Nintendo announces Project Cafe as Wii U

Nintendo has unveiled the successor to the Wii at its E3 2011 press conference, renaming what had previously been known by the codename Project Cafe as the Wii U.

The Wii U is a white console with a six-inch touchscreen embedded into the controller, as well as two thumbsticks, a camera, motion sensors and face buttons. There's also a base unit.

Players are able to switch between a roaming mode, where games are displayed on the touchscreen, and a fixed mode, where the controller outputs to a TV. Nintendo promises zero latency for this link.

It is also possible to use both screens at once, as a Nintendo demo showed Zelda played with the main action on a TV and inventory screens on the controller.

Nintendo has confirmed that the touchscreen doesn't output in HD, but HD is available when the controller is linked to a HD TV.

'As an industry, what we haven't achieved yet is a game platform that is equally satisfying for all players,' said Nintendo's Satoru Iwata. 'Yet, this is exactly what we intend to create with our new home platform.'

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You can check out other news from the show via our E3 2011 News hub.

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