Report: Nintendo Struggling with Wii U Development

By Jane McEntegart
published

Nintendo is having a lot of trouble getting the Wii U to work the way that it should.

Nintendo proudly showed off its new Wii U console at E3 this year, but according to French site 01net, the Japanese gaming giant is actually struggling to get the console to work.

01net, believed to be quite reliable when it comes to Nintendo rumors, cites a source from within the company that says Nintendo rushed to complete the Wii U and, as a result, the hardware isn't up to the streaming and wireless functionalities that are fundamental to the console. According to 01net, Nintendo has already burned through three prototypes and is on its way to a fourth. Not only that, but developers are dealing with cable tethers between console and controller and are interrupted almost daily with software updates.

Nintendo may have revealed the Wii U at E3 this past June, but the console isn't expected until summer 2012. However, despite the fact that launch is almost a year away, 01net's source says the hardware problems mean that the Wii U's launch might have to be pushed to September. Nintendo has not yet commented on the report, nor has the company confirmed or denied reports of a delay for the Wii U. We'll keep you posted.

(via Kotaku)

Jane McEntegart

Jane McEntegart works in marketing communications at Intel and was previously Manager of Content Marketing at ASUS North America. Before that, she worked for more than seven years at Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, holding such roles as Contributing Editor and Senior News Editor and writing about everything from smartphones to tablets and games consoles.

29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Thunderfox
    It likely won't launch with any important first party titles anyway, so I doubt anyone will care. Nobody cares about the screen gimmick anyway. People are just anxious for an HD Zelda that doesn't require one to flail around like an epileptic.
    Reply
  • aaron88_7
    Developers are also having issues with game testers falling asleep due to lack of interest with games that have no graphical polish whatsoever.
    Reply
  • Goldengoose
    aaron88_7Developers are also having issues with game testers falling asleep due to lack of interest with games that have no graphical polish whatsoever.I think the Wii is a classic example of graphics not being the sole selling point of games. I mean look at PS3+360 hardware vs the Wii's and then look at the sales; stats don't lie - alot of people must be enjoying it for it to get so popular even under the shadow of the two console giants.
    Reply
  • madjedi
    Last line "We'll keep you posted." should really have been "Wii'll keep U posted."
    Reply
  • kbarber29
    I've tried wirelessly audio video technology in the past at my work site. The degrade in video quality is why the screen on the controller stays small (and rightfully works), but I think the main problem is loss of signal to the controller of video and audio and possibly lots of static at even the slightest of moves of either the controller or people just walking by. If it is using say 2.4 ghz technology, they may be coming across a lot of interference and may have to increase it to a frequency no is using. It was rather cool technology when we tried it at my work site, but unreliable, especially when the video degrade made it hard to read text on the screen, that may be the final problem they are experiencing.
    Reply
  • mikeadelic
    Wii U has an identity crisis... that's the problem. It isn't mobile enough to be played anywhere like the NDS, nor integrated enough to be a true enhancement to the Wii philosophy. That philosophy I'm talking about is the Wii as a social system - Wii U takes the complete opposite step by only allowing one Wii U tablet per system.

    I'm curious to see what developers come up with, but I don't expect much. IMO the Wii U's confusion with what it wants to be will only make the languishing 3rd-party development situation even worse.
    Reply
  • southernshark
    Well the tablet is just one aspect of the system. As I understand, and I may be wrong, there will still be other controllers. So I don't think its the end of the world or anything that there is only one tablet. The tablet strikes me more as a gimmick anyway. The important thing is that the WII will finally have better hardware and graphics than the competition and that alone should sell it.
    Reply
  • rantoc
    Wii U as in Wii Uups!?
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    kbarber29I've tried wirelessly audio video technology in the past at my work site. The degrade in video quality is why the screen on the controller stays small (and rightfully works), but I think the main problem is loss of signal to the controller of video and audio and possibly lots of static at even the slightest of moves of either the controller or people just walking by. If it is using say 2.4 ghz technology, they may be coming across a lot of interference and may have to increase it to a frequency no is using. It was rather cool technology when we tried it at my work site, but unreliable, especially when the video degrade made it hard to read text on the screen, that may be the final problem they are experiencing.Welcome to the digital age. the tablet is it's own computing device, it is not just a display. You easily get around most of the problems you mention by switching from compressed analog to a less compressed digital signal. Then you pump the video through as a file instead of as a real time broadcast.
    Next year we will begin to see many new wireless video devices as Atom processors add another die shrink supposedly making them viable in the tablet market (Intel's word, not mine lol) which will have wireless display capability. As well as integration of this technology in laptops. The idea of the Wii having some implementation of this is not that far fetched.
    My bet is that the real problem lies in the balance of cheap hardware doing relatively monumental tasks, and finding the balance between usefulness/customer experience, with getting every last speck of unnecessary plastic and metal out of the system to keep costs down.
    Either way we are all tired of the same 3-4 first party games being re-hashed, and with no solid 3rd party games. Until they get that fixed I think many will stick with the good ol wii/xbox/PS
    Reply
  • aaron88_7Developers are also having issues with game testers falling asleep due to lack of interest with games that have no graphical polish whatsoever.Those are some incompetent developers then because the majority of people out there aren't like that.
    Reply