re playing the same game but having a fundamentally different experience and that all happens with the GamePad. So it’s a controller with this screen built in that allows us to create content that shows different ways to play together but have fundamentally different experiences.”

But if you’re saying everyone is your competitor in entertainment, then why not just turn that second screen into a general-purpose device like a tablet?

“Through our GamePad you’ll be able to surf the Internet — it comes with an Internet browser. You’ll be able to watch video content on it. So it will do many things that a stand-alone tablet can do, but in addition, because it’s connected and it’s integrated, our second screen can do a lot of things that a tablet can’t do.”