Since French site 01Net has proven itself somewhat reliable when it comes to Nintendo leaks of late, it’s worth going back and looking at some of its other reports on the company’s happenings over the past month. Like this one, that the Kyoto-based company is having problems getting the Wii U up and running. Big problems.
According to 01Net‘s report, the hardware powering the Wii U simply isn’t up to scratch to do what Nintendo needs it to: Namely, run not just the console, but beam data to its fancy touch-screen controller as well. Apparently developers working on the console are having to use “tethers” to ensure serviceable communication between the Wii U and its controller, but even then things still aren’t working that well, and progress is reportedly halted daily with repeated software updates for the pad.
The source spilling the beans — who, given the publication, sounds like it could be a European third-party developer — also says that these problems have caused a delay in the console’s launch, an original June 2012 release now being pushed back to sometime around September.
While there’s no way of proving this as of yet (we’ve contacted Nintendo for comment, by the way), if true, it certainly makes the Wii U sound “rushed”. Which would fit Nintendo’s pattern of late! I’ve always felt the 3DS was rushed (to meet a March deadline, thus brightening up Nintendo’s end-of-year fiscals), from its midnight announcement to its single thumbstick to its delayed services release.
If this report is correct, it shouldn’t surprise too many people that the Wii U has been put on a similar development fast-track, one aimed at getting a new home console to the market as quickly as possible to compensate for a sharp decline in Wii sales.
Then again, bear in mind, the report was also originally filed over two weeks ago, and things might have improved since then! Or it may not be true at all!
Nintendo, l’envers du décor : Wii U, un développement à problème [01net, via VG247]
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