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Is it better to go first or last? Kick or receive? It's likethe coin toss at a football game, but what if you could do both ? Nintendo just showed us how, surprise-announcing a pre-E3conference and preempting Microsoft and Sony by snagging mass-media coverage of its upcoming Wii U console, ascompany president Satoru Iwata trotted out new details aboutthe system, its control interface and an intrepid social networkingangle. Mr. Iwata, framed by nothing more than beige wooden walls and anenigmatic sign bearing Japanese characters meaning "creatingsomething unique," bowed, then explained that thecompany's goal over the past several years has been to figureout how to address an issue with the way we currently interactonline. Iwata then did something you don't often see inpresentations like this — he highlighted M.I.T. professor Sherry Turkle ‘s Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less fromEach Other , a book published in January 2011 that explores the ups and downsof the contemporary tech zeitgeist. Nintendo's response:to create something that would "unite people rather thandivide them … whether in the same room or great distancesapart." ( MORE: Coming on Tuesday: Live Coverage of Nintendo s Wii U Launch at E3 ) Enter the Wii U GamePad (the gamepad's official, if prosaic,name), essentially the same as the prototype shown at E3 2011, onlywith both the thumbsticks raised, as depicted in recent leaked shots . Other revised features include: the thumbsticks can be clicked (afeature cribbed from Microsoft and Sony), there's an NFCreader/writer on the left side (place cards or figures andthey'll be wirelessly "read"), the"TV" button turns the gamepad into a universal remote,the backside of the gamepad includes slightly raised ergonomicgrips and both the d-pad and face buttons have been moved inwardslightly — the d-pad to the right of the left thumbstick, theface buttons to the left of the right thumbstick. The d-pad move makes sense, given contemporary controller design,but the face button positioning is a surprise. Look at your Xbox360 controller, for instance, and you'll notice the the facebuttons are placed at far right, with the right thumbstick left andbelow them. Extend your thumb over the right thumbstick and noticehow it's more difficult to press down or hammer rapidly, butthat it's fine for basic 360-degree analog stick control.It's much easier to hammer the face buttons whenthey're further to the right, since your thumb curls slightlyat the joints and has better extensibility and downward torque.It'll be interesting to see how reversing this feels on theactual Wii U GamePad, and whether it changes the way games for thesystem are designed. Iwata also highlighted the way the new gamepad could interact witholder Wii-style peripherals, depicting someone swinging a WiiRemote like a golf club while using the Wii U GamePad as the tee.But the other intriguing angle involves something Iwata called"symmetric diversity," i.e. the fancy-schmantzy way ofpointing out that the Wii U Gamepad can interrelate to the TVscreen the same way the bottom screen on a DS or 3DS complementsthe top one (as I've said before, the Wii U is basically aliving-room-sized DS). What does that mean for games? Iwata sayswe'll see this revealed throughout the week at E3, butimagine cleaving a DS in two and fixing the position of one of thescreens – I'd wager money the Wii U began life as apitch to combine the Wii and DS. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Metal Roofing Sheets Manufacturer , Aircraft Hangar Buildings, and more. For more , please visit Aircraft Hangar Buildings today!
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