Wii U official photos show off Nintendo's crazy new console

Nintendo's finally unveiled its new home console, the Wii U, and in true Nintendo style, it's completely mental. Unlike the Wii, the new Wii U console outputs video in high definition, and packs a crazy-looking controller with a 6.2-inch touchscreen in the centre. Click through our photo gallery to gaze upon its plastic white loveliness for yourself, and be sure to read our full in-depth preview.

Here's how it works. The console itself is still shrouded in the fog of mystery, but we know it outputs HD video via HDMI, uses internal flash memory and plays optical discs. The console communicates wirelessly with the new controller, just like the existing Wii.

The controller's packing a 6.2-inch touchscreen (unfortunately it uses a stylus like the 3DS, though we imagine you could get by just fine using your fingers) and a huge array of buttons, in a layout that very much mimics the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers.

That means two analogue sticks, a D-pad, four face buttons, two shoulder buttons and two triggers. Inside there's a gyroscope and an accelerometer, and there's a front-facing camera on top too.

Nintendo's hoping that hardcore gamers who got bored with the Wii's limited controls and standard-definition visuals will be lured back into the fold. But the stuff you can do with the touchscreen is what's really new and interesting.

For many games, the touchscreen will display additional information like stats, or ammo. But we saw Nintendo showing off game concepts where you could use the touchscreen to fire virtual blades toward your telly -- aiming the controller where you wanted them to land on-screen, or using the controller as a virtual shield to block incoming attacks.

Interestingly, early predictions surrounding the Wii U turned out to be dead accurate. We pooh-poohed the idea of an HD console with a button-coated controller, which just goes to show what we know.

The Wii U will be out sometime between April and December next year. There's no word on pricing yet.