Wii U "effectively a 360" in terms of graphics, says Microsoft exec

Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer believes Nintendo is primed to port Xbox 360 games to the Wii U.

In an interview with GamesIndustry, Spencer had nothing but praise for the new hardware.

"I think 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," he said.

"Now they are really making an on-ramp for the back catalog of games that are on 360. It is easy for those games to move over 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."

Spencer commented that he enjopyed ZombiU for its use of a second screen but said he felt something was missing from Nintendo's E3 presence.

"I would have loved to see Zelda or Metroid or some of my favorite Nintendo franchises, which I didn't see," he said.

As for the rest of the competition, Spencer praised Sony's first-party lineup, particularly God of War, but a later comment suggested that - predictably - he felt Microsoft won E3 2012.

"We are here to create entertainment, and we look at E3 and really wanted to create a breadth of content there. I felt good about how we showed up to really think about young, old, male, and female," he said.

"We have more gamers than we ever have, whether they are on their phone, tablet, PC or console. We really want to embrace that huge community of gamers out there."