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The Wii U controller, revealed! (video)
Whoa! The rumors turned out to be true: a 6.2-inch screen will be built into the controller for Nintendo's next-generation Wii U console. It'll also feature a microphone, a gyroscope, an accelerometer, dual analog controls, two shoulder buttons and two triggers, a front-facing camera, a stylus, and yes, it's a touchscreen, too! Satoru Iwata was careful to forewarn that the Wii U's controller was "not designed to be a portable game machine," even if it shares some characteristics with handhelds. You will, however, be able to game and video chat even without a TV. Screen resolution isn't given yet, but the display ratio is stated as 16:9, matching every other widescreen in your living room. Check the video after the break while we go try to hunt down some hands-on time with this multifunctional new beast of a controller. %Gallery-125639% %Gallery-125641%
The Wii U, Nintendo's next console (video)
Coming in 2012, Nintendo's next home console will deliver "deeper game experiences" that aim to offer "something for everyone." And it'll be called the Wii U! A variety of new controls will be made available by that crazy new controller with a 6.2-inch touchscreen embedded in it. Most importantly, you'll no longer be tied to a TV to enjoy your home consoling action -- the Wii U controller can handle your gaming session when the television is needed for other purposes, while a built-in front-facing cam will let you video chat from anywhere too. Notably, you won't have to use the 6.2-inch behemoth if you don't want too -- the Wii U will be compatible with all current-gen accessories and software. Yes, your expansive Wii collection will play on the U version of the console as well. We've also seen some decidedly high-def visuals from Nintendo showing off the Wii U's graphical prowess. See video of the unveiling after the break! Batman: Arkham City, an Assassin's Creed game, Dirt, Ghost Recon Online, Tekken, Metro Last Light, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, and Darksiders II all got a mention as coming to the Wii U. Yes! EA's John Riccitiello just said the Wii U will deliver "brilliant HD graphics." Finally, the Wii is going HD! Speaking of HD, the fact sheet from Nintendo informs us that the Wii U can pump out 1080p video over HDMI. It'll also be compatible with component, S-video and composite cables. There'll be "internal flash memory" of unspecified quantity, which will be expandable via either an SD card or external USB HDD. IBM is, as with the original Wii, once again responsible for providing the processor inside. Four USB 2.0 slots are made available, while game media will be served up on "proprietary high-density optical discs." There's also another, worthwhile, reminder that the Wii U will play Wii games and their optical discs without a problem. Update: We just got word from the folks at Kotaku that Nintendo game designer Katsuya Eguchi has revealed the Wii U's proprietary disc format will hold up to 25GB of data. Update 2: And now we have the final piece of the puzzle: the Wii U's graphics will be handled by a "custom AMD Radeon HD GPU." %Gallery-125637% %Gallery-125641%
Boxee Box gets the requisite teardown; would you look at that heat sink!
Lest you forget, the Boxee Box is a capital C computer, just like Google TV. In fact, both products share nearly identical processors, with the Intel CE4110 in Boxee and the CE4150 in Google TV, each clocked at 1.2GHz. Turns out, much of the mass of the Boxee Box is used for the heat sink and fan that are cooling that sucker, as revealed in iFixit's timely teardown of the media powerhouse. Other things they found inside include 1GB of RAM, 1GB of flash memory, and a digital-to-analog audio converter to allow for 1080p video out of HDMI while still using legacy audio hardware. Sounds like some good stuff -- so, after years of hacking the Apple TV for Boxee use, who will be the first to repay Boxee the favor and get something else running on here?
More iPad games revealed
It looks like the crafty folks over at MacRumors have figured out how to snake their way into the not-yet-public listing for top revenue iPad apps. Now, we've got a flood of information coming out about software for the device that's not coming out for another week or so. As you can see above, quite a few rumored and revealed games are already charting on the iPad store, and it looks like prices are running from $3.99 to $9.99. "HD" appeared to be the preferred nomenclature for iPad games yesterday, but "for iPad" is in there as well. It also looks like Enigmo for the iPhone will be Enigmo Deluxe on the iPad. MacRumors says that some of the "released" dates on this listing go back as far as March 19th, which is presumably when Apple started approving iPad apps. We've spoken to some of the developers whose games were revealed, and they are not very happy with the leaks. A few other details are showing up, presumably from App Store descriptions linked off of this top revenue list, but we've confirmed with at least one developer above that all of those details are still pending and not yet confirmed. It's no surprise that Apple wanted to be on top of getting apps out on the iPad store before the device's launch, but they've inadvertently revealed some of their developers' hands prematurely. Update: 9 to 5 Mac has a full list of the App Store chart. It's not yet clear where all of these shots are coming from, but it seems like they're being taken in the dev kit's iPad simulator, which is supposedly still under developer NDA.
New Season 4 items sneak out on live realms
Yes, that pic above is the priest's robe, direct from Arena season 4 (you can click on it to see a bigger version), and here is the priest's helm from season 4. As the story goes over at World of Raids, a player on EU Arathor accidentally deleted some season 1 items, and a GM then accidentally gave him season 4 items in replacement instead. The items were taken right back (duh), but their IDs were activated on that realm, so anyone with a little item ID knowledge could pull up the stats.For comparison, these have boosts almost all around from the season 3 items, which is pretty much to be expected. And while the Stamina is clearly much higher than anything we've seen at the higher levels, the actual damage doesn't compare much to even the Tier 6 stuff. PvP gear in season 4 is all about staying alive -- we've seen a few other items leak out already, and it's the same deal on those.Which is probably as it should be. We should note, also, that this stuff may not actually be done -- although the fact that it's spawnable on the live realms might mean that Blizzard is ready for season 4. I still don't think we'll see it until after the arena tourney, but who knows?
Halo 3 has a happy ending, or how I learned to love YTMND
The animated .gif addicts over at YTMND have been very busy lately revealing the truthiness behind recent video game rumors. Here are some of those OMIGOD NEWS FLASH! announcements from YTMND's gaming posse: The PS3's 100% official start-up screen REVEALED! Nintendo's bunker busted REVEALED! Halo 3 ending REVEALED! World of Warcraft in space REVEALED! Shiggy's secret N64 formula REVEALED! Half-Life 2's plotline REVEALED! (take that, suckas) YTMND's formula is never going to get old, simply because there will never be a shortage of fanboy ideas and rumors to make fun of. [Via Xbox360Fanboy] More: The Wii zeitgeist, via YTMND, Wiill Ferrell tests Wii accelerometer technology and Dick Hunt!
Sensor Bar port revealed
Wii got back. IGN has posted some near-pornographic shots of a nude Wii, revealing its backside in what we can only assume is some drug-induced lapse of common sense on the part of the console. Really, it's always been such a well-behaved machine! IGN has even been so bold as to post pictures of cables plugging into its backside with reckless abandon. Clearly, the machine has gone wild.
