According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, "Wii U redefines the structure of home entertainment by fundamentally changing how the TV, the game console and the Internet function and interact together," he continues, "The experience enabled by Wii U and its new controller takes players deeper into their games, while reaching out wider than ever before to be inviting to all kinds of gamers."
Wii U combines exceptional gameplay with the ability to support full HD graphics. Each Wii U console will be paired with a new groundbreaking controller, with its 6.2-inch wide screen. Previously, video games played on a home consoles have been confined to the TV and offered identical viewpoints to each player in a multiplayer environment. The Wii U controller enhances that experience with different viewpoints available in-game and in differing games/game situations. Also, watching TV and playing console games have been completely separate experiences. The new controller removes these boundaries, creating a more dynamic and fluid gaming and entertainment experience. Examples of this new functionality include:
Within Single Player Games:
While in-game the new controller can display information on its screen that does not appear on the TV
The information and viewpoint can also change in the new controller based on the orientation of its gyroscope
Within Multiplayer Games:
The player using the new controller can have a different experience than those looking at the TV creating a wider variety of competitive and cooperative opportunities
Important Information - Please Read
To add Miiverse and other features to Wii U, simply connect your Wii U console to the Internet and perform a system update. Due to the amount of new features and applications included, the system update may take an extended amount of time when performed during the initial setup (for some users it could take an hour or more to download and install). The length of time it takes to perform a system update varies depending on the speed of the Internet connection used. Also, in the period following launch, be aware that increased traffic to Nintendo's servers could extend the download time.
The size of the update ranges from 1GB to 5GB, depending on the Wii U model you have.