pokeweeb3
Rattata
So, I don't think this is very well-known... but WAY back in 2011, Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo seriously considered making the Wii U Gamepad a portable device, that did not require a 30 feet connection to a base console:
"During the roundtable discussions there were such arguments about should we make it capable of being a standalone system or should we make it work only with the [base console] system," Iwata-san said. "We came to the conclusion that this controller is only going to show the images generated and processed by this hardware unit -- and sent from the hardware unit wirelessly. That means sharper graphics. A battery couldn't do that."
So if Nintendo had done this, we could have had a hybrid console years earlier, although it likely would have been much weaker than the Switch. It also may still have had dual-screen functionality, like the Wii U they ended up making (Iwata said that they had been thinking about two screens since 2007).
If Nintendo had released a hybrid Wii U in 2012, capable of being used as a standalone portable, do you think it would have been successful? And if so, how would it have affected the DS/3DS line, and their next console after the portable Wii U?
Wii U Was Almost a Portable - IGN
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata sheds light on the development of Wii U, the future of Wii, and software pricing for the company's next home console.
www.ign.com
"During the roundtable discussions there were such arguments about should we make it capable of being a standalone system or should we make it work only with the [base console] system," Iwata-san said. "We came to the conclusion that this controller is only going to show the images generated and processed by this hardware unit -- and sent from the hardware unit wirelessly. That means sharper graphics. A battery couldn't do that."
So if Nintendo had done this, we could have had a hybrid console years earlier, although it likely would have been much weaker than the Switch. It also may still have had dual-screen functionality, like the Wii U they ended up making (Iwata said that they had been thinking about two screens since 2007).
If Nintendo had released a hybrid Wii U in 2012, capable of being used as a standalone portable, do you think it would have been successful? And if so, how would it have affected the DS/3DS line, and their next console after the portable Wii U?