GamePad

Rightly or wrongly, gaming has always been viewed as a solitary activity, but Nintendo wants to make sure that Wii gamers never again have to stomp on giant mushrooms or rescue princesses alone. The retooled version of the Wii U GamePad, unveiled by Nintendo during the annual E3 conference on Monday, will be the centerpiece of the company’s effort to make gaming a more social experience. Among other things, the GamePad features a touchscreen that gamers can interact with using either a finger or a stylus, and a built-in monitor and webcam that can be used to conduct video chats with fellow gamers. Most intriguingly, the GamePad opens up the possibility for what Nintendo dubs “asymmetric game play,” where two players can work cooperatively on the same game even as they’re seeing different levels and aspects of it from their own personal GamePad monitor. Nintendo’s full press release follows below. More →