Although the new Wii U console and its 6.2-inch touchscreen controller, the Wii U GamePad, released years after the iPad tablet from Apple, Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said his company was working on the Wii U concept prior to the release and popularity of tablets. Essentially, the Wii U is like a giant Nintendo DS, which is the name Nintendo’s dual-screen handheld – with a touchscreen – that released in 2004.
Last year, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said the Wii U GamePad is not a tablet. With the TV screen and its controller, the Wii U provides a two-screen experience, according to Fils-Aime.
“We began talking about having another screen being a good idea around 2008. We thought thoroughly about our other options, but in the end, this was the idea which was the most logical for us.
“So, in 2009, just as we began to press forward with this idea, sure that we were on the right track, this thing called an ‘Ipad’ came into the world. 2.5 years after the debut of the Ipad, when we were announcing the Wii U, it was the start of the tablet boom, the reaction was, ‘Nintendo’s just added a tablet to a game console, and there’ll be no revolution this time.’
“Even though we’d been working on dual screens prior to the release of tablets, it looked like we were just following a trend.”
-Nintendo President Satoru Iwata
misleading article title
ikr, terrible title
Agrees.
Indeed, I call to change it.
I Imagined Iwata saying that in a Sad way. ”Well , I guess we were just copying the Ipad *sigh*” that’s how I read it lol.
What he obviously means is although it look like we were copying Ipad , we were experimenting with dual screen tech before Tablets were broad.
It isnt misleading… The article is about how Nintendo looks as though they made the Wii U controller on account of the tablet “boom.”…..
Damn! Tablets are ruling everything, even killing off the laptop population.
And screwing up Computer OS…
All tablets suck, including the Wii U GamePad!
Too bad the Wii U Gamepad is NOT a tablet, you incompetent fool.
OH HO! High-Give man :D!
I love the tablet. I Do 70% of my gaming on the tablet controller. It may not be HD, but DAMN it looks great and is so convienent.
I only use the Pro-controller when I’ll be on a long stretch of AC3 or ME3, although I prefer the Gamepad due to the map and item accessibility.
DS XXL!
Saaaaaame here! I also just played my first 2 player game ever with my 3.5 year old with Sonic racing. Him on the gamepad and me using pro controller and on tv, no split screen or anything. LOVE THAT!!!
I’ve been playing games on the Gamepad and you’re right it does look suprisingly great. You can see hardly any Aliasing on the gamepad due to tiny pixels . It doesn’t look quite as good as TV but not that much of a difference to really care about :/
I do prefer to play some games with dual screens though Like Mass effect 3 because you can send your squad mates with touch screen map etc and that’s just an unmissable key feauture.
I don’t understand people hating on wiiu :S It’s an amazing little console and you can tell it’s gunna be much better than the wii.
Nintendo got the name right it feels like it’s been built for You (me) and not just wii (everybody). It feels like a much more hardcore friendly wii.
It’s an amazing console, between the gamepad and Miiverse, however although I understand the Logic behind the name, I wish they called it something else.
Yeh , it could do with a better name , but at least it makes sense …
People hate on it because they don’t own it or because they’re trolling fanboys. Most people who own or have used a Wii U agree that it’s a great system.
The same goes for the Vita. Most owners love it, but it still gets tons of hate across the web from “gamers” who do not own the system and the media who are saying it’s doomed.
I don’t disagree with you, but there is a reason Vita is selling so dismally.
I think it’s cost?
I really don’t think it’s the cost. Millions of devices can be sold for $600 simply because of a name that is marketed well. I don’t think the Vita’s memory card is even an excuse anymore since most systems come with one (albeit usually a small one).
It’s mainly marketing. Most people (apart from the internet gaming community) don’t even know the device exists. Then when they see it, they don’t see the appeal because they don’t know what it can do. That and they don’t know what games are out there for it. Sony’s marketing is horrible.
Then, while there are a number of great games on the system, no exclusive games from big name franchises (system sellers) yet.
They best get on that ship before it sails.
People use the word “Vitanic” Snarkily, but in all seriousness, you have a huge investment, built to be one of Sony’s flagships.
If it’s truely Marketing, that’s the tip of a very large iceburg
If Sony give me Vita exclusives that i care about, i’d be all up i that Vita.
I play play AC on my ps3 (not to mention the series doesnt interest me anymore), same with COD or Killzone.
