June 13, 2011 11:20 am EDT

Nintendo 3DS has resistive touchscreen for backwards compatibility, what's the Wii U's excuse?

In case it somehow snuck in under your radar, E3 just happened. The LA-based gaming extravaganza is where Nintendo introduced its next generation of home console, the Wii U, also served as the location where our buddies from Joystiq caught up with Hideki Konno, the company's 3DS hardware chief. When queried as to why the 3DS uses the same, nowadays archaic, resistive touch technology as in the original DS, Mr. Konno answered candidly that "it's all about the backwards compatibility. We have to play DS games on this and we want to make sure they work." Not an unreasonable assertion by any means, however those same Joystiq sleuths also determined pretty conclusively that the Wii U's bodacious 6.2-inch controller also uses a resistive touchscreen -- could the primeval tech be getting recycled again for similar reasons? Nintendo's made no announcements about game compatibility on the Wii U beyond confirming that it'll play all Wii titles, but this at least it gives us some extra food for rumination (and speculation) while we wait for the new console's 2012 release.

Nintendo 3DS has resistive touchscreen for backwards compatibility, what's the Wii U's excuse? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Jun 2011 07:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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