This is the Wii U console, the part of Nintendo’s big new gaming machine that’s been getting a lot less attention than its stunning screen-based controller. I got my hands on the console today. Take a video tour with me.
A few important notes:
1) There is an error in the video… I thought that the Wii U could be stood vertically, but the pieces of plastic I describe in the video as feet are not feet. The Wii U will not stand, not on its own. It needs to lie down.
2) You can see four USB ports for this system and an SD Card slot. You won’t see an Ethernet jack, suggesting that, like the Wii, this Nintendo console is made to go online strictly via Wi-Fi. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime cautioned me not to conclude that. Sounds like that this design, while apparently final, is still open to some tweaks.
3) You won’t see GameCube memory card slots, which the Wii had. That’s because Wii U can play Wii games, but isn’t backwards compatible to GameCube.
4) You won’t see a way to plug the rechargable screen controller into the Wii U. Maybe that’s what the back yellow port is for? Perhaps that port connects to a charge station? Hard to say. We’ve not been shown whatever charging station will be used to recharge the controller.
5) The unit didn’t feel much heavier than a Wii, though it’s not clear if this unit is a finished device with all the required guts. The machine seems to be about as wide as a Wii, and similarly thick, but it does appear to be longer. To use a metaphor rather than an actual size comparison, think of the relative relationship between letter size paper and legal size paper.
6) I hadn’t realised until I was done handling the unit that I had some ink on my left hand – whoops! I got a little ink on the system’s front hatch. It wiped off with a tissue. I apologised profusely.
I like the hardware. It looks good. What do you think?
Republished from Kotaku
Normandy
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 9:41 AMI think ZZZZZZZZ till I see software
salmonpie
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 9:45 AMI like, pity it can’t stand on its side, my 360s and PS3s sit nicely on my bookshelf. USB at rear very good thing, dont like the PS3′s front only USB looks messy
Josh
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 10:28 AMusing a 360(atleast the old ones, dont know about the new ones) is actually a rather bad idea. Used to work at EB, and the amount of times we would see an xbox come in with a disc stuck because it was sitting on its side when running, was crazy, and the disc was always scratched to bits because of it.
Shaun
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 10:27 AMIn the video you said you didn’t know what the yellow port was – I think that is the power port (D/C – and +), the port you referred to as the power port looks likes Nintendo’s standard A/V Cable port for TV’s that don’t have HDMI. Controller prolly charges by usb port on the front.
josh
Thursday, June 9, 2011 at 10:39 AMim pretty sure that the yellow port is the power adapter socket.