Nintendo’s brand-new games console, unveiled at the E3 gaming conference, is called the Wii U. It’s a souped-up, HD-capable version of the Wii with a peculiar new tablet-style controller you grip with both hands. While we’ve not yet had the benefit of a hands-on with the Wii U system, we’ve collected all the specs and information here for your perusal, so read on for all the facts, and our first thoughts.

There’s no pricing information or a precise release date for the Wii U yet, but it’ll be launching at some point between April and December 2012.

Wii and U always

Here’s how it works. There’s a brand new console that very much resembles the current Wii — a small, white, rounded box that’ll fit snugly under your TV. Unlike the current Wii, it’s capable of outputting video in full HD (1080p) via HDMI, so the Wii U could — judging by some of the demos on show — offer games as visually impressive as those on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The new console stores everything on internal flash memory, which you can boost using an SD card, or a USB stick. It plays proprietary optical discs (so no Blu-ray), and is backward compatible with Wii games, so your collection of Wii titles won’t become obsolete. All existing Wii controllers (including the Wii Balance Board) will play nicely with the Wii U too.

There’s still much that’s still to be announced about the console itself. We suspect Nintendo will make some design revisions before unveiling it fully, and we’ll have to wait for the nitty gritty like processor speeds and graphical grunt.

The real star of the show, however, is the new wireless controller.

The console communicates wirelessly with this all-new gizmo, which looks a little like a white, plastic, chunky iPad. A squat rectangle, it has a 6.2-inch, 16:9 touchscreen in the centre, and is surrounded by a mass of buttons. There’s a front-facing camera stuck on the top for video calls.

Like the 3DS, the controller also comes with a stylus, which you will almost certainly lose. Happily though it doesn’t look like it’s required, and tapping the touchscreen with your fingers will likely do the job just as well.

On the left you’ll find a circle pad analogue stick, which looks just like the one on the 3DS. There’s a classic Nintendo D-pad underneath that, while over on the right there’s a secondary circle pad, four face buttons, two shoulder bumpers and two trigger buttons too. It’s got rumble capability, and inside there’s a gyroscope and accelerometer for motion-controlled gaming.

Playing both sides

In short, while it’s accessible to those who aren’t familiar with complicated gaming controllers (thanks to the touchscreen and motion controls), the Wii U should feel comfortable to gamers who are used to the button-heavy Xbox 360 and PS3 controllers. Indeed, the button layout precisely resembles that of those rival consoles.

Nintendo is clearly hoping to recapture the hardcore market that to some extent jumped ship when the Wii’s rivals outstripped it in terms of processing power and controller complexity. We can’t predict whether this gambit will succeed, but Nintendo is certainly keen to get other games developers on board.

The E3 conference showed heavyweight gaming series such as Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon, Ninja Gaiden, Tekken and Battlefield all heading to the Wii U platform, so there’s every chance this console will find traction among the hardcore audience. HD graphics means it should have the same games that are common to Microsoft and Sony’s consoles — at least until they launch new machines.

Two screens are better than one

Because the controller communicates wirelessly with the console, there are some exciting possibilities for gaming across two separate screens. For instance, you can turn off your big telly, and keep playing the game on the 6.2-inch screen while your unforgiving siblings or significant other watches their own programmes. You only have to be in wireless range of the console, so you could use it in bed, for example.

Nintendo showed off some very cool motion-control tricks that are possible with the controller. For instance, holding it up in front of the TV and using the touchscreen to swipe at virtual blades, aiming them carefully at objects on the larger screen, or placing it on the floor with the touchscreen displaying a golf tee, and using a separate controller to swing a virtual club.

We also saw a Web browser that appeared to work on the controller’s touchscreen, both independently of the TV image and in conjunction with the larger picture.

For most games we expect the controller’s touchscreen will be used to display extra information — stats, items and so on. Similarly, this is what the lower screen on the 3DS is most commonly used for. There doesn’t seem to be much actual processing tech in the controller, so you won’t be able to use it out and about as a handheld console — it just displays visuals that are wirelessly transmitted from the console.

Outlook

We’d heard whispers that Nintendo would be aiming to appeal to the hardcore market while still retaining its mass of casual gaming fans, and we were totally flummoxed as to how it could achieve this.

But the Wii U offers HD gaming and a suitably complex controller for the dedicated crowd, while backwards compatibility with older Wii games and motion control will doubtless satisfy casual gamers. And on top of that, it looks completely nuts. We’d expect nothing less from Nintendo, and we’re excited to see more of the Wii U in the coming months. Stay tuned.

Edited by Nick Hide