Nintendo Everything

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.

Third-party Wii U developers have made it clear that Nintendo has been fielding feedback on the console. Better than this, though, is that the Big N actually seemed to listen.

Gearbox Software art director Brian Cozzens told Nintendo Gamer that he feels “we’ll see some cool stuff that we’ve had some influence over.”

Cozzens also believes that “the final controller specs are going to be awesome.”

He said:

“We were early in seeing what was happening with the Wii U and we’ve been able to give some feedback. They’ve listened, and I think we’ll see some cool stuff that we’ve had some influence over. I think the final controller specs are going to be awesome.”

Thanks to joclo for the tip.

01./00. [PS3] Dragons Dogma (Capcom) {2012.05.24} (¥7.990) – 302.040 / NEW <86,53%>
02./00. [3DS] Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo) {2012.05.24} (¥4.800) – 101.645 / NEW <51,19%>
03./00. [PSP] Uta no Prince-Sama: Debut # (Broccoli) {2012.05.24} (¥6.090) – 61.376 / NEW
04./00. [360] Dragons Dogma (Capcom) {2012.05.24} (¥7.990) – 29.024 / NEW <86,56%>
05./02. [WII] Mario Party 9 (Nintendo) {2012.04.26} (¥5.800) – 20.820 / 380.763 (-17%)
06./00. [PS3] The Idolmaster: Gravure For You! Vol.8 (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.05.24} (¥9.980) – 16.670 / NEW
07./04. [3DS] Fire Emblem: Awakening (Nintendo) {2012.04.19} (¥4.800) – 14.642 / 391.345 (-2%)
08./00. [PSP] Jyuzaengi: Engetsu Sangokuden # (Idea Factory) {2012.05.24} (¥6.090) – 11.627 / NEW
09./00. [360] Monster Hunter Frontier Online: Forward .4 Premium Package # (Capcom) {2012.05.23} (¥6.090) – 9.893 / NEW
10./06. [3DS] Super Mario 3D Land # (Nintendo) {2011.11.03} (¥4.800) – 9.858 / 1.595.096 (-6%)
11./00. [3DS] G1 Grand Prix (Genki) {2012.05.24} (¥6.080) – 9.821 / NEW
12./00. [PS3] Steins;Gate: Double Pack (5pb.) {2012.05.24} (¥14.000) – 9.223 / NEW
13./08. [3DS] Monster Hunter 3G # (Capcom) {2011.12.10} (¥5.800) – 7.849 / 1.458.658 (-6%)
14./07. [3DS] Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo) {2011.12.01} (¥4.800) – 7.648 / 1.720.566 (-11%)
15./01. [PSP] My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute Portable Can’t Be Continuing # (Bandai Namco Games) {2012.05.17} (¥6.280) – 6.753 / 59.929 (-87%)
16./00. [PSP] Elminage Gothic: Ulm Zakir to Yami no Gishiki (Starfish SD) {2012.05.24} (¥6.090) – 6.169 / NEW
17./00. [PSV] Samurai & Dragons (Sega) {2012.05.24} (¥3.990) – 6.072 / NEW
18./00. [PS3] Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling (5pb.) {2012.05.24} (¥6.090) – 5.397 / NEW
19./00. [360] Mushihimesama # (Cave) {2012.05.24} (¥7.140) – 5.135 / NEW
20./03. [PSP] Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (Atlus) {2012.05.17} (¥6.279) – 4.885 / 29.431 (-80%)

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That odd Wii U phone call we mentioned last night may not have come from Nintendo. Rather, the source appears to be from Bloober Team, who are teasing a new game titled “Medium”.

It sounds like the actual text from the phone call could have been “Do you know about Medium? If not, you will.”

Medium is in the works for Wii U, PlayStation 3, Vita, Xbox 360, PC, Android, and iOS. It’s described as a “completely new model of gameplay”. I assume we’ll be hearing about the title at E3.

A teaser site for Medium can be found here. In addition, a couple of art pieces have been attached above.

Source 1, Source 2, Via