When the original Wii was released the running joke was that its hardware was no better than two Gamecubes ducktaped together. Now, almost as if in homage to that once ubiquitous insult, Nintendo has released images of the prototype for the Wii U’s GamePad and, whaddya know, it’s a crude looking GamePad with two WiiMotes stuck to it using double sided tape! Nintendo you sly old dogs!
It’s part of one of the most fascinating Iwata Asks I can remember. Focusing on Nintendo Land, the discussion soon moves on to the idea of two screen gameplay as a concept and how it evolved. As expected from the ‘best thing on the Internet’, it’s really insightful stuff.
What’s interesting is that the GamePad and Nintendo Land were built in tandem, essentially built for each other. Most of Nintendo’s proper control advances have worked in this way. The N64 controller was designed from the ground up for Mario 64, same for the WiiMote and Wii Sports. It’s a cool process, and one I’m always excited to read about.
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