Nintendo’s reveal of the Wii U at this year’s E3 left many observers, myself included, with one big head-scratcher of a question: Just one tablet screen? Really?
All of the game experiences and proof-of-concept demos offered by Nintendo at E3 either used a single controller screen or a combo of controller screen and the Wii remote. But, with all the design possibilities offered by the streaming screen tech of the Wii U, why not just blow it the in-development console to support more than one screen? The company execs on hand said the Wii technically could support more than one screen controller but the decision to bind only one to the Wii U base unit was a cost issue and that Nintendo didn’t wat to force consumers to buy another costly controller.
But a new piece by Develop’s Rob Crossley cites sources that the technical problems of multi-screen content are being tackled:
“Nintendo now know they absolutely need to support two tablets,” the source said.
“At E3 they didn’t commit to this, but they know how important it is to make it technically feasible to support two screens. Even if that affects framerate, as a developer and player, I don’t care. It needs to work. Developers will design appropriate games for this. If you’re building a quiz game you’re not going to give a shit about the framerate.”
Multi-screen support deals with what I’ve called the “sibling problem.” Any parent with more than one kid who comes home with a Wii U after launch will have to make sure that every child gets time with the magic touchscreen. Games and technical support that allows for more than one touchscreen might make the console a more attractive option for family households.
Nintendo ‘working on Wii U support for two tablets’ [Develop]
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