Are there any Nintendo Wii U secrets we don’t know about yet? Here’s the full rundown of all the Wii U rumors of features for the upcoming Wii U console.
Wii U Secrets
• Wii U Secret Menu Music:
Did you know the Wii U plays different elements of the menu’s songs through both the TV and the GamePad’s speakers? It’s true, turn up the volume on both and together they make a brand new hidden tune!
This video lets you listen on this secret feature and shows how you can get it to work on your Wii U.
• Wii U Achievements System:
Much like the Xbox 360’s Achievements and the PlayStation 3’s Trophies systems, the Wii U is said to have an unannounced Achievements system in place that can be added in future games. When you do specific in-game tasks, of which there are usually 50 per game, you’ll unlock points or prizes that get added to your username on the console for all to see what you’ve unlocked.
As you can see from the Wii U in-game New Super Mario Bros. U screenshot at the top of this page (or the video below), Nintendo has already dropped hints via in-game discussion. To quote the text balloon commenting on a Mario level on the over-world map: “Cleared in under 100 seconds!” Whether it’s in-game or system-wide is unclear, but it certainly looks like an achievement system! Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime clarified that the system itself has Achievements. To quote: “We will have that. Once you start getting into game-specific [Achievements] that’s developer driven.”
• Facial Recognition Software:
We already have a confirmed camera for Video Chat, and a microphone that can be used for Voice Commands. But now Facial Recognition may come into play as well, literally! It’s said to be similar to the features of the Xbox 360’s Kinect motion & voice sensor.
• Suspend Game Feature:
The Suspend Game feature would enable you to save your current in-game state, at any time, even if you put the Wii U console into standby or turn it off completely. Up until now this feature was reserved for classic games on the Wii & 3DS Virtual Console, that allows you one save point to come back to at a later time. But to have this feature to pause & save full retail and other downloadable games at any time, would be a fantastic addition in case there’s no in-game save point available or your gameplay gets interrupted.
• Multitasking:
Multitasking is a feature said to be available on current Wii U development kits. It expands on the “Suspend Game Feature” above, as it would allow you to turn off/suspend your game similar to minimizing a window on your computer. This would allow you to quickly look something up on Youtube or the internet on your Wii U, talk to friends via Miiverse / video chat, or even start to watch a Netflix movie via the installed Wii U app. And when you’re done with all that you can jump back into the game you were playing before. Or, you know, use the Wii U GamePad to watch TV or alternatively turn the main TV screen to a TV channel and start playing your games solely from the Wii U’s GamePad screen.
It’s interesting to note that Nintendo seems to have dedicated a large part of the console’s internal RAM to being able to run multiple processes on the Wii U and its Wii U GamePad simultaneously. This should allow you to seamlessly switch between multiple applications at the same time using the Wii U GamePad’s menu. – Below you can see some of the already confirmed features in action.