Nintendo's new console Wii U

Nintendo, the Japanese gaming giant, on June 7, 2010, unveiled the Wii video game console's successor Wii U, which will broadcast high-definition video and feature a touchscreen controller that can detect motion and interact with what appears on a television display. The new Nintendo Wii U gaming console is displayed on a video screen during a news conference at the E3 Gaming Convention in Los Angeles.

The white touchscreen controller, reminiscent of Apple Inc's iPad and other tablet computers, can broadcast standard-definition video but also features a directional pad, microphone, dual analog sticks, speakers, two pairs of shoulder buttons and a front-facing camera, which can be used to make video calls.

The console will be put on sale in 2012 and the price has not been revealed yet.  The Wii U is demonstrated with the Measure Up game at the Nintendo booth at the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, on June 8, 2011.

The new Nintendo Wii U gaming console is displayed on a video screen during a news conference at the E3 Gaming Convention in Los Angeles, on June 7, 2011.

A girl, in this file photo, walks by Nintendo's popular game figure Super Mario at the Japanese game maker's showroom in Tokyo. The unveiling of the Wii U comes after two years of slumping sales for Nintendo's Wii, which remains the overall top-selling home video game console against Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 and Sony Corp's PlayStation 3.

Until now, home console games had to occupy the TV screen in order to be played. But with Wii U, which has a 6.2-inch screen built in, you won't need to give up your gameplay when someone else comes in the room and wants to watch a TV program. Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo Co, discusses their new gaming console the Wii U during a news conference at the E3 Gaming Convention in Los Angeles in the picture.

Reggie Fils-Aime(in the picture), Nintendo of America president, noted that the touchscreen controller is not meant to be a portable gaming device and that the system is dubbed the Wii U because its "unique, unifying and maybe even utopian."