The TV is the top screen. The Game-pad is the touch capacities bottom screen. The Game-pad even packs the same freakishly long feature list as the Nintendo DS. It's got touch and stylus support, a camera, a microphone, a gyroscope and accelerometer… all the usual suspects.
But the Wii U also combines many of the best parts of the Wii - including Wii Remote support and the eShop.
But does all this make for a good console, or just a dust collector?
The Hardware
Nintendo has never been in the business of making the most powerful consoles, and the Wii U likely won't buck this trend.
The Wii U has 2GBs of DDR3 SDRAM, one is dedicated to the OS and system functions, while the other is dedicated to gaming.
The processor is an IBM Power multi-core processor, but its specificities and true power is still under wraps. Fortunately, the GPU isn't. It's a fully capable AMD Radeon-based High Definition GPU. Depending on which version you get, the system comes with 8GBs of storage or 32GBs of storage, both of which can be expanded via SD cards or external hard drives.
Unfortunately, without knowing just how many cores the processor has or what its clocked at, it's hard to tell just how powerful it is. But the power of the device is secondary to the new ways you can game with it.
The Wii U's appeal will rest in its first-party software and the novelty of the Wii U Game-pad.
While the Wii U has a fairly solid launch lineup, none of the current software is genre-defining, like Mario 64 or Halo (with the possible exception of Nintendo Land, maybe). That means early adopters will doubtless pin their hopes on the Game-pad, in much the same way Does it deliver?
Yes and no.
While the Game-pad is an exciting controller that offers all the features you want and then some, it comes with its caveats.
The Game-pad is light and ergonomic. It's only around 1.1 pounds, lighter than an iPad (1.4lbs), and it has comfortable ridges and grips. But it also feels a bit cheap. Shaking it audibly rattles the face buttons, and the triggers aren't analog, unable to gradually accelerate in driving games or fire faster or slower in shooters by holding them at various degrees.
The Game-pad's 6.2" display adds game-play mechanics we’d only seen in Nintendo handhelds, and still may also underwhelm tablet owners who are used to higher quality displays. Its resolution is only 158ppi - about the same resolution as the first iPhone - and doesn't support multi-touch. But the Game-pad is more than the sum of its parts - and each part is a new gaming possibility.
