geekosystem

A new era of video game consoles kicked off at midnight with the launch of the Nintendo's dual-screen wielding platform, the Wii U. Whether you've already run to the store and picked one up, or still aren't sure whether you see a new Nintendo console in your future, you probably have a lot of questions about it: "What exactly can this thing do?" "What games should I buy?" "Do I really need to download that day-one patch?"

Coming to you from the seventh floor of Nintendo's Kyoto HQ is president Satoru Iwata and a pre-E3 presentation on the forthcoming Wii U. In an interesting move, Nintendo has released a 30 minute video about the controversial console's online elements and the control scheme for the new device. Prominently featured is the newly named Wii U GamePad with its enormous touchscreen and a very Xbox-like Pro Controller, and a somewhat bewildering look at what Nintendo thinks gaming on the Wi iU will be like.

One of the things that has really been holding back iOS devices from being legitimate gaming platforms is the lack of a comfortable control interface. Sure, touchscreens have worked for gaming in the past, most memorably in the Nintendo DS, but you also have to remember that was in a context were there were also tactile buttons. Plenty of iOS games emulate joysticks on screen, but that takes up visual space and provides no feedback. This is a pretty serious problem, but it looks like 60beat is striving for a solution.