Wii U Supports Two Gamepads, With Caveats

During this morning’s Nintendo E3 Wii U address, Nintendo answered some pressing questions about the Wii U’s GamePad controller. Well, the good news is, yes, you can have two GamePads on the same Wii U. The bad news is…

Sadly, Kotaku reports that the Wii U GamePad will only officially carry a 3-5 hour battery life, although the GamePad is capable of recharging, unlike Nintendo’s first-party Wii Remotes. And having two GamePads will also drop the frame rate from the mighty 60fps to 30 fps, Satoru Iwata confirmed over Twitter.

Considering the fact that most announced games only use a single GamePad for what Nintendo calls “asymmetrical gameplay”, most of us won’t even consider getting a secondary GamePad, undoubtedly more expensive than the regular Wii Remote, which will still be compatible with the Wii U. But maybe having a second GamePad could offer some added gameplay benefits or having two-player play while mum watches her stories on TV.

This is not the full-stop in the sentence though, there’s always room for improvement.

Oh Dear, the Wii U’s Controller Battery Only Lasts For 3-5 Hours [Kotaku]