This is what I expected but,  Nintendo shouldn't be doing this as an exclusive ask type of things.  They need to get the Wii U into the hand of as many main stream press as possible.  If you have a press badge then Nintendo should get you to play the Wii U even if its only for a quick game.  The more Press that knows this is not an Add on to the Wii and enjoy it themselves the more incidental press it will get and less likely people will mistake the Wii U for an addon.

Boo!

I guess it is safe to assume that there is no chance that it will be the latest hardware? Well, assuming that Nintendo is tweaking the design of the console and the controller.


Still, this is a chance to hear more detailed impression on the system.

Do you know what's sad?  When the first news of the Wii U being at CES came out I thought to myself "oh yeah?  Neat."  That's it.  There was no excitement or legitimate interest.  Typically when a new Nintendo system is coming out I hang on to every mere suggestion of new information.  I've realized I actually don't really care.  The Wii has so completely sucked out my fandom of Nintendo that I greet new Wii U information with indifference!

I guess I just figure it will be more Wii, which I want nothing to do with.  Nintendo has to prove otherwise.  I am not making any assumptions whatsoever that things will be different this time.

The bright side of this is I know I won't be seeing any new F-Zero beforehand.

It helps to soften the blow

Good news is that Nintendo does have a nice large booth (right next to Crytek & AMD) at GDC. So look for more information there instead.

http://www.gdconf.com/pdf/floorplans/GDC_2012_FloorPlan_NorthWestHall_12_05_2011.pdf


edit:

Did Nintendo just suggest that they could launch Wii U @ E3?

Why wouldn't they, after it worked so well for the Sega Saturn?

I think they had already said Wii U wouldn't come out before April, and they said they would unveil it ay E3. To me, all they are confirming is that it will come out sometime in the second half of 2012.

The Wii U is looking to be nothing more than the Wii on steroids. That's both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. Its bad, because it means the casual gimmick focus is still there, but its a good thing because the Wii was a wimp and needed to be on steroids. The Wii is like a Ballerina, which caters to a demographic I want nothing to do with. The Wii U is like Arnold Schwarzeneggar dressed up like a Ballerina: the same demographic is still being targeted, but at least this time the Ballerina has some muscles.

Ballerina's are surprisingly muscular.  More so then a lot of women athletes.

You're a bad banana with a greasy black peel. Maybe you don't like Wii Sports or Just Dance, but I do. So if you and who ever else is pissed that casual stuff is still coming around the corner get over it cause times are a'changin. Doesn't matter what system you got now, especially 360 with Microsoft pushing Kinect they way they have. At least now there will be clear good 3rd party support right from the get go. I couldn't be more excited.

Nintendo needs to stop using ONLY e3 to release information.

as for release I expect no Earlier than August no later then November. E3 is June 5th to 7th. So that gives them 2 months to release the system after that. If they want to go for an early release, which could be advantageous this generation August is the way to go. That gives them more leadtime in building a userbase before the competitors release their consoles. Though September through November is their usual deal. Im hoping for August but expecting Novemeber. I want to play Wii U a couple of months before the apocalypse.

Also, I really like the Wii Sports type games, i really need to get Sports Resort and wii play because wii Sports is on my top 10 list of most entertaining games in the last 6 years. So the pissing on it just sounds lame.

They don't just use E3, they also use GDC and they usually have at least one or two retail events a year (most recent one was focused on the 3DS). The also sometimes have announcements at Gamescom.

Doesn't Nintendo have or used to have something called Spaceworld or something like that?

yeah, it use to have spaceworld in the fall i think shortly before TGS. They haven't done it since I think 2002-03 though.

The last one was 2001. I guess they figured they would rather have a few smaller events during the year than one big one.

I think it would be better if Nintendo was just more open with the media.  They're too secretive to the point where it feels like they don't care about their fans.  It's also pretty normal for us to assume that nothing is coming out any time soon because they haven't announced anything.  They fail to realize that this is part of marketing.  There is some value in building up anticipation.  When you're out of sight, you're out of mind.  When Nintendo is silent it gives the impression that they're not relevant.  If they're too quiet then people will lose interest and might not be paying attention when new stuff is revealed.  There should always be some Nintendo game due out in the future that everyone is excited about.

Right now we have Xenoblade but NOA bungled that so badly that it hasn't generated excitement as much as an "about fuckin' time!" response.  While I'm excited about it, when I think about the game I think less of Nintendo.  It's a reminder of how much I don't care for NOA right now.

And if there is nothing for Nintendo to hype up well that in itself is a fuck up.  They have a responsibility to support their systems.  There shouldn't be large release gaps like we got with the Wii this year.  That in itself gives the impression that Nintendo doesn't care.  They got our Wii purchase so who gives a fuck if we have dick all to play all year.

We should get at least one high-profile Nintendo release every six months and we should always know about and be hyped about the next one before the previous one is released.

Yes and no. As far as games go there's no problem with them being as open as you like, but as for the Wii U hardware I think they went too far in what they revealed about it. The system won't be out until next year, and probably not until late next year at that, so was it really necessary for them to blow the cover on the whole innovation behind the system? Maybe if Nintendo had no competition, or competition which respected their innovations it wouldn't be a problem, but no, Nintendo has to deal with the likes of Sony and to a lesser extent Microsoft who seem to love ripping them off every chance they get.

Since the Wii U likely won't come out until some time after next year's E3, why didn't Nintendo keep the Tablet controller innovation under wraps until then? Why blow the lid on it this far in advance and give the competition ample time to start ripping it off? The only reason I can think of is in order to appease investors, but the problem is any information that is revealed to investors is going to also be revealed to the enemy at the same time. Remember those old WW2 propaganda posters about how loose lips sink ships and how Hitler is in the back seat of the car listening to your conversations? Well its the same principle here, except this time its Kevin Butler and his minions.

One thing I am glad that got an early reveal though is the Wii U name. That to me is a bitter pill to swallow, so I am thankful I was given over a year of time to try and swallow it. Its like finding out you have pancreatic cancer or something, its not something you want to know about but its a fact and you have to deal with it, so its better to find out as quickly as possible, as that increases your odds of survival. Okay, the Wii U name isn't that bad and I apologize for that analogy... but it still sucks.

Chozo, I don't think Nintendo should be incredibly open about new hardware far before it's ready.  I just mean in general for games and such.  I expect them to keep some things under wraps for a while but they take it to a nutty extreme.

I got almost everything about the new system right before the E3 reveal.  To think that Sony and MS didn't know about the control before E3 would by Ludicrous.

Nintendo will be releasing in 2012 the innovation needed to be shown in 2011.  They really couldn't have held it much longer.  Anyway the moment Dev Kits are given to a 3rd party you should just assume your competitor will know everything that Dev Kit has to offer.