Right after its rather underwhelming showcase at E3, Nintendo has shared a fact sheet detailing specs for its upcoming Wii U and its accompanying GamePad.
The home console itself measures 46 x 172 x 268.5mm and weighs in at 1.5kg. It’s loaded with an IBM CPU and AMD Radeon GPU under the hood and supports IEE802.11 b/g/n for Wi-Fi with the option to go wired using the Wii LAN Adapter. The system also has numerous outputs, including HDMI, Wii D cable, Wii composite, W RBG cable, Wii S Cable and Wii AV cable supporting resolutions up to 1080p (including 1080i, 720p, 480p and 480i). PCM linear audio is also offered via HDMI or analogue sound through AV Multi-Out.
As far as controller support goes: Wii U GamePad (x2), WiiMote or WiiMote Plus (up to four simultaneous connections) and Wii U Pro Controller (up to four simultaneous connections). Wii U also supports other Wii controllers such as the Nunchuk and Wii Balance Board.
In addition, four USB 2.0 inputs are also available, two on the front and two on the back. Although the system has a built-in flash memory, SD memory cards and USB storage devices will be supported as well.
The GamePad measures 133.4 x 255.4 x 41mm and weighs in at 0.5kg. Its 19:6 touchscreen is 6.2″ big. It features rumble, a built-in camera and mic, a sensor bar and NFC read/write functionality.
Input methods include the obvious touchscreen, L and R analogue sticks (including buttons when pressed down), D-pad, A, B, X, Y buttons, L, R, ZL and ZR bumpers and triggers, + (Start), – (Select) and motion controls (accelerometer, gyro sensor, geomagnetic). In addition to these, there’s the Power button, Home button, Sync button, volume regulator (for the device’s stereo audio output) and TV control button.
One of the more interesting concerns has been battery life, which for the GamePad has now been revealed to be three to five hours depending on the screen’s brightness. Recharging it (with the included AC adapter) will take around two and a half hours approximately, though you will be able to play while charging.
