E3: Wii U

The Wii U is upon us, at least in prototype form, so it was only natural that we'd want to get our hands on it. The new touchpad controller seems to be the heart of this year's reveal; apart from the HD graphics, Nintendo's conference spent surprisingly little time discussing the actual power of the system. It's no surprise then that all of the tech demos being shown by Nintendo lean heavily on the new controller.

Before we get to the actual experiences, none of the games we're talking about are really games in the commercial sense; they're just proof of concept demos meant to suggest what types of experiences we might see. So when I mention Mario or Zelda, it's just because the tech demos use familiar characters.

Battle Mii
This two-on-one fight puts one player in charge of a flying ship using the new controller and tasks him or her with battling it out with the other two players who are on foot and using the standard Wiimote and nunchuck controls. The left stick of the controller works just like the standard WASD controls of other shooters, but instead of using the right stick to control your view, you simply move the touchpad around to aim at your enemies. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you get the hang of using the right stick to control your altitude and give an added speed boost to your turns, you can really make your way around the complex level quite easily.

Legend of Zelda
The demo for the high definition capabilities featured our green hat hero Link in "realistic" high definition, you know, like we've always wanted to see him. The scene was our Twilight Princess design of Link in a sprawling castle, proceeded by a battle sequence with Gohma.
Using the Wii U remote, you could make the castle light or dark, sunlight to moonlight changed the environment drastically, dynamically altering the scene. You could also change the angle of the camera to one of several vantage points, giving you different insights as to how the battle plays out. The controller also displays the map and the potential inventory section, and gives you the option to switch the menu from the remote to the TV screen. The scene ended before the end of the battle, and I nearly stomped by foot like a two year old.
Okay, so those were the logistics. Here's the big thing. It looked amazing. The textures were crisp and clean, the reflection from the floor was dynamic and shifted in natural light. There were several little Navi-like fairies flying all around leaving sparking trails of fairy dust, all flickering independently. You could see each hair on Gohma's furry spider body. Nintendo. Please make this game for me.

Measure Up
This demo was essentially showing how the Wii U remote communicated with the system. I played Measure Up head-to-head with the Nintendo representative at the booth. We had to draw various measurements, and geometrical figures in either centimeters or inches. Not wanting to be judged even more harshly than necessary, I went with inches to make it easier for myself.

First, I was asked to draw a one inch line. Easy enough. Next was a triangle with 1 ½ inch sides. Okay, done. A 35 degree angle. Fine. Then, a squiggly line totaling 12 inches. Ummmmm....I got totally schooled by the representative who clearly has better perception than I. Drat. Everything we drew showed up on the screen exactly how I drew it on the remote. I'm going to go ahead and assume that the measurements were accurate, as I was always terrible at measurements. And drawing. And angles.

Super Mario Bros. Mii
Tech demo Super Mario Bros. Mii for the Wii U was simply a version of New Super Mario Bros. Wii with the main character's head replaced by a Mii head. It's a cute effect and gives things a personalized feel. I played the demo with the Wii U controller alone, but Wii Remotes were also attached to the demo to show the Wii U's multiple controller functionality (though it should be noted that only one Wii U controller was available).

There wasn't much new done with Super Mario Bros. Mii in terms of a Wii U product other than the fact that I could either play both as a handheld and on the TV screen. The Wii U certainly doesn't look like your typical controller, but it did feel comfortable using it to play the game on the TV. You can shake the Wii U pad to make your character spin-jump, but it felt a little unwieldy to perform a shake above just pressing a trigger.

The big deal for this demo was probably showing how players can turn off the TV and use the Wii U controller as its own mini-console if mother needs to watch her shows. I have to admit that while playing and looking down at the Wii U pad, I sometimes forgot there was a TV in front of me. It was a weird, but futuristic feeling to have this choice. The TV obviously looked better, as I didn't find the pad's screen to be super sharp at this point in time, but it is comfortable to play on should it be necessary. Considering the popularity of Super Mario Bros., I would expect Super Mario Bros. Mii or something like it to make its way out of tech demo status sometime during the Wii U's lifetime.