As I’ve Googled through the E3 day, I keep hearing rumors of the Wii U
“controller” being only “1-per-console.” Meaning if multiplayer
utilizes the Wii U controller, then multiplayer will only be
asymmetrical, with one person holding the “tablet” and everyone else
holding Wii-motes, 5 players max. We’ve already seen an example of
this with the Mii Chase which had 4 people with Wii-motes and 1 person
with a tablet.
One reasoning behind this is that the Wii U controller itself apart
from the console will probably cost a chunk-ton of money. Do you
honestly think the pricing for it is in line with the now-$30 Wii
Remote Plus? It probably costs much more than that. Good reasoning to
keep it one Wii U controller, if you just look at it financially. Just
think for a moment that it’s $80 per controller (I have no idea what
it will cost, but this may not be a stretch what with all of the
techno-barnacles it boasts, near that of the 3DS), “Hey family of 4-6,
want to pay $320-$480 during a recession for controllers just so your
whole family can play at once? Oh, by the way, that does not include
the cost of the High Definition console.”
Also, I don’t think we have seen two tablet controllers being used at
once. I immediately thought of this demo, but then realized the other
two guys were using Wii-motes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8_noxQ4k6o
If this is true, that there’s only “1 tablet per system”, then that
changes my view of the system a little.
This is a theory. Whether it is true or not, I do not know, but it is
worth thinking about. If it is truly “1-tablet-per-system” this Wii U
is going to HAVE to rely, and thrive, on Wii-motes. If that is true,
then the system MUST stay in keeping with its integrity of the system
being about “Wii” or “We” (multi-player) instead of only “Me.”
Nintendo would be saying implicitly, “There is a new controller, but
it is more of a unique where one person uses it and the rest use
Wii-motes. We are not throwing away, or even merely half-committing to
the old controllers. This is how it makes the console unique aside
from graphics.” And that is why they threw in the new controller, so
they wouldn’t have to name it “Wii HD” or “Wii 2.”
Perhaps Nintendo is being keen to win over the “HD” Market while
actually paying decent (I didn’t say phenomenal) attention to the
“Wii” Market with Wii U. Perhaps not. It’s hard to tell right now, as
there seems to be no definite, real first-party games announced and
only 3rd party titles that don’t look too interesting. The software
will define the hardware.
I expect you’ll be able to buy extra controllers just to replace the one when Little Jonny drops it in the bathroom. What Nintendo is implying is that the controller comes with the system which means developers can develop the controller into all their Wii U games.
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