Unlike its granddaddy, the Wii U is meant to lay down on the job.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30594
The Wii U is designed exclusively for horizontal placement. In an interview with Kotaku, Nintendo creative lead Shigeru Miyamoto noted that one of the reasons they have been showing the system horizontally was so people would be clear it wasn't a Wii, which was traditionally shown standing vertically. Miyamoto indicated they could create a stand, but gave no sign that such a thing was in the works.
In addition, Miyamoto stressed that the face of the console shouldn't be the hardware itself, but rather the Wii U GamePad. "So just like a set top box is non-descript and tucked away, our feeling was that the Wii U hardware was something that could be tucked away and out of sight."
Miyamoto compared the Wii U to the Kinect in this respect, stating "So, for example, with even something like Kinect you can have your hardware put away and out of sight and you can wave at the TV and maybe the game will come on or something. Similarly with Wii U, when we [considered] ‘What is the face of Wii U going to be?', for us the face of Wii U really isn't the console box itself. It's the controller; it's the Wii U GamePad."
"I guess we could make a stand," Nintendo's senior game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, told me yesterday, laughing, "I think maybe it was because we didn't want people to think it was a Wii."Then, make it not look so much like the Wii. I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept to grasp...
From Kotaku:Quote"I guess we could make a stand," Nintendo's senior game designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, told me yesterday, laughing, "I think maybe it was because we didn't want people to think it was a Wii."Then, make it not look so much like the Wii. I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept to grasp...
They said last year at E3 they were working on a way to have two GamePad's work. And it doesn't really look too much like a Wii.You're a gamer who posts on a Nintendo message board. Ask a 40 year old mom the difference and watch her face contort into a look of sheer confusion.
Unlike its granddaddy, the Wii U is meant to lay down on the job.
(similar to how the only odd colored Xbox 360s are tie ins to a game franchise like Halo or Gears... and even then they only went so far as to be silver).