Nintendo Wii U

[k0pp0]

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...red-in-patent/

Controller has:

-Microphone
-Speaker
-Small flash memory
-Lithium battery
-Calibrating Magnetometer

Did anyone else read that as Small Fish?

[egparadigm]

Is this screen capacitive?

Pretty sure I remember it not being. Wouldn't work with a stylus if it was, would it?

[Brad]

It'd need a special stylus but it could work yeah. I bet it isn't though in which case it's going to seem like a really crap, last gen tablet that no one will use. Holy crap, some of these major companies have really crap ideas don't they? How do they ever make it through to production? If I handed my wife a 'touch' screen that she had to press down on she'd smack me in the face with it, and she'd be right to do so.

[Tig]

I would be stunned if Nintendo used a capacitive screen. We all know Nintendo doesn't use expensive components, and a screen like that would be pricey.



Unfortunately this does not change the fact that resistive screens are pants in comparison. Le sigh.

[cavalcade]

The target market won't care if it's multi touch and capacitive. It's a good move from Nintendo. They need to pitch it at an aggressive price, and a capacitive screen is an obvious thing to drop.

[Decider-VT]

Not really. People are used to capacitive screens now, so many of their target market would see a resistive screen as a bit of a step backwards. A stylus is a barrier between user and device/interface that few would be willing to go back to after hours of noodling on their iPads, etc. Nintendo must have quite a war chest built up by now, so it could make sense in the long-term to dip into their savings or take a short-term hit on the hardware until component prices stabilise and the console becomes profitable. Launching the Wii U with a resistive touch screen makes the interface look old hat now, so imagine what public perception of the console will be like in five years.

[dataDave]

I'm really not arsed about a capacitive screen. Sure, it feels more lux, but for the most part the screen will only be used for selecting stuff and I can't say the screen being capacitive will improve gameplay.

Actually, on second thoughts multi-touch could be good for a lot of things, like casting spells, explosions, or nets over a diameter.

I dunno, I had a lot of bright ideas when the Wii was first announced, but none were realised because third parties spend most of their time playing Soggy Biscuits.

[Pikate]

OR more likely, fleece all the fanboys/tech-heads who are going to buy it regardless with the cheap-o late-1990's V-tech touch screen technology then in two years pop out a Wii-U Controller-S with a iPad style touchscreen to cash in on you touchscreen connoisseurs and make everyone who already has a Wii-U one buy a newer touchscreen controller (a la in-built MotionPlus remotes).

[dataDave]

I dunno, I see no benefit in upgrading to a capacitive screen if innovations for multi-touch aren't implemented in the first place.

[Decider-VT]

The Nintendo fanboys will be out in force, but I think that their recent hardware record has taught a lot of previous "day one" people to be a bit more circumspect before investing. All the more reason to encourage early adopters, IMO. If they play it safe too often they run the risk of attracting little more than consumer indifference.

[Flabio]

Multi-touch will require them to licence Apple's patents, for one.

[Golgo]

^ say what, Apple have patented multi-touch?!

[dataDave]

If my SE phone, and my GF's Wacom, both have multi-touch I don't see why Nintendo wouldn't bother.

[Guts]

Erm, what's "capacitive screen"?

[Brad]

You know the old screens where you had a stylus and you had to actually press down on the screen and you could see the screen move? Well that's a resistive screen. An iPhone/iPad screen is capacitive whereby you only have to touch the screen and usually the screen can detect you touching in more than one spot. Nintendo really ought to put a capacitive screen on the Wii U but I do wonder if they will.