If the new Nintendo console is going to launch this year, then developers must already have their hands on the system’s development tools. It looks like TT Games certainly does. Yesterday, a quality assurance tester for the Lego Star Wars developer tweeted: “Nintendo fanboy alert: Look what we have at work” along with a picture of a Wii U tablet controller.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":457919,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']The Wii U controller is a critical piece of hardware that Nintendo hopes will dampen enthusiasm for the Apple iPad and will appeal to gamers who have fallen in love with tablet-like devices. The TT Games Twitter update has since been removed, but not before we could save a picture (we added the red numbers):
Here is what’s different:
1. The 3DS-style analog nubs are now more like traditional sticks.
2. Said sticks are now convex compared to the concave nubs from the original design.
3. Two mysterious buttons — one under the directional-pad and the other to the left of Power.
4. The Wii U logo.
5. The power button now has an illuminated ring surrounding it.
6. Nintendo moved Plus and Minus to the right of the screen.
Those unlabeled squares suggest that this still isn’t the final design. If the Japanese hardware manufacturer has any additional changes in store, we’ll likely see them all at the quickly approaching E3 in Los Angeles.