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thismeintiel on 13 November 2011
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sethnintendo said:
thismeintiel said:

All the articles I have read only stated that an anonymous source stated Nintendo was hard at work to try and get 2 controllers working on one Wii U.  There has been no comfirmation from Nintendo, or 3rd party developers, that they have been able to do this.  If you wish, you can show me the article that proves they have done it.


You are right there isn't any official release of the information. 

 "A trusted game development executive has said there are numerous indications within the Wii U codebase that the console is, at the very least, being prepared to operate with two touch-screen pads.

 

The person said Nintendo appears to be on the cusp of solving the technical conundrum of a single Wii U device supporting two tablet controllers. The source added that there was no indication, and very little chance, that four tablet controllers would ever be supported."

 

While this is all hearsay right now, it probably is true.  Nintendo already knows they need to have at least two tablet controllers work on one Wii U.  I highly doubt they will release it supporting just one controller.  Supporting two sounds the most realistic.

See, I knew I was right. 

Seriously, though, I think Nintendo will eventually be able to pull it off.  I just hope, for their sake, they can do it without poor performance when 2 controllers are used or without them having to put it more exspensive HW.  It still sucks that it will probably be supporting 2 controllers at once.  Think about party games.  Smash Bros., for instance.  People are going to hate having to use the old Wii-motes, while 2 other players get to play with the tablet controller, which will probably have character stats and/or quick keys/taps for moves.  Just ruins the experience for the others. 

Which also brings me to a more important point.  Even though the Wii U tablet has four face buttons, Start and Select, and four shoulder buttons, a lot of games are going to be limited in button use so that those who have to use the Wii-mote will have a fair chance.  That means for games with multiplayer are going to either have to a) have very limited button use or b) limit gameplay to only 2 tablet controllers if Nintendo can get it working. 

To me, it seems Nintendo has done the same thing with the Wii U that they did with the 3DS.  And that is overestimate the draw of their "gimmick", 3D for the 3DS and the popularity of tablets for the Wii U, without fully figuring out how they are going to pull it off and/or make it work for gaming.