Nintendo unveils Wii U, with a touch-screen display

LOS ANGELES — Nintendo's new video game system, Wii U, aims for success by attracting hard-core video game fans, as well as the casual players who embraced the Wii.

Targeted to arrive in stores in 2012 between April and December, the Wii U sports a new wireless controller pad with a 6.2-inch touch-screen display that bridges the world of console video games and the current wave of portable and tablet-based games. No price was announced.

Video games will appear in high-definition — a first for a Nintendo device — and can be displayed simultaneously on the controller pad and the TV, with different points of view for each. Some games can be played solely on the controller display. However, the game is not a portable.

But will the new system, introduced Tuesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, be a game-changer for the industry?

• VIDEO: See the new Wii U at E3

• BLOG: Follow the E3 action at our Game Hunters blog

• PHOTOS: Gallery of images from E3 2011

At first glimpse, the Wii U is an evolutionary move, incorporating technology found in other devices, such as a touch-screen, motion control and HD graphics, says analyst Jesse Divnich of Electronic Entertainment Design and Research.

To be revolutionary, Nintendo's top-tier game designers must create video game experiences as yet unimagined, Divnich says. But he predicts it will be "a top-selling system" as Nintendo continues to go toe-to-toe with Microsoft and Sony for years to come.

Some game concepts shown for the Wii U suggest its potential, says Dan Hsu, co-founder of video game website Bitmob. "People saw what the controller was capable of, like watching it as a way to see where your golf ball is when you swing at it, or a device to throw ninja stars at trees."

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime described Wii U as "different from anything you have played before. It's infinitely complex, but perfectly simple."

The new wireless controller pad measures about 8 inches across and about a half-inch thick. It has a full complement of traditional video game controller options, including analog sticks, buttons, a directional pad and triggers.

But the controller also gives a nod to portable and tablet gaming trends with a built-in gyroscope and accelerometers for motion gaming. Where it goes beyond current systems is that the display can be used to explore game worlds in a 360-degree manner.

That will allow the creation of deeper game experiences "than even the most passionate gamers have played up until now," says Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. "It will let everyone see games in a different way."

One example involved the player using the controller display as a shield to block virtual rubber-tipped arrows fired by pirates from a ship shown on the TV screen. When the controller was swung 90 degrees to the left or right, additional ships were visible on the virtual horizon with incoming arrows to be blocked from those directions.

Electronic Arts President John Riccitiello called the controller "a stunning breakthrough in game technology."

EA, the nation's second-largest game publisher, plans to bring its games, such as Madden NFL and Tiger Woods PGA Tour golf, to the Wii U.

"Imagine playing football with an innovative new controller that takes all that (play-calling) data off the big screen, leaving you with a sharp, more personal, more immersive HD experience," said Riccitiello, who made the announcement on stage during Nintendo's event.

Although sales of the original Wii have slowed, the game system will remain in the marketplace even after its successor arrives next year. Consumers have purchased 86 million Wiis worldwide since the device launched in 2006. "The Wii will continue to have a very long, healthy life," said Fils-Aime.

Current Wii remotes and other devices will work with Wii U. "To weigh yourself with Wii Fit, there is no need to use the big-screen TV," Iwata said.

As for the Wii U's price, Fils-Aime said, "We are a company that stands for value, and we will make this available at a great consumer value."

The look and shape of the actual console wasn't revealed either, but Fils-Aime said that it will play games on proprietary discs that are the same size as current Wii game discs.

Controller has multiple uses

A video shown during Nintendo's E3 press event showed that the controller display could be used as a Web browser and for video chat .

Nintendo announced that a Super Smash Bros. game that can be played simultaneously on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS handheld is in development. Other developers announced that games such as Batman: Arkham City and Assassin's Creed that are played on — or headed for — the Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 are in the works for Wii U.

Wii U will have to prove it can attract hard-core gamers, says Scott Steinberg, founder of consulting firm TechSavvy Global. "It's clearly not (a) revolutionary step forward until developers wrap their heads and hands around the controller and the game-play possibilities it opens up."