Reporting by Adam Rosenberg
There was some confusion at the Nintendo press conference at E3 2011 over the Wii U. Is it an extension of the existing Wii? A totally new console? EA boss John Riccitiello offered some clarification later in the presentation when he actually used the words "new console," but Ubisoft was the focus of Nintendo's third-party roundtable, which revolved entirely around the 2012 console and its tablet controller.
The session kicked off with a few words of praise for the French publisher from Nintendo prez Satoru Iwata, who was eventually joined onstage by Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot. We soon after learned that Ubisoft currently has five Wii U titles in development: Ghost Recon Online, Killer Freaks from Outer Space, an unspecified Assassin's Creed game, a Raving Rabbids game a fifth mystery title.
Ghost Recon and Killer Freaks are the furthest along, as they were showcased with actual gameplay demos during the session. Rabbids was completely absent, but Assassin's Creed got a quick little presentation running through some of the possibilities for a Wii U-powered entry in the series.
The console tech wasn't discussed in great detail -- in fact, a Ubi rep revealed that even the dev kits continue to evolve even now -- but the multi-core architecture and high memory capacity will be powerful enough to support the same level of visual flair we've become used to with PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 releases. It's fair to guess that the AC details given durign the session were light because the Wii U release will be whatever follows this year's Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
As far as Wii U-specific features fans can expect to see worked into the game, it's all in the planning stages at this point. Several obvious touchstones have been discussed however, including a persistent on-tablet map, an interactive database of historical and in-game information, fast weapon selection, tactile puzzle solving and some sort of integration with the game's Eagle Vision mode. That doesn't mean that all of these features will be packed onto the Wii U's controller, or that the list of possibilities won't grow longer, but this is where the development team is at right now.
Which leaves a great, big elephant in the room that Ubisoft is reluctant to talk about at this point: the unannounced fifth Wii U title. Given the unique features of the console's controller, Beyond Good & Evil 2 seems like a very likely bet. That game has been "in the works" for some time now, but only a scant few details have been revealed.
It was made clear at the roundtable that Ubi has a lead on other developers in the time that's been spent with the Wii U hardware... so maybe that early access accounts for BG&E2 practically disappearing from all discussions of upcoming releases. This is all speculation of course, but the facts are pretty compelling. In any event, the Wii U controller and its camera would be a perfect complement to the long-awaited sequel, so it's a safe bet that a release for Nintendo's shiny, new toy will happen at some point.
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Muaddib101
I just don't see what the big deal was about the original Wii. The motion control, in my experience, worked like a 2 ton bull in a china shop. I constantly finding myself wishing for a normal control scheme with any game that I played. And this is technology that Nintendo has been working on since the freakin Power Glove. And then all they want to do is show tech demos of what they would like for this thing to do. I feel like Nintendo started to abandon hardcore gamers a long time ago, and completed it with the Wii. Ever since the first Mortal Kombat where they decided to put on the kid gloves and take out the blood, Nintendo has been pissing me off. At this point, I don't know if there is anything they can do to get me back, so I may just be a jaded consumer ranting at this point. This is also not the first time they have played the 'look at how great our tech is' game, and not delivered on what they have promised and completely blown their timeline. Ask Sega about that. The Nintendo 64 was delayed and delayed and delayed, while the Sega Saturns sat collecting dust, because no one wanted to spend the money on a Sega Saturn when the Nintendo 64 was just around the corner (a year and a half later!). And when it did come out, IT SUCKED!
sonicwind510
I hope the 3rd parties don't change games like darksiders or street fighter and make them use miis, u know... making them look like they humorously tryna have hardcore gamers play games with no blood and making them "special" back to a family household they go losing more in the stock market and customers that are hardcore that considered the wii u... and here comes the garbageware
deadevilmonkey
Are they serious about the controller? How long will you be able to play before it goes dead if it has to constantly communicate with the console for video feed, stay lit up, and be a controller? it would have to have a huge battery for hardcore players or anyone who plays more than an hour or two at a time. I'll stick with normal controllers and large tvs.
terance93
wii u will most likely be a amazing console. its bringing most of the games we all remember as kids into a upgraded time. and the third party games will most likey be amazing as well. looking forward to saving my money for it
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