As expected, Nintendo announced their long-rumored sequel to the Wii today. The new console, dubbed the Wii U, will be released sometime next year. The Wii U will output at 1080p in HD, which means you will no longer be embarassed at all those jaggies on your fancy big screen TV. The Wii U will be backwards compatible with Wii games and controllers; backwards compatibility is something Nintendo always gets right.
The most innovative feature, however, is the new Wii U controller, pictured above. The controller has two analog sticks, a D-Pad, the requisite face buttons and even shoulder triggers. A generous 6.2 inch touchscreen takes up a large amount of real estate in the middle of the controller. This screen can be used as a secondary display, for menus and such, or as another input method. The controller has a gyroscope, allowing for motion control, as well.
The dual stick controls indicate it will be far easier to port games from Xbox 360 or PS3 to play on the Wii U than its predecessor. While the Wii is seen as a casual gamer's system, the Wii U will also cater to the hardcore gamer, with titles like Aliens Colonial Marines and Ghost Recon Online announced. All told, the new system looks quite promising, and hopefully Co-Optimus staffers at E3 will get some hands on time to report soon!