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Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's president, revealed some juicy new details about the Wii U at an interview in Los Angeles a few days ago (as reported by Kotaku).

First up, Fils-Aime made mention of news revealed earlier last week that the Wii U GamePad controllers will have up to five hours of battery life, and that they could be recharged in the middle of playing. Citing the dismal battery life of the Nintendo 3DS, Fils-Aime stated that "Nintendo is absolutely committed to making sure that the battery life for the Wii U will not get in the way of the gaming experience."

And while he was on the subject of the GamePad, he revealed that the feature now known as Off-TV Play, the ability to transfer the action on the TV screen to the GamePad's screen, is available for every Wii U game, but it will be up to developers whether to include it or not. It's also likely the feature will be marked on game boxes.

Probably the most noticeable bit of info revealed had to do with the Wii U's use of Friend Codes… yes, Nintendo will continue to use the Friend Code system for their next console, but according to Fils-Aime, friending people will be "a lot simpler" and that "you will be able to identify people as friends and have a certain level of interaction vs. a different level of interaction for the more general population."

One last thing, Nintendo is also planning to put achievements into the Wii U. That is, the Wii U itself will have achievements, similar to the ones found in the 3DS' StreetPass networking system. In regards to game-specific achievements, Fils-Aime said, "that's developer driven."

For the full interview, in which even more details about the Wii U are talked about, head on over to Kotaku via the source link below.

Source: Kotaku

Peter Grimm A writer, journalist, and aspiring storyteller, Peter Grimm has been gaming since the days of the Nintendo 64, and reporting on the goings-on in the World of Gaming since late 2011. His base of writing operations is located within the void between Here and There, or so he would have you think.

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