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Nintendo releases Wii U details pre-E3

Nintendo jumped the gun on the E3 festivities with an online presentation spilling some new Wii U details and images of the console in action. The biggest among those announcements was that of “Miiverse”, a social network linking you with friends, family and many more Wii U gamers. Miiverse connects players with video calls and messaging in various forums. Mr Iwata went on to say that while it won’t be possible at launch, the Miiverse will eventually be accessible from any 3DS, PC and internet-enabled mobile device.

Contrary to recent rumours, it seems the Wii U name is here to stay. The final design of the Wii U Gamepad has also been shown. Since last year’s E3, the pad has gained some joysticks, an NFC card reader/writer and some more hand-friendly shaping. The new joysticks on the Gamepad are also “clickable”, acting like the L3 and R3 buttons we’re used to. For more traditional gaming, a more standard gamepad has been unveiled, looking not unlike the lovechild of a PS3 and 360 pad. Other little tidbits spotted include a decent drawing of Link, a New Super Mario Bros game, and a black console/gamepad set.

The platform certainly seems to have potential, and it seems Nintendo have already responded to early criticism. Hopefully, there will be more to come at its E3 conference this week.