The Wii's online system wasn't exactly exemplary.

Little to nothing is known about the Wii U’s online system except for the fact that we can expect some details in a few days time. The little we do know is that while speaking to Game Trailers, Reggie promised that the Wii U’s online systems would have all the capability of PSN and Xbox Live.

Now in an interview with Eurogamer, Nintendo marketing manager, Rob Lowe has assured us that they have made significant improvements to their online systems and that it will be significantly better than the Wii’s.

Rob Lowe explained that online gaming was more inportant now than when the Wii launched in 2006:

I think that in a similar way that we waited until HD technology was almost ubiquitous before we went in there with an HD console, it’s similar with the penetration of Wi-Fi… I think now almost every home has Wi-Fi or broadband. It’s a universal truth that everybody is connected online and that wasn’t the case when the Wii came out five years ago.

He used the 3DS’s improvements over the DSi to explain how much they have improved the Wii U’s online systems from that of the Wii.

We can’t talk about the details yet as Mr Iwata will announce those slightly later. But with the online of 3DS it’s obviously a massive leap on from where we were with DSi and DSi XL. It’s smooth, robust, it doesn’t drop in and out…

The friend code system has also been refined. It still exists but in the same way that you’d need to pair up with friends on PSN or Xbox live. Now it’s much closer to that kind of online gaming experience than what it was before. (editorial note: he is talking about friend codes in the context of the 3DS’s online system, not the Wii U’s)

What would you like to see in the Wii U’s online system?

And the third party support for the Wii U continues. In an interview with Develop, the CEO of Crytek, Cevat Yerli affirmed his support for the Wii U. “Crytek’s support for Wii U is definitely going to happen… We aren’t showing it but we are pretty much running [CryENGINE] already…”

Yerli, head of the video game company responsible for the first person shooter Crysis claimed that CryEngine’s tech was close to fully running on Nintendo’s new system, though wouldn’t specify any details. He declined to say what exactly they have in mind, whether ports of existing games or new games.

It’s great news to hear that the Wii U is gathering even more third party support, now we just have to see what games they have in mind for the system.

According to Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil Creator, Michel Ancel the Wii U isn’t quite a “next gen” console even though he admits that it is innovative and a next generation console in some respects.

When VideoGamer asked him whether he thought the Wii U was a next gen console he simply answered. “Not really. I think Wii U is next-gen in terms of interface.”

He was also asked whether he thought Sony or Microsoft might implement similar ideas to Nintendo’s when creating their next console. “I think people are going to copy it, because you’ve got this mix between tablet, touch screen and big screen – big screen and little screen – there are a lot of possibilities. I don’t know if Sony will do it, or Microsoft – but yes, I think it’s a possibility. But I think the main thing is to have this – offering new ways to play is very interesting.” He said.

Ancel’s opinions about the Wii U does bring about some important points, as so far the Wii U is being compared to the PS3 and 360 but how will it compare to their successors?

It was rumoured that the Wii U was as powerful if not more powerful than the PS3 and Xbox 360. When it was revealed at E3 it was obvious that it was packing some serious power. Now the analyst, Arvind Bhatia has claimed that developers he had spoken to have said that the Wii U is quite a bit more powerful than the PS3 and 360.

“Some of the developers we spoke to indicated to us that the console will have 50 percent more processing power compared to the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. This is yet to be confirmed by Nintendo.” He said.

This isn’t too much of a surprise after we’ve seen the console stream images to its controller with apparently no lag.

So, is it powerful enough?

Head of Valhalla Game Studios, Tomonobu Itagaki, has said that there is a possibility that their upcoming action game Devil’s Third will be coming to the Wii U as well as the Xbox 360 and PS3.

While speaking to Game Watch he said that he thinks the Wii U is a good idea for Japanese homes without space for multiple televisions, and is “very excited” about possibly getting his game onto the new console.

Don’t expect it to make the Wii U launch though, or the launch window for that matter as the game is slated for early 2013 release.

I’ve got an exciting announcement to make.

As of today, I’m entering into a partnership with David Turnbull, a good friend of mine and the owner of Wii U Blog and Nintendo 3DS Blog. He’s joining me as the co-admin of our forums, which have now moved to their final domain name, TheWiiU.com.

TheWiiU.com (formerly Wii 2 Boards) has been in operation since January, and is the oldest and largest Wii U forum on the ‘Net by a wide margin. But our new partnership with David represents a great step forward into its future. Together, we’ll ensure it remains the biggest and best place to talk about the Wii U for years to come.

Join today, if you haven’t already!

This is probably what we will get when the Wii U releases.

Like how the Wii U’s controller looks? If you do then you might be happy to learn that the Wii U’s design is pretty much final. While speaking to VentureBeat Reggie Fils-Aime (Nintendo of America) explained that they had nearly reached the final form that the Wii U’s controller will be.

“In terms of the form factor of the console, it is quite near final,” Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime told VentureBeat. “Similarly the form factor of the controller is quite near final.”

So it seems that what we are seeing now is basically what we will be getting that joyous day when we finally get our eager hands on the Wii U sometime next year.

One of the most anticipated titles coming to the Wii U is a new Super Smash Bros game. It was announced at E3 that a Super Smash Bros game would be coming to both the Wii U and the 3DS. Iwata also mentioned that the two versions would also connect with each other in some way.

Masahiro Sakurai has shared a few ways that Super Smash Bros 3DS and Wii U versions might connect.

He would like to allow players to build up their character through battle and rewards, then take their custom character to the Wii U version to face off against everyone. He feels it could be nice if they can make the “personal” portable space and the stadium-like “public” console space mesh together. He also went on to say that the connectivity between the two consoles will make the Super Smash Bros experience even more enjoyable.

Iwata summed up the idea as players would spend time on the 3DS version, building up their character and collecting stuff, then show off their skills on the Wii U version.

Sakurai also said that the game would have 60 frames per secodnd action and have nice visual effects, all in HD of course. I can’t wait to see what they end up with, especially how they intend to utilise the Wii U’s new controller.

At E3, Nintendo showed off a stunning tech demo of Link battling a giant spider in addition to the well-known Japanese Garden demo. The fine folks at GameTrailers managed to capture the entire thing and upload it to the web for all of us to see. Here it is:

 
It’s absolutely fantastic.

Yes, according to industry analyst, Michael Pachter. While speaking to GameTrailers, Pachter mentioned that he had a conversation with “the guy who runs Guitar Hero” at E3. In this conversation the “guy” confirmed that Guitar Hero would be coming to the Wii U.

“I walked out with the guy who runs Guitar Hero,” said Pachter. “And I said, ‘I can’t believe that that’s not on Wii U’, and he goes ‘It’ll be on Wii U, but we’re not gonna announce that yet.’ And so there you go.”

Activision announced a few months ago that they were ceasing development for Guitar Hero for 2011 but did not rule out the series coming back.