Ubisoft may have defined a release date for Watch Dogs on every single platform but it failed to mention when the Wii U version would arrive, if ever. Producer Dominic Guay clarified to Polygon though that the Wii U release is still very much alive, even if they haven’t figured out a release date yet.

“Yeah it’s still alive. We still haven’t defined a ship date for it, though. So it’s on hold, to a certain extent for shipping.” At this point, shipping in 2014 is a “possibility” but Ubisoft is offering the Wii U team plenty of time to take advantage of the console’s features.

“We wanted that team to have the time to explore the GamePad and be able to have fun with it and see how far they could push it. It’s also an interesting platform, because it has its own strength, which we want to take advantage of, and we didn’t want to delay all the other platforms for that one.

“So we’re going to take the time we need to make sure the game is good (technically) when we ship it and that it also, game design-wise, makes good use of the specifics of the Wii U.”

“They [Ubisoft Romania] were the perfect team to do it. Our Bucharest studio is super strong, super strong engineers and I was impressed by how quickly they got to get the game running on the console. And they were so autonomous in doing it.”

Meanwhile, Watch Dogs will release on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 30 and PC on May 27th.

Nintendo held a recent corporate strategy event in which it was revealed that the upcoming Mario Kart 8 would be out on the Wii U in May. Earlier, president Satoru Iwata teased the game releasing in Spring 2014.

Iwata also talked about having games that could show off the power of the Wii U’s Gamepad. To that end, there will be new games announced this year in an upcoming Nintendo Direct that will take advantage of the Gamepad. Mario Kart 8 is being looked at as a game that will establish the Gamepad’s functionality.

If you’ve been soured on the overall performance of the Gamepad, then worry not – Nintendo will be releasing a firmware update to speed up the Gamepad’s functioning. It also seems that DS games will be coming to the Virtual Console library on Wii U.

The question is: When Super Mario 3D World couldn’t jump start sales for the console, will Mario Kart 8 succeed?

Not too long ago before the launch of the Xbox One, director of programming for Xbox Live Larry “Major Nelson” Hryb revealed that one could potentially connect their PC to the Xbox One. He also revealed that you could connect your Xbox 360 to the next gen console as well. Why? Well, why not?

Though no major use for the same was outlined, it did create a few ideas. One user took those ideas even further and decided to connect his Nintendo Wii U to the Xbox One to see what happens. Check out the result below.

What obvious benefit could there be to the same? We’re not sure – and it generates way too much lag to be fully playable – but it sure looks cool. Wonder how Microsoft feels about Nintendo being on their console and vice versa?

Have you found any interesting new functions for connecting various devices to the Xbox One aside from what’s already been outlined? Let us know in the comments below.

(Source)

Ikaruga may seem like a relatively simple SHMUP, but it’s much more difficult than it seems. You can flip between black and white states to bounce back black and white bullets. You’ll need to play it yourself to see just how it plays out. The Steam version will include gamepad support and two player co-op along with two-player local play using a single controller. Other than that, it’s Ikaruga as you remember it.

Head here to vote for Ikaruga on Steam Greenlight.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist will have fans return as Sam Fisher, as he leads the newly formed Fourth Echelon on a mission to stop a new terror threat called The Blacklist from claiming the country.

Microsoft has confirmed that the future will see games that mix motion controls along with the traditional controller based inputs.

They confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that games that use “hybrid” control schemes are in development over at MS Studios.

“We’ll continue to have controller-only games,” said Alex Kipman, the brain behind the development of Kinect.

“We love controller-free games, we love Kinect experiences and we’ll continue to grow our set of those as well. What we haven’t really talked about, but exist, are hybrid games.

“Games that are using the controller, which we know and love, and pieces, if not all, of the Kinect experiences to again make those experiences more immersive, more fun and more emotionally connected.”

Kipman made these remarks while discussing the future of motion controllers

Coming to the conclusion that the controller will not disappear altogether, Kipman predicted “a world which allows all to exist”.

“This is where I look at the world, and I know it’s easier to look at the world and talk about ‘or’, but I look at the world and I talk about ‘and’. It’s about how we take all of these things and fuse all of them together to create unique experiences. This is when I go speak and spend time with creative folk around the industry. I go back and I talk about palette,” Kipman said.

“It doesn’t always mean using the same colours, the same paintbrushes – the stories you tell are about using the appropriate combinations of all of the colours and brushes to create something meaningful.”

It’s an interesting prospect, no doubts about that.