Multi-touch Wii U GamePad would be too 'unwieldy' according to Nintendo president

The Wii U GamePad's touch screen only supports single touch. While that may seem like a step backwards for gamers used to multi-touch offered by their smartphone screens, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime disagrees. "We thought that single-touch was a more appropriate option, especially when you've got other button configurations," he said.

Fils-Aime says that the system's multi-screen gameplay makes single touch a better option. "We envision this as a controller that you're putting in your hands and you're doing a two-screen experience. The concept of putting it in your lap to do multi-touch for us just feels unwieldy," he told Kotaku.

Based on our experiences with the Wii U at E3, multi-touch was not a feature that was missed. The screen certainly felt responsive to touch commands--whether using a stylus or a finger.

While Fils-Aime argues that multi-touch while looking at multiple screens may be cumbersome, he does admit that there's another potential reason for the feature's omission: "Certainly there's a cost to it," he said. Given Nintendo has yet to announce the price of the system or the GamePad, many are wondering exactly how much Nintendo's foray into the next gen will cost.