Nintendo has announced “Miiverse” for Wii U, which will allow console owners to connect together. It’s a network communication system for the console. It can be activated at any time during the game without needing to terminate play.

The power of Miiverse can give players an inside look into their friends’ activity, even if you don’t share the same games. It’s possible to make notes for others, and you can add facial expressions to you Mii.

Miiverse will be available on Wii U at launch. The functionality will also be available on the 3DS, PC, and web-enabled mobile devices.

Nintendo has just shown off a new controller for Wii U that will draw comparisons to the Classic Controller. Titled the Wii U Pro controller, it’s more comparable to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 setups and allow for more traditional play.

President Satoru Iwata shared new information about the Wii U’s controller, now known as the Wii U GamePad, while speaking during the Nintendo Direct broadcast today.

The new information is as follows:

– Control pads are pushable
– Button layout and back of the GamePad
– Previously unknown square on the GamePad is for NFC reading/writing
– Can be used as a TV remote

Nintendo has given the Wii U controller an actual name. Some fans have been calling it a tablet, others have been calling it other things entirely.

According to president Satoru Iwata, however, the controller will now be known as the “Wii U GamePad”.

It seems that this broadcast will be about a half-hour long, which is more or less in line with previous Nintendo Directs.

And hour remains!

We’re just a couple of hours away from the latest Nintendo Direct presentation. The pre-recorded broadcast will feature information from Satoru Iwata, who will reveal new information about the Wii U.

There won’t be any games shown until Tuesday, so keep those expectations in check! Should be well worth your time in any case.

We’ll post a live-stream here assuming there is one that’s embed-able. Remember: it’s at 6:00 PM EDT / 3:00 PM PDT.

Nintendo’s Facebook pages have provided a tiny bit of extra information about today’s Nintendo Direct. Just in case there was any remaining doubt – no, there won’t be any Wii U games shown during the broadcast.

The Nintendo Facebook account posted the following a short while ago:

“Today’s the day! We’re bringing you a video about how the Wii U changes how you play, during our Nintendo Direct live-stream at 3pm PT/6 pm ET. No Wii U game info until Tuesday’s presentation.”

The Wii U Facebook account then posted the following:

“Learn more about the Wii U console! Click on the link to watch our Nintendo Direct live-stream later today and see what Wii U can do. No Wii U game info until Tuesday’s presentation.”

Even though there won’t be any games, the Nintendo Direct presentation should still be very interesting.

Thanks to Hery E for the tip.

Videos

Nintendo Update 5/31
Order Up!! Trailer
99Seconds Trailer
Kakuro by Nikoli Trailer

So… is “Nintendo Update” the replacement for Nintendo Week? It’s kind of like the Nintendo Show 3D, but they’ll be shown monthly  – go check it out on the Nintendo Channel.