Rumor Mill: Wii U Might Get Support for Two Tablet Controllers

When the new Wii U home console from Nintendo was first announced at this year's E3 trade event, the company stated that only one of the new tablet controllers can be connected to the device at the same time but it seems that this approach might now be changing.

Develop says that a trusted development executive source says that a number of changes have been made to the code base of the Wii U which suggest that more than one tablet controller can be connected at the same time.

The source also stated that Nintendo has not yet decided the final RAM and processor speed specifications for the Wii U.

The source is quoted by Develop as saying that, “Nintendo now know they absolutely need to support two tablets. At E3 they didn’t commit to this, but they know how important it is to make it technically feasible to support two screens.”

He added, “Even if that affects framerate, as a developer and player, I don’t care. It needs to work. Developers will design appropriate games for this. If you’re building a quiz game you’re not going to give a shit about the framerate.”

Analysts are currently saying that Nintendo will make a final announcement linked to the Wii U home console at the E3 2012 event and that the official launch will take place during the summer months.

Initially Nintendo said that for more touchscreen options players would be able to link a 3DS handheld to the Wii U and also mentioned that all the peripherals released for the current incarnation of the Wii will be compatible.

Both Ubisoft and THQ are launching tablets of their own, which can be connected to the Wii, and the changes made to the Wii U might be a sign that Nintendo is ready to accommodate hardware coming from other publishers.