Persona, Gravity Rush, and eventually Soul Sacrifice, New Little King’s Story, that 3D platformer that i cant remember the name of but it looks like its made out of patch work, and Monster Hunter would be enough to make me purchase it (as well as guiltyy pleasure of the Hatsune Miku rhythm game .__.), but still no BIG killer apps for me…
I feel bad I brought up the Vita when it’s irrelelevant to the article, but since the damage is done, I saw one in person the oter say. I mustered the strength to touch it, and do you know what I thought?
I thought, My Gamepadhas a beautiful, bigger screen. The demo on te Cita was a poor choice, in that the graphics did not “wow” me like I thought they would. At this stage in the game, Sony needs to have their demo’s displayingthe most impressive shit they can, because I was not impressed.
It felt a little cheaper than I thought it would. No better than the original 3DS. GRANTED it WAS a demo unit that probably had been beat to hell.
IDK. If they want to sell those, they have to do a better job. Maybe it is marketing, because what I saw did not warrant the price tag.
I know the Gamepadisn’t truely portable, but when I game the hardest, at home, I’d play ME3 or AC3 on my gamepad over the Vita any day.
Yeah, i mean when i bought my 3DS, there were some great games already out, i still have a few left i want to pick up too, but the thing is, and same with the WiiU, i can buy it, and i know that in 1-2 years, something i wants coming to it, and last week, Pokemon X and Y got announced. Sony has reacted to that, at all. I mean its Pokemon, and they havent pull any game out, or anything.
You can’t really compete with Pokemon, man. I doubt Sony will try to actually compete with them. On the whole, Sony’s target demographic is a bit different from Nintendo’s. Although, they do have their own kind of monster game, Invizimals. Seems to be fairly popular with kids over there in Europe.
A new Invizimals game will be coming to the Vita with a TV show airing soon too. If they play their cards right, make the show appealing enough to kids, market the game and system, maybe get a new line of toys, it could be a hit for them. Of course it would not be as big of Pokemon though. Not even close.
I don’t know…I really can’t stand the memory card situation…everytime I think of a company trying to dick me over with something ridiculous I just cringe and turn away. Sony has been trying to do that for years(too many to count really). Almost fifteen years ago I spent $50 on a pair of earphones from Sony, had a Sony boombox, a Sony Walkman(tape player, still the best handheld device I ever owned for quality), and a Sony alarm clock/cd/radio that was $75+…I still have the alarm clock, and it works just as well as it did when I bought it, the earphones I used to use pretty much daily(and I would turn up whatever I was listening to to nearly max volume with almost no distortion), and they just died last year and I still consider those the best headphones I have ever had, both in comfort and sound quality, not to mention a great use of $50, the boombox still works(though the wires are all frayed from constantly removing the speakers from the middle section constantly and then re-wrapping them(remember how the speakers used to slide on the tracks with the thick plastic?)
My point is, Sony has destroyed the awesome reputation they had built by overcharging for similar products that others made just because the name ‘Sony’ was on it, they were building their stuff very cheaply and it wouldn’t last, and worst of all, they, especially the last 5-10 years, have been insistent in pushing formats on people that are expensive and unnecessary, just for the sake of making Sony a bigger buck. Then they come out and push a new system thats not even compatible with their proprietary memory sticks(which are overpriced to begin with), and expect me to pay this hefty premium? Now granted, I didn’t own a PSP, but look at it from this perspective: If they are retarded enough to not include backwards compatibility and use a whole new proprietary memory device in this day and age, and do that to their avid fans, what’s to say they won’t do it again for the next go-around? And that is why I won’t buy a Vita. That, and because I really just hate their dual shock layout, but thats just preference.
To each their own.
Great console, not so great games, slightly worse pricing and abysmal marketing.
The pricing for the console itself could be worse, but when you add in the memory card pricing, it just seems like a lot of money for something that doesn’t have the kind of games you want to play.
Of course, it was like that when I bought my 3DS, seeing as I had no games for it until Ocarina of Time 3D, but I’ve always bought Nintendo first, other consoles later. There’s just something about Nintendo that makes me know that when I buy their console, it’s worth it. I mean, by looking through the amount of time I’ve played my games, I’ve put about 300 hours into DS games, 250 into 3DS games and 150 hours just into the 20 GBA and NES games.
