Nintendo’s E3 2012 pre-announcement singles out the Wii U and cements its position as a major player in the online arena. Let’s all welcome the Miiverse, Nintendo’s online arena which is in our opinion too little, too late.
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Nintendo grand poo-bah Satoru Iwata says of the Wii U, “Some people may wonder if Wii U is a simple evolution of Wii or something completely different. I think maybe the best answer is both.” But what does this mean for the Miiverse? Simple, Nintendo want’s a PSN/Xbox Live/Apple app store of its own.
Iwata calls the Miiverse a “game changer for the console business”. He also had these highly-cliched words of marketing wisdom which say everything, but mean nothing.
“People are gathered together in the same room, but they are not truly connected. They are paying more attention to their devices than to each other. We have to wonder what this will mean for the nature of human relationships moving forward. So one of the challenges we set for ourselves was creating something that will help unite people rather than divide them.” Translation: So let’s finally enter the mobile arena people. We’re only five years behind!
The Miiverse will be the online heart of the Wii U. The Wii U, with it’s 6.2-inch touchscreen controller and Samsung Galaxy-esque looks will belong to Nintendo’s first HD console. It’s first HD console, which is finally coming out with a proper online service. Oh Nintendo.
“We want the Wii U to introduce a new degree of empathy between players. We consider the small screen as the social window…. Miiverse can connect your living room with those of others, regardless of space or time,” Says Iwata. Space, time? Why not the fourth-dimenison while you’re at it.
As for the controller, it’s a giant touchscreen, with two Xbox-like gaming nipples on either side and a wireless sensor which kind of works like a AR-reader. Anyway, Nintendo hopefully has some good, solid news lined up for E3, which starts tomorrow and ends 7 June. Watch Nintendo’s full pre-E3 press video below.
