Nintendo at E3: Wii U, Pro Controller, 'Miiverse' online services, and new games

We've learned quite a bit about the Wii U over the past week — just check out our E3 StoryStream — but Kotaku did get a few more choice tidbits in an interview with Nintendo of America's outspoken president Reggie Fils-Aime. First and foremoest, while the touchscreen on the Wii U GamePad does support both finger and stylus input, it's not a multitouch screen like the one on your tablet phone, and Fils-Aime explained that while it does bring down the cost, it's mainly just a matter of the way you're expected to hold it. Here's an excerpt:

The Nintendo president also told Kotaku that the Wii U GamePad's quoted 3-5 hours of battery life is a "conservative" estimate, that system-level achievements are a go, that not all games will support the ability to play on the Wii U controller alone, that Nintendo doesn't currently intend to block used games with DRM, and that — despite appearances — the Wii U will still require some form of Friend Codes. Fils-Aime called it much simpler than the existing system that requires you to trade 16 digits with a friend before being able to link up. Find fuller answers at the Kotaku link below.

Nintendo's decision to put a 6.2-inch LCD touchscreen in its Wii U GamePad is one of the most creative gaming ideas we've seen since the original Wii Remote, but we’ve been wondering how often we’ll have to plug in the oversized controller to keep it charged. Well, according to a spec sheet on Nintendo’s Japanese site, the battery lasts three to five hours, depending on the screen’s brightness setting. That's a lot less time than the 20-plus hours we usually get from our PS3 controllers, but at least Nintendo isn't shipping a tablet controller with AA batteries. In order to restore the GamePad to full power you'll need to charge it for two and a half hours, which means you’ll have to stay tethered through those marathon Nintendo Land sessions.

Nintendo's Wii U Developer Discussion has been going on for quite some time, recapping much of NintendoLand and other announcements from this morning's press conference. But here's something interesting from the Q&A portion: asked if Wii owners will be able to transfer their downloaded Wii and Virtual Console games over to Wii U, a Nintendo producer answered rather positively: "we are readying the system to be able to transfer saves and everything you've bought."

It's a delicate situation, especially given the Wii's console-tied system for downloaded content — all purchases are non-transferable to other hardware, and with a broken / sold Wii, so goes your digital library. As for the logistics, Nintendo had nothing more to say and moved on to the next question — with no universal ID, we can't imagine it'll be an easy one.

Runner 2, Gaijin Games HD sequel to Bit. Trip Runner, will also be coming to the Wii U when it hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 later this year, the developers said today.

Bit.Trip Runner had players take control of Commander Video as they maneuver through the 2D platformer world.

Zen announces their popular pinball platform for Nintendo's 3D portable.

New trailer for Pokemon Conquest paints a picture of feudal lands packed with Pokemon

Nintendo released a new trailer for Pokemon Conquest this morning following the company's E3 press conference.

In Boost Play a player can tap the gamepad to drop platforms into the game. The platforms, players can drop up to four at a time, shrink away once a character lands on them. Double tapping the screen drops a smaller platform that spews out coins when a character lands on it.

The game can be also be played traditionally with the GamePad using either the TV or the GamePad's screen.

Nintendo Land is a virtual Nintendo theme park for your Mii, Nintendo reps told Polygon during a recent demo of the game.

The virtual theme park has a dozen attractions, each based on a particular Nintedo game.

At Nintendo's E3 press conference this morning, the company confirmed Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon for release on Nintendo 3DS this holiday season.

Luigi will journey through several new mansions, strategically capturing different types of ghosts along the way. The game has been rendered in 3D and will make use of the 3DS' motion technology.

At Nintendo's E3 press conference this morning, the company confirmed New Super Mario Bros. U for the company's upcoming Wii U console.

The game is similar to Super Mario Bros. Wii but features several additional mechanics. One player participates with the tablet controller while up to four other players use Wii motes. The player using the tablet can tap on the tablet's screen to create platforms for the other players to jump on. Once a platformer has been jumped on it begins to shrink away. The game can also be transferred between the television to the tablet controller.

During today's E3 keynote, Nintendo's Reggie Fils Aime announced four new partners that will be providing content to Wii U owners — Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and YouTube. The keynote was largely focused on games, but further details on these new partnerships are coming. "In the future, we'll show you how the Wii U will integrate and elevate entertainment in your living room," Fils Aime explained.

Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two announced for November release.

This morning Disney Interactive announced that Epic Mickey 2: Power of Two will be released on November 18 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

One of the biggest open questions in Nintendo's Wii U strategy has been its online component. The company has wasted no time in outlining some key aspects of its connected feature set in a pre-E3 presentation. In the (painfully-over-the-top cheesy) video demonstration, after dying in a nondescript Wii U survival horror game, the player selects his mood on the Gamepad and sends out a message to a forum generally commenting and asking for advice on beat a level. His friend sees the cry for help via his smartphone, in what we're assuming is a web-based client. (If anyone saw the Super Guide feature in New Super Mario Bros Wii, this looks vaguely familiar.) It's worth noting that he never seems to fully leaves the game, re-entering at the very same moment he paused.

The demo then cuts to the player actually calling up another forum member to video chat for advice. It's hard to tell if the forum member is already a friend of the player or a complete stranger; we assume the former, but if it is a stranger, this would mark a big change from Nintendo's high-security, more privacy-focused "Mii Friend Code" system for the Wii. We also question the convenience of this how-to system in-game over, say, using your nearby laptop or smartphone.

Nintendo has announced at its pre-E3 conference that it will offer a more traditional controller for the upcoming Wii U. Unlike the just-announced (and updated) Wii U Gamepad, the Pro Controller should be quite a bit more suited for more... traditional gaming. At first it looks like the child of a Xbox 360 controller and the Wii's Classic Controller Pro, and while it might not be terribly original, we're sure that many will prefer it over the basic ergonomics offered by the Classic controller. Nintendo didn't offer any availability info on the new controller, but it's pretty clear that it'll be an optional extra.