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Nintendo unveils Wii U Pro Control, Miiverse social network

Nintendo took to the stage at E3 in LA to show off new controllers and a social network for its Wii U console.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

Nintendo has shown off a new controller for its Wii U console, as well as its very own social network. The company unveiled both during its pre-E3 presentation in the early hours.

The Wii U Pro controller looks like an Xbox 360 pad, and is quite a departure from the tablet model for the Wii U. It features a pair of analogue sticks, a d-pad and shoulder buttons as well as the usual ABXY configuration. It looks more suited to mainstream action games than the Wiimote was.

Nintendo's social network is called Miiverse. You'll be able to see what others are playing, share parts of games you've made yourself, like characters and vehicles, and pass tips onto fellow gamers. And most excitingly of all, you'll be able to connect via your phone as well as your 3DS or PC. That's right, Nintendo's going mobile.

As expected, the standard Wii U Game Pad has been redesigned as well, featuring dual analogue sticks instead of circle pads.

These announcements come ahead of the company's proper press conference tomorrow.

You'll be able to type or write messages by hand on the Wii U Game Pad screen, and send to other members of the Miiverse. Or you can doodle pictures, which could be interesting.

In the video demo, which you can watch for yourself below, one player asked another how to go about killing a zombie. He then placed the controller next to his TV, and started a video chat.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said of Miiverse: "We believe it can solve the issue of 'alone together'. We believe it enables the sharing of more smiles, more laughs and more empathy."

But can it compete with the might of Facebook and Twitter? Even Apple looks like it's cosying up to Facebook, so surely it would've made more sense for Nintendo to do the same. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.