Critics divided over success of new Wii console

Nintendo unveiled their much-anticipated Wii U – the next generation Wii game console – at the E3 videogames show in Los Angeles this week. Yet despite the company's president Satoru Iwata heralding the console's potential to "fundamentally change the structure of entertainment," reviewers are decidedly torn on the new console.  

The New York Times' Seth Schiesel thinks that in the Wii U, Nintendo has another hit on its hands. "Words don't really convey the visceral reality of the new system," he writes. "You can't really 'get it' until you try it yourself. But the combination of high-def graphics with this new screen-enhanced controller should put Nintendo back in the thick of the home console wars with Sony and Microsoft."

Others are not so excited. Few commentators deny the uniqueness of the new controller – a 6.2-inch device equipped with touchscreen, motion detector and front facing camera for video calls – but its odd shape and size comes in for criticism.

"Nintendo has unveiled some pretty crazy controller designs that have left gamers scratching their heads before, but this one," says Wired's Chris Kohler, "runs away with the cake."

"It's huge: If not for the contoured grips and all the buttons, it would feel something like playing a game with an iPad. It's also imposing: While the Wii controller was designed to resemble the simple, harmless TV remote in a bid to lure casual gamers, the new touchscreen device looks like something off the bridge of the Enterprise."

The BBC's Matthew Danzico agrees, saying the device "feels somewhat flimsy and seems like it would easily break if dropped on a living room floor. It also feels awkward to swing around, considering its size."

Hostility towards the controller - the Wii U's boldest new feature – was not universal. USA Today's Brett Molina, one of the lucky few to try out the console first hand, comes to its defence: "It's kind of big. That was my first impression when I saw the touchscreen-enabled device. But surprisingly, it feels pretty comfortable to handle." He adds: "The triggers, thumbsticks and other buttons are quite easy to access."

Away from the debate about handling, the techno blogger GeekClown has raised a more fundamental issue unaddressed in Nintendo's announcement: cost. "My big concern about the Wii U is the price," he says.

"It is standard practice to only give one controller with a new console and I am guessing Nintendo will stick to this strategy," he explains, meaning extra controllers must be purchased. "That isn't too big a deal for your average [Xbox] 360 controller or even a Wiimote," he continues, "but for what appears to be a relatively sophisticated tablet controller, the price could be sky high."

Other quibbles exist over the look and feel of the console, but ultimately, as Adam Vary argues, it is the quality of the gameplay that will determine the Wii U's success. "Function, of course, will ultimately outweigh form," he writes for Entertainment Weekly. "If great games come to the Wii U, gamers will follow." ·