14 DAY TRIAL // The experience delivered by the recently revealed Nintendo Wii U might be replicated by Sony with the PlayStation 3 and the newly titled PlayStation Vita portable platform, at least according to Shuhei Yoshida, the boss of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide studios.
Nintendo surprised the attendants at E3 2011 this week with the new Wii U console, which, alongside its unique controller that has a 6.2-inch touchscreen interface as well as regular buttons, can deliver a pretty unique experience.
Sony was also surprised by the reveal, yet, according to Shuhei Yoshida, the boss of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide studios, this kind of experience is already being tested by the teams that are working with its PlayStation Vita portable console.
"It is very interesting the ways that Nintendo went with Wii U, and I was surprised it wasn't exactly as it had been rumoured," he said to Develop. "Already people are starting to ask about linking Vita and PS3 to do something similar, in terms of using two screens, and having controls on the screen. That's very interesting, and we will have to experiment."
The Nintendo Wii U technology demonstrations depicted players using the controller's touchscreen to emulate inventory menus, special parts of the gameplay that is showed on the TV connected to the Wii U or the actual action, thus eliminating the need for a regular display.
Yoshida says that such experiments are currently being carried out, so perhaps the Wii U experience won't be so unique after the PlayStation Vita is released.
"Lots of the things that developers of Vita games are doing, as you may have seen, is experimenting with connectivities between Vita and PS3. The Wipeout [2048] team came up with their cross play ideas, and the other Vita teams have come up with ways of playing with two systems. It's just a matter of time, as we provide the SDKs to developers so they can make use of both PS3 and Vita, and they might come up with something interesting."