All in all, the Vita isn’t shaping up to be what it could if pushed in the right direction by Sony, but I believe it’s a little too late for the console now. It’s been out this long and there’s just no effort put into it by Sony and other developers who are beginning to move on to other consoles if they haven’t already.
I agree. 2/3 of the game industry is immature teenage Fanboys who say ”it’s not even as powerfull as current gen blah blah , even though graphically it’s potentialy far superior and has a much more efficient CPU that delivers the same results whilst using haf or less the electricity. And it has a tablet controller.
The xbox 360 at launch was nothing more than glorified xbox 1. the graphics were pretty much the SAME. So you have to say the wiiu should evolve in a similar way the 360 has…
The vita will be fine. I expect it to hit N64 hardware number in it’s lifetime at least and hey , the N64 is my favorite console ever…
Now I don’t think it will hit the Nintendo 64 sales at this rate. In 9 months, the N64 sold 5.8 million units, and then 9 million in the next 12 months. The Vita isn’t even close at the moment.
then so is pretty much every single electronical device manufacturer
Sure. It’s a bit convenient that the Wii U came out at the same time tablets are big. Just like it was pure coincidence that the 3DS came out while 3D was big.
Don’t lie Nintendo, you know as well as the rest of us, you are cashing in on fads.
This to infinity.
Nintendo has been infatuated with 3D long before 3D was popular. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Virtual Boy was a not-so-virtual failure. It just lacked the Finnese.
Now, I’m sure the advancements in Stereographic 3D played a large role in assisting Nintendo in jumping the 3D hurdle, the same advancements incorporated in Stereographic camera’s and camcorders.
To my knowledge they invented the first stereoscopic 3D portable device with 3D depth slider. That’s pretty innovative and not copying anyone…
Agreed. I’m just pointint out why their glasses-free stereographic display came out around the time of the big boom of 3D. The recording and display of Stereo 3D no doubt shares technological theories, if not some breed of similar tech. Nintendo wasn’t following the trend, they were just part of the wagon train pioneering it for everyone else. (along with some other tech companies, that may have been working on 3D advancements.)
In the end, it’s the same tech they had 60 years ago. Two images, offset, each displayed in one eye. My grandma has a stereo 3D imager made of wood and cardboard. Primitive (and brilliant) theory, executed digitally by Nintendo.
Yeh , I for one LOVE 3D on my 3DS (for most games at least) it brings the graphics to life. Ocarina 3D for example looks so much more epic in 3D as do about 90% of games. Some games even turn anti aliasing on when you turn 3D off. But I would still rather have them 3D!
Ugh, I wasn’t a fan of OoT in 3D. Kingdom Hearts, Kid Icarus and Skylanders Giants was pretty darn sweet in 3D though.
Because the framerate is crappy.
You forgot the Virtual Boy, didn’t you?
People just like assuming the worst about Nintendo, and there’s not a damn thing we can do to change their mind.
Ok, and even if they were, is there anything bad about it? People lean towards fads all the time. Even hipsters…Nintendo is made up of people too. It’s not a giant computer that does everything.
R&d working that fast, I don’t think so
My comment is for anon
Nintendo has been working on screen controls years now, u r forgetting the Gba link
Except that the Gamepad is not really a tablet, it is a controller with a touchscreen. It doesn’t work without interaction with the console, and touchscreens existed way before tablets became “cool”. Hell, Apple didn’t invent the tablet. (they did popularize its current form tho)
I’d hardly call the iPad a tablet, it’s just a larger iPhone, but without being a phone.
Just people generalising.
They see a screen you can hold in your hand and go “duh, iPad”.
People who buy tablets were dumb enough to purchase underpowered laptops without a keyboard.
Was up, Bill here. Th e real Bill. Who’s ill brown-eye wants a suckin?
What a dumbass. You are so unconvincing.
~THE REAL Bill~
youre right, he is really not a convincing version of you. Theres not enough whining, hubris, or cliche fanboy bullying nonsense and bullshit that nobody cares about in his impression of you. A far better impression of you would go something like this:
blah blah blah blah blah blah blah opinion stated as fact, blah blah blah. blah blah, i try to dominate people on the internet because everything i say in real life goes un-noticed because im a mealy-mouthed weasel. blah blah blah, nintendork, i am manly because i say things that i think are manly from a pedestal of anonymousness where nobody can give me a black eye because im hidden, like a real man does. blah blah blah, please give a shit about what i say blah blah, nobody else does and it makes me sad. that about right bill? you small minded prick?
