Wii U dual-GamePad titles to come 'well after launch'

Nintendo corrected one common criticism of the Wii U at this year's E3 press briefing, with the announcement that the system will support two GamePad tablet controllers at once. Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime was a little hazy on the details, and didn't show off any gameplay demonstrations to prove the concept. He said they're currently in development, but apparently they're a long way off.

"Games need to be built that can take advantage of the two GamePad controllers," Fils-Aime told Gamasutra. "It's going to be well after launch for those game experiences to come to life. Asymmetric gameplay is going to be the next major step forward, just like active play was when we launched the Wii. We think that's where developers will focus first, then there will be multiple experiences that have two GamePads."

Using two GamePads also comes with technical considerations as well, which is probably why the company was hesitant to offer the functionality in the first place. A tweet from company president Satoru Iwata (via Kotaku) revealed that a second controller cuts the frame rate in half due to the extra work needed to display on both screens. It's possible that Nintendo will find ways to overcome this limitation, but that may not be true for the first generation of dual GamePad titles.