According to a rumor coming out of French news site 01net, development of the Wii U isn’t going as smoothly as Nintendo might have hoped. It seems that in the company’s haste to push something innovative and cost effective, their new console is having a rocky start.
The Wii U’s chipset isn’t performing properly and, sometimes, isn’t working at all, missing some of the core functionality that was originally promised, such as wireless connectivity.
Nintendo is currently on the third prototype of the Wii U with the fourth expected to make its way to select studios by the end of the month.
Nintendo will need help in the form of third party development to get this console off the ground and make it worthwhile for consumers, but studios are obviously finding it difficult to work with an incomplete product.
Dev kits currently come equipped with a tethering cable, necessary for communication between the controller and the console. Unfortunately, even with a hard connection, word is getting around that the communication is unstable. Oh, and if a studio does manage to get something programmed and working, they better hope it isn’t broken by the barrage of almost daily software updates.
As to be expected, the Wii U is now behind schedule and Nintendo is being backed into a corner. If the product is pushed too early, it could suffer from an overall lack of proper functionality, which can spell disaster for a new console.
On the other hand, if Nintendo can’t get their act together soon, the Wii U could lose titles to the new Microsoft console, which is already being discussed as a big reveal at the next E3.
Initially rumored for a June 2012 release, the new word on the street suggests that Nintendo is considering a September 2012 launch for the Wii U. Will a delay help or hurt the console? Let us know what you think in the comments.
