Whispers of the Wii U Around the Industry [Updated!]

Whispers of the Wii U Around the Industry [Updated!]

[This was originally published on April 6. Updates are being added May 3.]

Sometimes you hear things by talking to people around the industry. Does it mean that everything mentioned comes to fruition? No. But, at least it gives you an idea of some of the conversations being whispered in the back alleys of the developer channels. Some things pan out and some things don\’t. Here’s some things I\’ve been hearing lately:

– Nintendo likes the name Wii U and wants to keep it, but apparently someone or some company woke up really late in the game and has been giving them trademark issues about using the letter U in the name. Because of this Nintendo have been thinking of a Plan B but I was told that it’s rare for Nintendo lose a legal battle. Whatever the outcome, Nintendo really like the name Wii and want to make sure it’s somehow part of the final name. At E3 we\’ll see whatever gets settled upon over the next two months.

UPDATE: Confirming the veracity of our report one month ago, Nintendo is indeed facing opposition from Information Technology Junction Limited in England. ITJL holds a U-related trademark. So, what domain name do they hold? The company holds the domain http://www.u-do.com/. It seems the battle here is going to be over the \’U\’, as ITJL believes it to be quite important to their business.

– The recent \”rumors\” about the Wii U being weaker than PS3 and 360? Apparently, they are far from the truth. Not only is the Wii U not weaker than the Xbox 360 and PS3 they even have certain technological advances over the other HD systems. Nintendo isn\’t happy with the \’analyst\’ that had a vendetta against them enough to spread false rumors. The rumors apparently have scared off investors and downgraded Nintendo’s stock rating. Investors are waiting until E3 to have a better idea of what lies in store for the Wii U rather than buying in advance to E3 to have a leg up for when the hype begins to soar.

– The lead-up to the Wii U’s final reveal has been something of a roller-coaster. Nintendo made the strict NDA embargoes go far too long this time and it’s somewhat their own fault that so much confusion abounds in regard to the Wii U’s technology. But, Nintendo is hoping it will all be worth it when everything is finally announced. For now, the top-tier publishers with full access to the final dev kits are keeping their mouths shut tight even in the face of negative rumors.

– Is the release date November 18? Even if that date came from a Nintendo board meeting it’s not final. There is no set date yet. Discussions are taking place and November 18 can be the final outcome, but for now not even Nintendo has come to a conclusion.

– What about the haptics bio-feedback rumor? Apparently, it is true that Nintendo have looked into it and discussed it with the relevant companies but that doesn\’t mean it’s anything concrete. I guess we\’ll have to wait until E3 to see if Nintendo went with it in the end.

Menashe