Phil Spencer, Microsoft Corporate VP, has stated publicly that he considers the Wii U to effectively be an Xbox 360, in both graphical power, and in some functionality, especially with regard to the Wii U’s Pro Controller.
The new controller design is obviously geared towards more traditional, core games, and a quick look at the unit demonstrates that the Microsoft man isn’t far off base with his claims.
The Pro Controller looks practically identical to the 360’s pad, albeit with a slightly different button and analog stick layout. If you squint a little, though, you’d be forgiven for confusing the pad with the Microsoft original.
"Their Pro Controller makes a lot of sense with the platform they've built. They are building a platform that is effectively a 360 when you think of graphical capability." Said Spencer, in an interview with Games Industry International.
"Now they are really making an on-ramp for the back catalogue of games that are on 360. It is easy for those games to move over to the Wii U. They've moved the buttons around, and they've made a controller that feels familiar for 360 gamers, so I get why they are putting those pieces together."
Although the Wii U has already disappointed many with its rather conservative specification, once again lagging behind the next imminent offerings from Sony and Microsoft, a move to emulate a console as successful, and more importantly, core gamer-focused as the Xbox 360 may be a good thing. Here’s hoping that the Wii U addresses the void left behind by the Wii for hardcore Nintendo gamers, and that we’ll have a Nintendo console that takes part in third party release and multi-platform releases.
Follow Den Of Geek on Twitter right here. And be our Facebook chum here.