Nintendo almost dropped Wii U GamePad

Wii U without the GamePad... That just wouldn't seem very Nintendo at all... They always need to take some "abstract" approach to consoles in order to make them unique. It's sad that 3rd parties were scared away (looking at you Wii), but hopefully Nintendo lands it on the mark this time

@MrBlutzIII

It can be used as an inventory screen, or a way to add extra buttons to the controller. Or it can be used as an additional screen, to show areas in the game relative to the player that aren't visible on the main screen. Or it can be used without the TV at all, allowing players to play games on the console without using the TV. I probably wouldn't be interested in the Wii U at all if they had scrapped the controller.

The thing that worries me about the Wii U is not the hardware or the first-party games. It's the third-party games. I'm not convinced that developers will make the effort to provide unique and rewarding gaming experiences. Nintendo needs to go out of their way to assist and attract developers with unique and interesting ideas.

I almost dropped a brick in my pants.

"Most people only have two hands" haha, most people!

Reaaly can people not see what this is really its a giant ds

aka TV = top screen on the ds

aka wii pad = bottom touch screen on the ds

so people what were looking at is a high performance home ds console

Smart glass is really a gimmick and a stupid one since you doesnt need for anything since is just third controller with a screen and NONE buttons.

I would prefer the 4:3 3DS LL to match the VITa (I have both), to come out than Wii U, the E3 was horrible, total deception.

The excitement wasn't communicated, Iwata, because it wasn't there! It's not like the people were holding back tears of joy over your Wii 1.5.

@Rovelius Shortly after the Wii U was announced, they hinted that it might only support 1 controller, but they didn't have the specs finalized back then. They've more recently confirmed that it'll support 2 tablet controllers at once; a game's framerate will be cut in half if you do it, though.

If they're selling it up to 350 dollars then I'm still good

When they say they almost tossed the idea, that's probably talking early in the development process. I'm guessing a lot of the cost is in the touch screen, but they observed that touch screens are becoming much cheaper and will continue to (especially non-multitouch).

If this idea was tossed aside, what would Nintendo do about the WiiU Edge?

"I dont know Goku, I got a bad feeling about all this" (Krillin voice)

But I still want WiiU

I thought the same thing everone has been posting. Then i got to thinking about a ps vita demo with the ps3. they were doing the the same thing with games as the wii u gamepad. but the one thing that sticks in my mind is that if i was to get one, that i could play more games. for of us gamers that dont still live at at mommy and/or daddy's, we generally have kids or or a girlfriend that ties up the tv. for all all real world, secert teen , and reallity bulls--t i have to live with. maybe that screen and support for 2nd gamepad maybe me and my children have a chance to play some mario, zombie u, zelda in hd with some headphones and save us some from the girlfriends tv show misery. and the fact sony wanting to copy it. It might just rock. you dont buy nintendo for parties. its all their ip's you buy the for. So i just waiting to dog it for now. but its nintendo so in my house, its still a buy.

When the president himself doubts the product, you know its a piece of ****

..."and so we dropped multi touch capabilities to bring you a cheaped out screen at a decent price."

Then Nintendo realized that idea was too smart.

Nintendo love to do sh!t ass backwards.

"Nintendo almost dropped Wii U GamePad". Don't worry, owners will probably drop it often enough to make up for it. Hope its shock-proof.

I have no interest in this.. but interested to see what kind of games they make for it.

And they should have. The Wii-U is going to be a piece of crap.

@MrBlutzIII Nintendo said GamePads would be limited to 1 by console tho

I am glad they did not scrap. Sometimes it is good to take risk and modify your first plans. I would not give up so easily. Now if it were a problem, then I would not mind if they did scrap it. But I am glad they did not give up because I like it better than traditional controllers.

That gamepad is awfully complicated, and durability is a concern... maybe it's best if they just scrap the idea.

They should have. Fucking oversized Game Gear controller.

so how durable the gamepad is? i've dropped my psp several times (and my phone and everything possible :D) and its still working fine, so i can expect this can take some beating too? but i'd like to know how many %'s of the wii u's price goes to the controller?

Had they dropped the pad, or made the screen smaller, they would have been able to launch with a ridiculous price. I hope the risk pays off.

"Most of us just have two arms"

I dispute this. Iwata is being racist towards cyborgs and human centipedes.

I think the Wii U will be $350 - $400. If they released it at $299, they will be losing some serious dollars for the first 12-18 months. The tablet controller alone probably costs $100-$150 to manufacture by itself. Nintendo could sell it separately, but it's really one of the main reasons to own a Wii U, so I doubt they will do that.