Wii U

The Wii U is Nintendo's latest upcoming console and the successor to the Wii. It was announced during Nintendo's conference at E3 2011. The main feature of the Wii U is its controller, the GamePad that has a touch screen, camera, buttons and other new characteristics. According to Yoshiaki Koizumi, the Wii U was never shown to Nintendo's software development team prior to its unveiling at E3 2011.

The game console is similar in appearance to the Wii, except with rounder sides and a slot to insert 12-centimeter proprietary high-density optical discs as well as the Wii's DVD optical discs. The console can play high-definition games at 720p and 1080p, the first of Nintendo's consoles to do so. The console itself is approximately 1.8 inches tall, 6.8 inches wide, and 10.5 inches long. The Wii U supports all of the controllers (and respective peripherals) used with the Wii: the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk controller, the Wii Remote Plus, the Classic Controller, the Classic Controller Pro, and the Wii Balance Board. However, it is not compatible with the Nintendo GameCube hardware or software, unlike the Wii. Instead, players may have the option of downloading Nintendo GameCube games on the Wii U, but it is not known if other consoles will be represented. Currently, the Wii U has support for two GamePads, thus leading to the possibility of six-player games if four players using the Wii Remote control are included. Like Nintendo's previous home consoles, it won't play DVDs or Blu-ray discs. The console will have internal flash memory, as well as the option to expand its memory using either an SD memory card or an external USB hard disk drive. Games will also be digitally downloaded from the console.

Interestingly, this is the first Nintendo home console since the SNES to share a portion of its name with its predecessor.

Wii U GamePad
The Wii U GamePad is the main controller of the Wii U console. The controller has a 6.2 inch touch screen in the center with the traditional to the left of the screen and the, , , and  buttons to the right. The GamePad has two traditional, one on each side of the screen and over the traditional buttons. The sticks are slightly displaced nearer to the edges of the controller and are clickable. The and  buttons are located behind the GamePad, as are the  and  buttons. Below the screen is the button, situated between the microphone aperture and the battery light, and next to the light there is the TV button. The select button and  start button are found below the ABYX buttons. The button is directly below the screen right to the TV button. The controller also has a NFC sensor, able to read objects or codes near to the controller. It can be used with a stylus and features a frontal camera, a microphone, a stereo speaker, sensor strip, rumble system, accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, rechargeable battery and built-in flash memory to store data. Using the controller, one can browse the internet, send videos, flip channels, and chat while playing any game. Games for this console can be played on the TV screen, the controller screen, or a combination of both, known as asymmetric gameplay.

Wii U Pro Controller
The Wii U Pro Controller is an alternate peripheral for the Wii U console. It was introduced by Satoru Iwata in a Nintendo Direct video on June 3, 2012. The Wii U Pro Controller is somewhat similar to the Wii's Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro by the frontal button layout and that it has grips. However, the, , , , and the are found below the , also clickable. The player's number's lights from the Wii Remote, and the, have been added in the center of the controller, as it's wireless and it is battery-powered. The Wii U Pro Controller is also bulkier in appearance than the Wii's wired controllers, and the and  are arranged differently as actual trigger buttons, like how they were arranged on the Classic Controller Pro, though they are now pressure sensitive. Its appearance overall resembles the Xbox 360's controllers.

Wii Peripherals
See also Wii Remote, Wii Balance Board, Wii Wheel and Wii Zapper.

Wii Remote, Wii Remote Plus & Nunchuck
Both types of controllers will make a full return in almost every Wii U game, acting as the common second controller for multiplayer action. In certain titles, it can also be used instead of the GamePad. New Super Mario Bros. U, for example, demonstrates how the Wii Remotes act as the second controllers moving Mario and co. while the player with the GamePad places platforms to help or hinder the players. Other titles such as Pikmin 3 can be completed only using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, without the need for the GamePad.

Wii Balance Board
The Wii Balance Board will be reusable for upcoming Wii U titles, Wii Fit U in particular, with no added features.

Wii Wheel
It has been confirmed that the Wii Wheel will somehow be used in upcoming unreleased Wii U games. The Wheel, originally bundled with Mario Kart Wii, has no added features making it usable by current owners of the device.

Wii Zapper
Like all the other Wii-originated peripherals, the Wii Zapper will also be utilized in certain games. While no release titles or announcements have appeared to use this accessory extensively, a tech demo called Shoot Mii uses the Zapper, however in conjunction with the GamePad. The latter is placed on to the gun, acting as a periscope, although for this to work a holder is needed to attach the Pad to the peripheral. How this holder will be distributed is currently unknown.

Miiverse
Miiverse is a special social network and the main menu of the Wii U. This feature allows players to see amount of Miis on screen gathering around accessible tiles. The Miis represent all the player's friends, familiars and miscellaneous individuals that are using the service, and the tiles they are surrounding represent where they are communicating in real time. Being a social network, the user can explore the topics on every tile and look up what games their friends are playing. Miiverse also offers chat, video conference and information sharing, and it can be quickly accessed even when playing a game by pressing the button.

Nintendo Network
Main article: Nintendo Network. Nintendo's newly refined online service is put to use on certain Wii U games. Software with the service will feature the logo on the top right corner of the game box.

Nintendo TVii
A new television based service by Nintendo will debut on the Wii U. Together with Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and YouTube, Nintendo TVii (pronounced Nintendo TVee), collects and collaborates these services so they can be enjoyed on one software. This service is free although the subscriptions for Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are obviously not. Videos on TVii can be playable on both the television screen and the GamePad. It also provides instant information from Wikipedia and IMDb about the film or program the users are currently watching. Control over the user's DVR is also possible via the service.

Mario Games Confirmed

 * New Super Mario Bros. U (Launch title)
 * Nintendo Land (Launch title)
 * Super Smash Bros. (tentative title)
 * Game & Wario

Game gallery
 

Trivia
The Wii U is the third Nintendo console to be realesed in North America before Japan, the other two being the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS. The Wii U resembles the Wii Family Edition.