Wii U Might Lack Power of New Sony or Microsoft Home Consoles

The new Wii U home console from Nintendo currently lacks a clear launch date or a price, but it seems that some shareholders are already worried about its prospects, wondering whether the device can be as revolutionary or as successful as the original Wii.

Satoru Iwata, who is the president and the chief executive officer at Nintendo, has told shareholders in Japan that, “We can at least assure you that the Wii U will not have such a big difference as the Wii had in comparison to how, on other platforms, developers could expect very different graphic capabilities of generating HD-applicable high-resolution graphics.”

The executive then talked about how graphics for modern games are less of a reason for their success and says that Nintendo has new ways of increasing the attractiveness of the Wii U.

He added, “Other companies might launch a next-generation console with more power, but we don’t necessarily think that the difference between the Wii U and such console will be as drastic as what you felt it was between the Wii and the other consoles because there will be fewer and fewer differentiators in graphics.”

I saw the Wii U in action during E3 2012 and the device seemed very capable of running complex experiences like Assassin’s Creed III and Batman: Arkham City, which will make it competitive with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

Unfortunately, neither Sony nor Microsoft has shown their next-generation devices yet, so it is not possible to compare them with the Wii U.

The Wii U aims to differentiate itself with the new touch screen controller, designed to allow players to have more interaction with game world and characters without having to use complex menu systems and without pausing their games.

The Wii U will be out before the crucial Christmas shopping season.