At first I loved the Wii U’s GamePad. It added a new dimension to the console’s launch games, as displayed most prominently in the criminally underrated Nintendo Land, and above all else it felt immensely fun to use. However, as the months have passed and there has been a distinct lack of releases which take advantage of its touchscreen functionality, I’ve gradually fallen out of love with it. Its battery life is annoyingly weak, its screen too small and it’s generally clunky to hold, making me almost always want to switch to the system’s Pro controller as soon as possible.
Also See: Best of 2014: Vote for Your Game of the Year 2014
However, now it looks like the GamePad will be receiving a long overdue redesign, if a new trailer for Mario Kart 8 is anything to go by.
The trailer, shared by Nintendo, depicts a family playing the racing game in a typically saccharine-sweet commercial. But then the camera pans to an out-of-focus shot of what appears to be a redesigned GamePad, complete with a wider screen, thinner edges and an overall much smarter look – at least, we think it looks better. The blurry shot doesn’t exactly show it off in great detail.
It’s definitely not the GamePad of old, with the thinner edges around the side of the screen being the most noticeable difference, though Nintendo has yet to make an official announcement regarding whether or not this redesign will eventually be commercially released.
Check out the current Wii U GamePad below to compare it with the possibly redesign pictured above:
You can check out the rumored new GamePad in the commercial below:
