Wii U: Why it'll be a genuine game-changer

[HappySqurriel]

lilbroex said:

HappySqurriel said:
In an odd way, I would say that the Wii U merges the gameplay opportunities of the XBox 360/PS3, Wii, DS/3DS, and Phone/Tablet into one device; and companies that are interested should be able to find gameplay mechanics from one of these devices that will enhance the gameplay in whatever game they're developing.

No aspect of the Phone/Tablet will be used. The Upad is not a tablet. It is no closer to being one than the NDS. People keep insisting on calling it that when it is just a controller with a touch screen. It has no phone or tablet functionality.

I think you're being a little too technical and taking it a little too literally ... Almost all Phone/Tablet games could be made using a single-touch screen, or their gameplay could be adequately emulated using a single-touch screen.

It doesn't really matter though ...

My point was just that developers are less restricted in what they can do with the Wii U tablet than they were with a conventional controller, and can therefore introduce gameplay mechanics that are new to console gaming. While most phone/tablet games are too simple to base a "core" videogame on, they can often match up quite nicely to the puzzles and mini-games that are often in "core" games.

It may not be #1 on everyone's list for ways to improve games but, if you could produce 4 times as many mini-games and puzzles each with 4 times the range of difficulty, the introduction of new gameplay mechanics could really enhance "core" games. Imagine if in Mass Effect there was a different kind of hacking puzzle based on which type of device you were trying to hack, and each one of these puzzles got progressively more challenging throughout the game, wouldn't it feel like the puzzles were there for more than to simply slow you down?