Wii U's recently confirmed simultaneous support of two GamePads will not be available when the console launches, Nintendo has warned.
"Games need to be built that can take advantage of the two GamePad controllers," says Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime. "It's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life."
Nintendo initially intended to support just one GamePad per console, but revised its position following widespread disappointment over the news. With the decision being made relatively recently, developers simply haven't been given enough time to take advantage of the capability.
"Asymmetric gameplay is going to be the next major step forward, just like active play was when we launched the Wii," Fils-Aime goes on to stress. "We think that's where developers will focus first, then there will be multiple experiences that have two GamePads."
Fils-Aime also recently clarified that Nintendo considers the Wii U launch window to be the three to four month period following the console's release.
You can read our detailed thoughts on the console following hands-on time with it at E3, along with opinions on all the biggest and most interesting games in development for it, on our Wii U topic page.
Source: Gamasutra
Comments
3I'm not surprised. Though I would have thought they could have allowed you to use two but only one can use the screen for games that developed for it.
I'd think it's a performance issue to have three screens running simultaneously. The time to develop those 2 gamepad "experiences" will likely be spent finding a way to do it with a solid frame rate. But who cares? Nintendo's gimmicky hardware is almost irrelevant. As long as there's Mario, Zelda, and some Karting in it for me, it'll be worth owning.
I'm already sick of hearing the term 'asymmetrical gaming'. I can see that this console will be great for people who like casual multiplayer games. For people like me, however, who are into core single player games, this console will be another disappointment from Nintendo. It'll be a massive success though. It'll sell millions - possibly be even more successful than the original Wii. But it's not for me. I made the mistake of buying the original Wii. I won't make the same mistake with this system.