Wii U: Nintendo prototyped cardboard GamePads to create Miiverse

Nintendo has recreated its initial Wii U GamePad design in cardboard during its most recent 'Iwata Asks' panel session. The company president got to grips with the mock-up to see how it compares to the final design. Which is better? Decide for yourself below.

During the Iwata Asks session, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata got to grips with the mock up, which the development team revealed was actually used to demonstrate how apps such as Miiverse's web browser would appear on the screen in a player's hands.

Hideto Yuzawa of Nintendo's network business department explained why using a mock-up helped his team create a browser suitable for the console experience, "There was a team that helped us customize the browser specifically for Miiverse, and thanks to them, we now have a browser that's distinctively made for a gaming console,

"You can post screenshots, handwritten illustrations and text messages. In the end I think it turned into a browser that can do things that ordinary browsers would have a hard time doing."

Shunsaku Kato - another member of Nintendo's network business department - agreed that what makes Miiverse unique is the way it is attached to the games you player, rather than being a social network that uses games as an after thought, "Many people imagine most social networking services to have some sort of games attached to them, but we made Miiverse with an idea that Miiverse comes attached to the games that you play. I think that sets it apart."

Thanks ONM.

What's your view on Miiverse? Could you see yourself using it when Wii U launches? Let us know below.

Here are this cardboard Wii U mock-ups: