The Wii U GamePad is the standard controller used by the Nintendo Wii U video game console. Incorporating traits from tablet computers, the GamePad has traditional input methods (such as buttons, dual analog sticks, and a D-pad), touchscreen controls, and motion controls. The touchscreen can be used to supplement a game by providing alternate, second screen functionality or an asymmetric view of a scenario in a game. The screen can also be used to play a game strictly on the GamePad screen, without the use of a television display. Conversely, non-gaming functions can be assigned to it as well, such as using it as a television remote.

The Wii U GamePad can be used in conjunction with other controllers compatible with the console, such as the Wii Remote Plus, Wii Balance Board, and the more conventional Wii U Pro Controller.

History

Nintendo's development team had determined that the Wii's notification light did not provide enough information to be useful beyond whether it had received content or not. With the complexity of modern televisions, designer Shigeru Miyamoto believed that a monitor separate from the console would provide an easier way to check on the console's status without needing to use the television. Its operation as a supplemental display was also inspired by the common use of a similar display at karaoke establishments in Japan, which displays song information and also allows its users to select their next song.

A gamepad (also called joypad), is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the fingers (especially thumbs) are used to provide input.

Features

Gamepads generally feature a set of buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left. The direction controller has traditionally been a four-way digital cross (also named a joypad, or alternatively a d-pad), but most modern controllers additionally (or as a substitute) feature one or more analog sticks.

Some common additions to the standard pad include shoulder buttons placed along the edges of the pad, centrally placed start, select, and mode buttons, and an internal motor to provide force feedback.

Gamepads are the primary means of input on all recent video game consoles except for the Wii (though the Wii Remote can also function as a gamepad). Gamepads are also available for personal computers.

There are programmable joysticks that can emulate keyboard input. Generally they have been made to circumvent the lack of joystick support in some computer games, i.e. the Belkin Nostromo SpeedPad n52. There are several programs that emulate keyboard and mouse input with a gamepad such as JoyToKey, Xpadder, Pinnacle Game Profiler, and Enjoy2.

Gamepad is a British television show, that originally aired on Bravo from 2001 to 2004. It is hosted by Violet Berlin.

The show distinguished itself from rival video games shows by professing to be "by gamers, for gamers". Systems covered included Microsoft Windows and Mac OS, the PlayStation 2, GameCube and the Xbox.

It was replaced in 2004 by a new show called When Games Attack. It was hosted by Dominik Diamond, the person who previously hosted GamesMaster for Channel 4.

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The Wii (/ˈwiː/ WEE) is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others.As of the first quarter of 2012, the Wii leads its generation over PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in worldwide sales, with more than 101 million units sold; in December 2009, the console broke the sales record for a single month in the United States.

The Wii introduced the Wii Remote controller, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and which detects movement in three dimensions. Another notable feature of the console is the now defunct WiiConnect24, which enabled it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode. Like other seventh-generation consoles, it features a game download service, called "Virtual Console", which features emulated games from past systems.

It succeeded the GameCube, and early models are fully backward-compatible with all GameCube games and most accessories. Nintendo first spoke of the console at the E3 2004 press conference and later unveiled it at E3 2005. Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata revealed a prototype of the controller at the September 2005 Tokyo Game Show. At E3 2006, the console won the first of several awards. By December 8, 2006, it had completed its launch in the four key markets.

The Wii game series is a series of fifteen physical simulation video games for the Wii and Wii U consoles. These games feature a common design theme, especially in their casual gameplay style and Mii integration. The series features control schemes that simulate real life activities with various combinations of the Wii Remote, the Wii U GamePad, and the Wii Balance Board.

Gameplay

The Wii uses motion sensors in the game controllers to allow gameplay that incorporates physical movements by the player to control action within the game. For example, in the Baseball game included in Wii Sports, the player holds the controller like a baseball bat and swings it in order to hit the ball in the on-screen game.

Games

The Wii series has become one of the best-selling video game franchises, with each game in the Wii series selling millions of copies. Wii Sports in particular is regarded as the best-selling video game of all time.Wii Fit, within 18 months by June 2009, helped the health game genre generate collective revenues of $2 billion, most of which was grossed by Wii Fit's 18.22 million sales at the time. The largest subset of the franchise is the Wii Sports sub-series.

The Wii MotionPlus (Wiiモーションプラス) is an expansion device for the Wii Remote video game controller for the Wii that allows it to capture complex motion more accurately. According to Nintendo, the sensor in the device supplements the accelerometer and Sensor Bar capabilities of the Wii Remote to enable actions to be rendered identically on the screen in real time.

The Wii's successor console, the Wii U, supports the Wii MotionPlus and its peripherals in games where use of its touchscreen-built-in primary controller is not necessary.

History

The Wii MotionPlus was announced by Nintendo in a press release on July 14, 2008, and revealed the next day at a press conference at the E3 Media & Business Summit. It was released in June 2009. On May 3, 2010, Nintendo announced that starting May 9, 2010, the company will include its Wii Sports Resort game and MotionPlus controller with new consoles with no price increase.

Development

The Wii MotionPlus was developed by Nintendo in collaboration with game development tool company AiLive. The sensor used is an InvenSense IDG-600 or IDG-650 in later units, designed in accordance to Nintendo's specification; with a high dynamic range, high mechanical shock tolerance, high temperature and humidity resistance, and small physical size.