Nintendo's E3 2011 Press Event featured the Wii U reveal.

At the Nokia Center in downtown Los Angeles this morning, Nintendo announced the Wii U, its next home console.

While the hardware itself wasn’t shown, the Wii U’s new controller was highlighted. Much like a tablet, the Wii U’s controller features a 6.2” front touchscreen, DS-like stylus capabilities, a camera, two analogue sticks, four face buttons, two bumpers, two triggers, an accelerometer, and rumble pack.

This feature list highlights the new console’s design manifesto, or what Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata called creating a “deeper and wider” entertainment experience. This is reflected in the console’s name: the inclusiveness of “we” is now to be matched by the more immersive personal experiences of core titles: “Wii U”.

The Wii-like features such as motion control, touch screen play and the stylus point to Nintendo’s desire to grow the wide casual consumer base established by the Wii.

 

Nintendo has revealed the Wii U, formerly named Project Cafe, at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles this morning.

The console features a six inch touch-screen controller with two shoulder buttons, two thumbsticks, motion sensors and an onboard camera, and is due for release in 2012.

The Wii U allows players to switch between playing on a TV, and playing remotely with a zero latency connection.

 

With Duke Nukem Forever now making its inexorable way to a retail shelf near you, Gearbox has returned its attention to Aliens: Colonial Marines, says studio boss and sometime magician Randy Pitchford.

Publisher SEGA has today announced that Aliens: Colonial Marines is anticipating an autumn 2012 (NZT) release. In the game, players will control a squad of marines as they try to survive against the deadly aliens infesting the derelict U.S.S. Sulaco.

“To Gearbox Software and its peers throughout the industry, Aliens is one of the most influential science fiction properties of all time,” said Pitchford.

 

Any discussion on the possibility of monetising Call of Duty's online multiplayer component has typically met with a collective wail of indignation from fans and detractors alike. It's not hard to see why – the thought of paying for something that has previously been available for free is hardly anything to get excited about.

Activision, therefore, was at great pains last week in its pre-E3 reveal to stress that Call of Duty Elite takes nothing away from the free-to-play component currently enjoyed by millions of gamers worldwide.

Essentially, Elite is a worldwide hub designed to allow matchmaking and statistics comparisons with the entire Call of Duty Black Ops and Modern Warfare 3 install base. Players will have the ability to review extensive post-match information, compare weapon statistics, receive tactical video tutorials, compete in competitions to win prizes, and create their own in-game video collections. Elite will be widely accessible on a number of platforms: web browsers, game consoles, within the game interface itself, and even mobile devices.

 

The leaked image allegedly showing final specifications for Nintendo's next-generation home console.

A fuzzy-looking image purporting to show the final specifications for Nintendo's "Project Café", the codename for the Wii's successor, has appeared on the internet.

The image was posted on a German gaming forum. The poster explained that he was sent the picture by his brother, who works at "a major German developer".

The image describes a console capable of 1080p resolutions with a GPU and CPU several times faster than an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, and significantly more RAM. It would also, contrary to other recent rumours, have a built-in hard drive and use Blu-ray media.

 

Steeldiver is an interesting launch title for the Nintendo 3DS. The world of submarine simulation is not a particularly popular one these days, especially in the cut-throat handheld three-dimensional console world. Admittedly, no one really knew which way Nintendo were going to go with the 3DS launch and this is as novel a title as any other designed to harness the specific quirks of a new system. Let's go for a dip.

The game is composed of three main sections. A standard goal-based 'Missions' mode is the first on offer. This is the proverbial meat and potatoes of the title; a surprisingly short campaign in which you are put through your paces as an ace submarine captain. The second main section is the procedurally questionable 'Periscope Strike'. This mode involves whirling the 3DS 360degrees around you and torpedoing enemy ships (great fun on a swiveling office chair). Finally, you're given a top-down strategy minigame called 'Steel Commander', wherein you plot against an enemy force in a simplistic hex-based battlefield.

Each of the seven missions in the titular mode sees you maneuvering one of three classes of submarine through a treacherous tunnel toward an end point. The game forms itself into a hybrid of puzzle game, arcade-style shooter and frantic button-and-lever masher. All three sub classes require you to control speed, direction, depth, torpedoes and other options such as cloaking, surface missiles and cracks in your hull.