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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Wii U as a Tablet

Conina on 17 July 2014
robzo100 said:

The point of this thread is to ask how "far" is the Wii U from being a tablet.  And should Nintendo take it in that direction (considering the device is failing as gaming device right now).  Looking at my other posts you can ask yourself whether the tablet market has really innovated at all since it's first conception.

If the answer is "no" then that means technological advancements (speed, pixels, etc.) in tablet computing will generate diminishing returns (thinkg graphics) and allow specialized tablet devices (like Kindle or Wii U) to play catch up.  Unless tablets will go in a new direction (I say no unless the new Apple pulls something from leftfield) then the door is open for the Wii U gamepad to eventually harbor all the basic essentials of modern tablets while still being a dedicated gaming device as it is.

The Wii U tablet controller in it's actual form can't catch up, it can't "harbor all the basic essentials of modern tablets"... it can't even harbor all the basic essentials of 2010 tablet (iPad1).

Some of the basic essentials of a tablet are mobility, self-sufficiency and instant access (not waiting 20 seconds booting up).

Nintendo would have to release a new revision of the Wii U tablet controller, which includes a decent SoC and some RAM, so that the tablet controller is self-suffient for minor tasks and doesn't need the stationary console in range. The tablet controller would have to get its own OS and its own apps to be independent from the console. The High-Capacity Battery should be included as well.

But all that would increase the costs of the tablet controller even more... something that Nintendo doesn't want. And all early adopters would be left out with the old revision of the tablet controller.

And putting that much effort in additional tablet functionalities wouldn't help the Wii U probably anyway. Look at the Vita... it's touchscreen ain't that much smaller, it is self-sufficient, gives instant access after pressing the on-button and it has some popular apps: Browser, e-Mail, Calender, Twitter, Skype, YouTube, Netflix, Maps...

Did it help? Would the Wii U controller get better app-support?



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robzo100 on 17 July 2014
Conina said:

The Wii U tablet controller in it's actual form can't catch up, it can't "harbor all the basic essentials of modern tablets"... it can't even harbor all the basic essentials of 2010 tablet (iPad1).

Some of the basic essentials of a tablet are mobility, self-sufficiency and instant access (not waiting 20 seconds booting up).

Nintendo would have to release a new revision of the Wii U tablet controller, which includes a decent SoC and some RAM, so that the tablet controller is self-suffient for minor tasks and doesn't need the stationary console in range. The tablet controller would have to get its own OS and its own apps to be independent from the console. The High-Capacity Battery should be included as well.

But all that would increase the costs of the tablet controller even more... something that Nintendo doesn't want. And all early adopters would be left out with the old revision of the tablet controller.

And putting that much effort in additional tablet functionalities wouldn't help the Wii U probably anyway. Look at the Vita... it's touchscreen ain't that much smaller, it is self-sufficient, gives instant access after pressing the on-button and it has some popular apps: Browser, e-Mail, Calender, Twitter, Skype, YouTube, Netflix, Maps...

Did it help? Would the Wii U controller get better app-support?

To what extent this will be the case I can't say, but these things, like high-capicity batteries, only get way cheaper as time goes by, especially in the time frame of a generation.  And the newer high capicity batteries, and other tech used for tablets, only bring incrementally smaller improvements while still spending a lot of money on that new tech.

I think most points people bring up are valid.  But I just don't see it eliminating the question of being easy to catch up when tablet use is not innovating in the market right now (again unless Apple or someone else brings out a new idea.  They seem to be out of the Steve Jobs phase where they wow us with something new every 6 months).

And as far as portability goes.  I bring up the point the article mentioned which is that many tablets, though viewed as physically portable, are not necessarily used in a very portable manner.  Furthermore, with this talking of merging the handheld and console depts. at Nintendo, perhaps that issue will be partially solved anyways...

You're point about Vita is right.  But again, it hasn't been marketed as tablet nor has Wii U (and that may be because it's not good enough as a tablet just yet to do that).



TheLastStarFighter on 17 July 2014

The Gamepad actually makes a pretty good tablet substitute for me. I wouldn't take a tablet on the road, but I don't mind browsing the web on my couch. It was one of the reasons I jumped on the Wii U bandwagon early... a tablet thrown in with the console, even if it's a poor tablet.