The controller for the Wii U will not be sold separately

According to CVG a Nintendo representative said that “Both the controller and the console will be sold as one unit. You won’t be able to buy the controller alone.” This means one simple thing: you can’t use more than one touchscreen controller with the console. The rep explained that:

…multiplayer games being created for the system are only being designed to accomodate one tablet-style controller, whilst other players will need to use a Wiimote.

This explains how Nintendo can pack so much tech into the controller without having to think a whole lot about the cost, as you only need one of ‘em in each household.

I’m not too sure how to feel about this though. It feels like a bit of a bummer that we can’t use more than one touchscreen controller as it could limit the possibilities in how games are designed for the system. But it does keep costs down at least.

Update: Actually, scratch that confirmation. CVG also added in the article that:

It is currently unknown whether it is possible to sync more than one of the new controllers to a single Wii U.

But still, based on what we know it sounds like only a single Wii U controller can be used at any one time. I imagine that’s the case because data is being streamed to the controller from the console and there’s surely a limit to how much data can be streamed.

Source: Wii U Blog by David Turnbull

Posted in: News,Nintendo