"The Wii U controller is about this big"

Electronic Arts' chief operating officer Peter Moore has been around the block once or twice in this industry. He first came to gamers' attention at SEGA of America before he moved to spearhead Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360, and he was recently promoted to COO of the company after being president of its EA Sports division. He's known for being a straight-talker, and in a recent interview praised Nintendo's vision with the new Wii U console.

While some developers have been quick to call the console a 'stopgap', Moore is adamant it's anything but:

I don't think that's going to be the case, and here's why. I think the controller [is huge]. This is not about specs any more... In the early days of our industry, this stuff was absolutely about how much better the games looked... Now it's about interfaces. Now it's about building a community in a rich, powerful way.

In the past Nintendo hasn't had huge success building online communities for its consoles, but Moore is confident again that the console will be a significant improvement:

It’s critically important to us and we are relieved, if anything else, that they have made a huge commitment that they have presented to us. I think Nintendo totally gets that multi-player, building community, co-op play, having the ability to bring games that are deeper — all of these things are now very important.

Nintendo is promising a massive leap with Wii U's online set-up, and EA seems pleased so far. What new feature would please you most about Wii U's internet capabilities?

[source industrygamers.com]