In the latest Iwata Asks feature on Nintendoās website, some of the key men involved in the design of the upcoming consoleās quirky controller get talking about one of the most important elements of the pad: its range.
Being a wireless controller, and one that you can use for more than just playing games on your TV, how far itāll work away from the Wii U is actually as pretty big deal. And while Nintendoās Bill Trinen last month said in an interview with 1UP there had once been an optimal distance of 24 feet, Nintendoās own technicians are a little moreā¦elastic.
Sticking to the basic mantra of āit will be fine within the same spaceā, the designers (and Iwata himself) remind you that there are a number of factors affecting the controllerās range, like what your walls are made of and even whether you have your Wii U in a āa metal TV standā, which is a problem because āit may deflect the radio waves thus reducing its usable rangeā.
Thatās not to say it wonāt work in adjoining rooms. Iwata himself recounts:
Playing at Yamashita-sanās house worked with one wall in-between! (laughs) When asked āCan I use it in my bedroom?ā we can say that it would work within the same space when there is nothing in the way, but basically it depends on how your house is constructed, so we have to ask that you test it in your own home.
Fair enough. The first thing I normally do with a new console is play a game on it, but I guess this time around itāll be a game of ācan I use this while taking a dumpā.
Wii U Gamepad [Iwata Asks]
