if there is no processor then how is input and output handled? and the conversion of sound, video etc to radio waves?

By processor I meant CPU.

There is (likely) an embedded digital controller that interfaces with the Blue-Tooth/Wifi components and converts the incoming data into visual/auditory/vibration output, and takes button-presses/touch-screen input and converts it to an outgoing signal to be interpreted by the Wii U system, but this would be a highly specialized processor and much simpler/less-expensive than the CPU that is currently in the Nintendo DS.

I haven't got a clue what controller Nintendo would be using, but almost a decade ago there were DSPs that could handle this that were being sold for a couple dollars a piece.

This is not the right move for Nintendo... but I'll be buying one anyway... just as I bought a PS3 at $599 (yes, yes... I know). When that happens depends only on when the games I'm looking for appear (SSB, Zelda).

I cannot believe that Nintendo would attempt this after the 3DS and the rough start of the PS3. Granted, if WiiU is $300 or MAYBE even $350, then I am totally wrong... but the postureing doesn't seem to indicate that price point.

Also, I agree with those who are chiding Nintendo for believing that Wii will still sell as the "value line" under the WiiU. It will still sell, but only insofar as the PS2 continued to sell after the PS3 was released... and probably worse because the game library looks to be cut off swiftly.

I predict dark times ahead.

i have bought a cheap $60 tablet to see how good they are. Durability was the last thing on their mind.

When you press the screen not only does it bend in it isn't responsive half the time unless you hold down for a little bit to register your touch.

The case plastic also bends in and stays bent in haha.

But would it have had a capacitive touchscreen?

The U Pad is going to be hard to compare to anything on the market, at least from a components perspective

1. Tech doesn't necessarily work that way, thanks to things like Moore's Law. Lots of game systems were able to launch in the same $200-$300 range from the early 1980s to now.

2. What? You really think the Wii was just a GC? You mean you think the specs and components were the same? People actually took apart the system at launch and confirmed that the parts are different.

3. I didn't claim the motion tech was expensive. That is why the Plus took a few years for its costs to go down.

4. More powerful than a system launched 5 years ago is not that much. The PS3 itself dropped in price a hell of a lot since launch. As for the streaming, that requires showing the transmitter would be expensive, in which case it would be too much for the mass market at the moment anyway.

5. That's still assuming it even sells that low. But it's still $100 more than the Wii, and that came with a game bundled. In Japan, the Wii launched at the same price as the GC, N64, and SuperFam (not sure about the Famicom though).

6. I hope you mean the games, and not the tech. The former is most certainly why they did better.

7. I didn't claim that low price equals good sales. It needs to be paired with good games. I'm stating that too high a price will hurt good sales, even if the games are good.

8. Why do people need that to care about this? And I don't mean in terms of fanboyishness. You're acting as though Nintendo's finances exist in a vacuum, or is somehow disconnected to their ability to make products.

9. Nintendo makes games we like isn't enough? You think being concerned about them not ruining themselves isn't related to this?

10. NOBODY HERE IS CLAIMING THAT NINTENDO DOES ANYTHING OF THE SORT. Sorry for the allcaps, but that is such a bullshit strawman claim. And it shows you're priorities are skewed, as you are claiming concern should only be given for those who can give you something you personally need. The world doesn't stop existing outside of one's needs.

11. No, the worse case scenario is they don't stop shooting themselves until they go bankrupt. Now it's more likely they will have problems and have to turn around, but we'd like for Nintendo to stop doing that stupid cycle.

12. How is making a flagship product, that costs more money than other iterations of that product, showing respect to customers? It's the content of the product that shows respect, not how flashy and pricey the tech is. And a large touchscreen controller is flashy.

13. If they suddenly jacked up their prices without any actual improvements to the product beyond the norm and inflation, that would be what Nintendo is doing.

And last I checked, Nintendo was NOT in that league. They are Levis and Honda.

If the Wii U is capabable of handling graphics,textures and phisics with destructible inviroments, explosives, particles effects with over 24+ players and air attacks at once while keeping 60fps @ 1080p ..  or and if I can count every string of Marios mustche, I'm all in.

Than it will be a long term buy for me.  $600 x 10 years= great buy.

I'm reading this thread on my blackberry playbook which cost $200. It's awesome.

I'm willing to bet that you're 90% correct - the spirit of what you're saying is spot-on, but the actual figures may be slightly off.