Dual GamePad Wii U Games Will Arrive in 2013

Nintendo of America has revealed that a number of video games that require the use of two GamePads will be introduced for the new Wii U home console in 2013, which is the reason why players cannot currently get the touch screen controller as a separate retail package at the moment.

Bill Trinen, who is a representative for Nintendo, has told 1UP that, “The launch window is all going to be single-GamePad. The dual-GamePad functionality, we expect to start seeing that in games sometime next year.”

He added, “Our feeling is, we’re not going to sell another GamePad if you don’t have something to use it with. We’ll make that available as an additional accessory when there’s content to support it.”

All titles that offer cooperative play and multiplayer for more than one gamer support the use of Wiimotes and Nunchuks and they will only offer special features to the player who has the GamePad.

The new controllers incorporate a touch screen and gamers will use them to check maps, look at inventories and access skills while the main action of the game takes place on the television screen connected to the Wii U.

There are titles, like Rayman and ZombiU, which are more ambitious in their use of the GamePad and develop special mechanics for the touch screen.

Nintendo has not yet said how much a GamePad will sell for when it is launched as a separate product in 2013.

The company has not mentioned the names of games that will use a dual setup either.

Nintendo will be launching the Wii U on the North American market on November 18, in Europe on November 30 and, finally, in Japan on December 8.

The new device is six times as powerful as the original Wii and will face competition from yet unannounced consoles from Microsoft and Sony.