A survey by Goo Research in Japan has pointed towards a lack of interest in the Wii U. Of the 1083 people who they polled, only 9.4% said they wanted to buy the Wii U, 36.1% expressed interest but did not want to buy it, and the remaining 54% said they were not interested.

As with all research of this kind, the statistics should be taken with a pinch of salt. 1083 is hardly a representative of gamers in Japan. The Wii U also has a long way to go before it is released so it’s not surprising that 36.1% were interested but didn’t want to buy. But nonetheless, it’s encouraging to see such a high number that are at least interested in Nintendo’s next home console.

However, polls like this are relevant as they do indicate that Nintendo have a lot of work to do when it comes to convincing people to take interest in their new console. The full results are after the break.

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Anyone who’s been following this blog for a few weeks has probably heard Peter Moore of EA praising the Wii U. Today, we’ve got more – but it’s very interesting to note that he made a point to rave about the console’s online capabilities, which are apparently “really extensive”.

It’s a very exciting machine and I’m glad to see it out there. I mean, a hi-def Nintendo platform! There’s nothing that could make me happier. Its online capabilities are really extensive, too, so we’ll be able to differentiate ourselves from the competition more easily with our sports lineup. We can’t announce anything yet, but what I can say is that Nintendo is a company that’s been producing new types of play culture for years. The 3DS and Wii U have taken on that DNA, so I really can’t wait to see what kind of new surprises are waiting for us.

This is coming from EA, one of the most well-known multiplatform developers in the world. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 fans, it sounds like you may want to brace yourselves.

On a side note, we recently received an anonymous tip from an EA intern that supports Moore’s high opinion of the Wii U’s online. I’ll be writing about that later today, so there’s something to look forward to!

Surprise, surprise – Nintendo are planning to bring Mario Kart to the Wii U. It doesn’t sound like the game has started development yet, but in the November issue of Nintendo Power that just arrived at my place today, Hideki Konno gave the first official tease that the game was on its way.

I can’t get into the specifics, but I do want to create a new and enjoyable Mario Kart that uses the unique functions of the Wii U. Anything beyond that I have to keep secret. Please bear with me for now!

The Wii U has great graphics, amazing online (from what we’ve heard), a Swiss Army Knife of controllers, plus full compatibility with all Wii controllers.

Konno, you’ve got a lot of “unique functions” to choose from. Here’s hoping we’ll see something awesome.

A “trusted game development executive” has supposedly leaked some details to Develop regarding the possibility for a second Wii U controller. The complete lack of two-controller support at E3 caused a fan outrage, and Nintendo are now supposedly aware that “they absolutely need to support two tablets”.

Whether the console supports one or two controllers simultaneously is allegedly one of the only aspects of the Wii U that aren’t finalized yet (the others being RAM and CPU clock speed). The source noted, however, that there is virtually no chance of four controllers ever being supported.

Is Machinarium Wii U-bound?

Machinarium , a point-and-click WiiWare adventure, has been cancelled. While speaking to Eurogamer, developer  Jakub Dvorský explained (in pretty blunt terms) why the game has been axed.

We don’t like Wii because the resolution is so low and there is a size limit on WiiWare of 40MB, which is so low for nowadays. It’s crazy.

Nintendo fans shouldn’t despair yet though as there is a small possibility that the game could make it to the Wii U. With Nintendo’s next home console being significantly more powerful than the Wii, hopefully Amanita Design will like it enough to grace it with a version. They definitely seem keen on the console so far:

Nintendo Wii U looks promising because it will be a powerful machine and that’s what we want.

It seems that Nintendo may have more planned for the Wii Remote than just a longer life span. A couple of weeks ago, three patents for Wii Remote add-ons were revealed to the public: two that expand on the infrared functionality of the controller, and one that changes its use altogether.

The first patent, and probably the one most interesting to potential Wii U buyers, is for a touchscreen that attaches to the front of the Wii Remote. It utilizes the infrared technology, alongside half-mirrors, to locate the point on the screen that is being touched. And, thanks to the half-mirrors, it still works with pointer functionality while it’s attached. It does look a bit odd in the concept art, but if it works well, it could make for a great mini-U-tablet.

The next patent is something similar to what we’ve seen before. It’s some sort of pattern reader, like an e-Reader without a Gameboy Advanced. It works by shining an infra-red light through a clip on the end of the remote which shines through holes in the pattern on a card which the remote picks up.

The final patent is pretty strange. It’s basically a ball that goes on the end of the remote and turns the device into a joystick. It only works on a flat surface, though, and it isn’t shown whether or not a hand counts as flat.

While I’m sure many of you are getting excited for Wii U Pong, don’t expect much from these patents – they pop up all the time and rarely does anything come from them. That said, the touchscreen one could be a great way to close the gap between U-tablet users and Wii Remote users.

What do you think these expansions could be used for?

The Wii is notorious for its wide appeal to non-traditional gamers, which has skewed its public perception to that of a casual console. However, at the last investors’ Q&A session, Iwata revealed that this perception was the result of a “misunderstanding” and a widespread misconception that “no or few core users [play] Nintendo platforms.”

[We] do not think that developing video games for casual or light users is the only way to expand the gaming population. There was a misunderstanding that Nintendo was dedicated to such games at some stage of the lifespans of the Wii and the Nintendo DS.

Iwata went on to clarify that their ultimate goal is to continue expanding the gaming population with “software that can be accepted by a wide variety of consumers, irrespective of age, gender or past gaming experience”. What may excite some of you is his admission that Nintendo could not do it alone and “would like to achieve [their] goal in cooperation with various developers.”

In a nutshell, Nintendo are aware of where they went wrong with marketing the Wii and have promised to do better with the Wii U as well as the 3DS. That’s the gist of it, but the original transcript is still a good read as Iwata went into much deeper detail than what I’ve summarized here.

An article was recently published over at The Examiner in which a writer stated that the Wii U “has nothing going for it” besides the touchscreen controller. The article reads like a classic piece of sensationalist troll bait, so I’m not going to link to it directly, but I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify a few misconceptions about the Wii U.

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In the absence of a Wii U port of Sonic Generations, quite the rumour has broken out over an entirely original Sonic project for the console titled Sonic Dimensions. Now, if you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’ll know the drill with rumours – no matter how fantastic they sound (a certain Emily Rogers comes to mind), they should never be held for truth.

With that little disclaimer out of the way, let’s dig in – this is a juicy one.

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Nintendo just held their last investor relations meeting, in which Iwata revealed that he’s planning to have the Wii U shown in its “final format” at E3 2012. What we can take away from this is that they’re still actively developing the console and making changes to it… that, or Nintendo have something they’re hiding from us until the perfect moment.

Either way, it should be a great show next year, especially when you consider that Iwata also admitted to having “learned a bitter lesson” with the launch of the 3DS and re-assured us that Nintendo “are trying to take every possible measure so that the Wii U will have a successful launch.”