With Nintendo’s sales slumping due to the rise in popularity of the Xbox Kinect and PlayStation Move, the company unveiled the prototype to it’s next-generation console, the Wii U, today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles. Nintendo opened their press conference with interactive demos of the system’s video gameplay, largely focusing the event on the Wii U’s revolutionary new controller.

Nintendo revealed throughout the keynote that games on the Wii U can either be played on the television or through the 6.2-inch touchscreen controller – which can display exactly what is on the TV, offer different camera angles, or allow the user to view a completely separate picture. The company’s executives made it clear that the Wii U is not a portable gaming device as the content is streamed wirelessly from the console to the controller.

The Wii U, unlike its predecessor, will feature High Definition graphics and to the jubilation of Wii owners, the console will be fully backward-compatible with all Wii games and accessories, such as the Wii Remote and Wii Fit board. The gaming system will also supply internal storage, plus the ability to upgrade memory by using SD cards and flash drives through its four USB 2.0 slots.

Additional features of the intuitive Wii U handheld controller will include:

• Motion sensors, accelerometer, gyroscope
• Contoured grips with traditional directional pad, buttons, and analog joysticks (as well as the touchscreen controls)
• Built-in microphone, speakers, in-ward facing camera, and internet access

Gizmodo blogged about the Wii U controller:

“Nintendo showed it doing some seriously wild stuff: Attached to a gun it’s acting like a sight (kind of like Silent Scope), and in another demo, held portrait-style, it was a way to flick shuriken. In another, your holding up the controller like a shield to block pirate arrows. You can basically play an entirely different game on the touch controller than everybody else is playing on the big screen. Or use it for another view of what’s happening up on your TV. The possibilities do seem legit limitless. Multiplayer with Wiimotes is interesting?in one example, the touchscreen remote has a top-down view of the gaming, while everybody else plays normally with Wiimotes… It also does video chat, it’s web browser, and it mirrors photos/videos up on the TV.”

According to Nintendo, Wii U games will be released on “proprietary high-density optical discs”, and an assortment of games were announced for the console including Batman: Arkham City, an Assassin’s Creed game, Dirt, Ghost Recon Online, Tekken, Metro Last Light, Aliens Colonial Marines, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, Darksiders II, Lego City Stories, and a brand new entry in the highly popular Smash Bros. series.

The Wii U will be launched sometime in 2012, and gamers throughout the world will be patiently anticipating their opportunity to (hopefully not…) throw their Wii U controller through their expensive HDTV.

Photo by Vlad Savov via Engadget