July 8th, 2011
Iwata talks about 3DS as a Wii U controller (and why it’s probably not going to happen)
39 Comments
In a recent Nintendo investor meeting Satoru Iwata was asked about using a Nintendo 3DS as a controller for the Wii U. He addressed the technical limitations first, saying that:
While the Nintendo 3DS is communicating with the Wii or the Wii U, the Wii or the Wii U will not be able to access the Internet, and this technical restriction will remain unless we add some special hardware.
He’s also wary of the perception that Nintendo would be forcing people to buy a Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U to get access to certain experiences. Connectivity between the 3DS and the Wii U is still on its way. But don’t expect to see the 3DS as a different way to control your games.
that sucks but a good idea at least the 3ds and wii u can connect to eachother
that sucks but a good idea atleast the 3ds and wii u can connect to eachother
:(
That translation is bad, obviously. Both the Wii and the Wii U support web browsers, and that has nothing to do with 3DS connectivity..
i agree, i think using the 3DS as a controller would be pointless.
Sorry Iwata, I call BS on this.
The restriction does not require extra hardware, it requires you to allow pairing the devices over your WiFi rather than directly to the Wii/Wii U.
Granted there are other issues with that like other WiFi devices might cause lag or a lack of bandwidth, not ideal, but saying its outright not possible due to the hardware is an outright lie.
Well I’m not sure what to say about this…I guess I’m still just waiting on some rock solid release dates for a load of stuff. I guess this is good news and bad news in a way. I say they just add in the hardware…
I don’t get it. Why can’t the hardware connect to both the Internet and the 3DS at the same time?
wtf no internet? and oh wow, the classic controller for the wii must be impossible too right? cheap soon oova eech. im still waiting to see what the 3ds is even $250. i completely understand why people are still buying psp’s.
Let’s see… $100 to make the 3DS, shipping, advertisement, paying employees, retail markup (stores have to make money on it too ya know). I think $250 is a reasonable price.
Yeah, it’s really starting to bug me when people see the price of the 3DS’s RAW MATERIALS, and immediately call Nintendo cheap for charging $150 more.
Clearly, they know nothing of economics.
i dont know, but i remember my virgin mobile cell phone could play games, watch my own videos, go online and watch videos, view my own pictures, listen to music, and even have my own wallpaper (i dont even know why they took that off the 3ds). and that phone was like $80 for a new one, like 3 years ago. the 3ds cant even look at images other then its own type. and virgin mobile is one of those low tech companies. even if the 3ds cost $100 to make, it doesnt have anything. it has the power to watch videos, pictures, even record my own videos but nintendo prevents that, duh. i bet yall didnt even know that the wii can watch home made videos and play music through its USB. all you have to do is mod it. but nintendo prevents that.
what’s more is, i’m tired of people claiming the 3DS is to expensive, but the PS Vita is cheap and will be launched at the EXACT SAME PRICE!!!!!!
@David Hoyle
You forgot to add how much money you spent on your contract. Uninformed people always make that mistake when comparing the mobile market to the console/handheld market.
you guys are right, but why the psvita is $250 and specs are..lets say a bit diffrent.
Yeah, and I’m sure your Virgin phone could play Ocarina of Time 3D.
@David Hoyle- um, I’m pretty sure you can watch videos and play music on the Wii through the Photo Channel using an SD card… >.>
@Tails the Foxhound : it was pre-paid. i could pay $20 every 3 months if i wanted to. or nothing at all and still play/rec videos and music. and thats even cheaper then 1 ds game.
@KeigoNiwa : personally i dont know what the PS Vita has, but i do know the psp can watch videos, record it i think, have your own wallpaper, and whatever else technology had, 5 or 6 years ago.
@Total911 : of course not. want to talk about it? oh wait the 3ds doesnt make phone calls. they are both different units, but cell phones does alot more then make phone calls, which supposed to be the point but they think alot of content makes people happy. the 3ds, does alittle then play games. which doesnt make anyone happy. even a microwave tells time, when it supposed to only microwave things. all companies add things to thier products, nintendo barely does anything.
I just want crossover online play like the ps vita.
And people need to stop comparing gaming companies. Each one provides its own unique gaming experience.
@dae uhuh, good luck believing that.
vito, just GTFO. We’ll buy whatever the fuck we want. If we want to buy a god damn 3DS with the Vita, then more power to us. you’re just a Sony fanboy trying to feel better about your worthless life you spend protecting your little game console.
@Total911 : personally, even though your probably never going to see this, i hate all of the gaming companies. they all make stupid things. i was just a nintendo fan then after the 3ds, become no ones fan anymore. im disappointed becuz i dont want to have to get a ps thing becuz its better. i want my 3ds becuz of its shape. but nintendo AHH! that up. im probably not going to get rid of my 3ds, which explains about 1 4th of why i hate nintendo, now. becuz the 3ds isnt good, but i want to keep it.
@David Hoyle:
Both Nintendo and Sony give developers these amazing ideas that they aren’t amazing enough to work with.
“Motion control remote?=point and click for Pony Pet Shop!”
“Rear touch panel?=let’s leave that to Sony IP, it’s too scary”.
“Auto stereoscopic 3D?=remakes and shovelware that pops out in your face, IN FULL 3D”
To be honest, I’m down to either a PS Vita, an Ipod Touch, or dropping handheld gaming entirely.
people have been saying that there a no more wii because of wii u games but look at video in the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKYv7n2GspY&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_524750
aaauugh!! this is going to be SEGA making us buy one of the worst consoles EVER!!!!
This seems dumb to me. The Wii can do it with the DS, I’m sure the far more powerful Wii U and 3DS can do it better. He probably just doesn’t want to push the idea too hard.
hes saying that the wiiu wont be able to connect to the internet when a 3ds is connected to its for ANY use so even if you connect your 3ds to it to like…………idk……………………transfer miis (as an example) the wiiu still wont be able to connect to the internet. so this has nothing to do with how powerful the wiiu is
ps this rule also applies for wii
@me: no, you can connect to the internet with your wii when using ds connectivity for ds downloads on nintendo channel and certain online games like pokemon battle revolution
@Nathan- Actually, check again. Not sure about Pokemon but when downloading DS demos from the Nintendo Channel the Wii is disconnected from the internet once finished downloading to transmit it to the DS, and once you click on stop transmitting (when it’s done communicating with the DS), a message comes up saying it’ll reconnect to the internet.
I was hoping it’d be possible to use the 3DS to view Wii U games in 3D. I guess this makes that even more unlikely.
He’s right, too many people would bitch and think that nintendo is greedy and forces you to buy more things.
you know I would be really excited if the wii u controller could do 3d with the use of head tracking that way everyone who owns one could have 3d and another great reasoin to buy a wii u making it even more different from the competition what do you think david any way we could let nintendo know our thoughts on the matter
There’s no reason not to use it for local multiplayer games though. The internet can wait in certain situations.
Solution: an ethernet port
Ps3 can remoteplay and be online cause of it
@keigoniwa
Vita is considered a better value cause it has much more advanced hardware for the sqme price, get it?
I’ll have my 3DS. I’ll have my Wii U. I’ll have my cross-platform Super Smash Bros. Therefore, I’ll have no complaints.