WOW…so much lol, ROFL…thank you for that. I think you hit the nail on the head with that one, hahaha!
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It’s another great nintendo season. Iwata San educating the masses. Yes indeed nintendo already had the DS/tablet swell before the IPad even became popular. Thus on the next Nintendo Handheld it would be a nice and welcome idea if apple backed nintendo, just saying. Two of the most innovative and un orthodox companies to ever exist.
Don’t let marketing and consumer hype fool you. Apple isn’t that much of an innovator. They are just expert marketers. Their influence is great and has pushed the industry in certain directions, but they haven’t truly come out with anything that hasn’t been done before.
Damn. Twice I agree with you in one day.
Hell must have froze over. :p
I have always agreed whit him he is 1 of the few whos opinion i care and respect.
^ this
The iPad is just a glorified iPod Touch.
I have one, I love it to bits, but I agree with you xD
Being a logical person, I actually agree with you. Apple has now essentially become a hype driven machine.
theyre good at using others ideas and perfecting them adding just enough of thier own to make it something a bit newer.
Yeah, no doubt. They have their own little exclusive features and they do make really solid items on the whole. Still, I’m not so sure I would go as far as calling them innovators in the truest sense of the word in the tech industry.
Shut up! Cheatendo is cheating! They will burn to the ground for this! Burn I tell ya!
LOL the gamepads a tablet no retard its a games controller and remote and screen all in one thats obvious ,how could anyone not understand that,tablets are not gaming devices nintendo putsbthingsbtogether in such a comonsense way ..
You should put your sentences together in a common-sense way.
PDA’s were super popular many years back. Tablets are just an evolution of them. I remember Handspring and Palm going neck and neck…then Palm buys them and the innovation suffered.
honestly I feel kinda bad for Nintendo, because of the tablets people put a title on Nintendo right away and say that they are just sticking with the in crowd, when really If this were true then they would have been developing the worlds first tablet… (kinda sorta..ish.)
Microsoft actually did >_>
I agree, it’s not a tablet! It’s more of a Gamepad like it’s called.
Stop lying Iwata! You copied the iPad and everyone knows it!
Actually, didn’t Microsoft show off a tablet back in early 2000’s?
Well then Nintendo copied Apple who copied Microsoft. Any way you look at it, Cheatendo cheated and won’t admit it.
You know what shocks me? Apple is trying to sue Nintendo for it, I honestly thought they would since they are sue crazy.
I hope Apple wins! Nintendo’s supposed innovation is nothing but gimmicky, rip-offs! BURN NINTENDO! BURN I TELL YA!
I bought a wii u, my eyes were opened, I saw for the first time, I blew a load in my panties. Nintendo has stolen my heart with this amazing machine. My son is a fucking retard. He has been brain washed by this evil society. I will pray to the holy goat gods to forgive him.
I don’t suppose your name is Buffalo Bill? Now it puts the lotion in the basket..
If Nintendo has patents that shows they started working on the Game Pad long before tablets came out, there’s nothing that Apple can do.
I was only joking but ok.
Apple is getting desparate. They are sueing everyone. It’s sad how immature they’re acting.
They have no case against Nintendo.
This has me curious.
Source?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Tablet_PC
Read the history section.
Because the majority of the population are idiots.
Off-Topic:
The argument that the weakest console can still be the most popular is damage control and I’ll tell you why.I know the PS2 was the weakest and best selling system last gen hands down.
BUT THAT DIDN’T PREVENT IT FROM CHOPPY, FLICKERING, BLURRY, BLOCKY, 20FPS MULTIPLATS !!!
GTA San Andreas for example has slowdowns where the game is roughly running at half speed but it ran smooth on the XBOX.
Resident Evil 4 on the PS2 looked horrible, ran choppy, didn’t have Anti-Aliasing, and flickered all the time but it was fine on the Gamecube.
DO YOU UNDERSTAND MY POINT ?
So even if the Wii U would get the games from the other systmes, would you really like to live through the Ps2.scenario once again.
Neutron, i own a NES, SNES, Gamcube, and my personal favorite, the N64. There’s NO WAY you’ll make me burn them. Troll harder, please.
I think the Wii U is awesome. Just give us some more games regularly, attract all the 3rd party AAA games, do cross platform compatibility with 3DS, make a new franchise that is competitive with Halo.
games > apps.
metriod > halo
I want me some Metroid Ultra
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