Wii U: now it’s out in the US

Nintendo's latest and greatest console has enjoyed brisk sales and we git it here in just over a week

 It’s clear that Nintendo has another potential game-changer on their hands.

The Wii U's tri-core processor is very similar to the Xbox 360, running at 3GHz compared to Microsoft's 3.2GHz. On paper, it seems like the Wii U chip might not be as capable as the Xbox 360, but there's more to a powerful processor than pure speed, with many other variables to consider.

Additionally, the Wii U chip's similarities to the Microsoft CPU means that issues such as heating and cooling should be fully resolved.

Still, the rest of the spec sheet is definitely a step above any other console on the market.

For one, the Wii U has 2GBs of RAM, of which 1GB is devoted solely to the operating system itself. In contrast, the PS3 and Xbox 360 devoted way under 100MBs to their operating systems.

The other 1GB of RAM is used for the all-important games, compared to 512MBs on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. More RAM usually means faster loading times, larger environments and higher resolution textures.

In the graphics chip department, the WiiU utilises technology based on AMD's Radeon HD series, putting it a few years ahead of Sony and Microsoft's tech.

The Wii U makes use of Blu-Ray discs for its games, which means that up to 25GBs of data can be stored on them. So, games that require multiple discs on Xbox 360 should fit just fine on one Wii U disc.

However, much like the original Wii and its inability to play DVDs, the Wii U can't play Blu-Ray discs (or DVDs for that matter). This is due to the licensing fees and negotiations associated with the standard

We all know that there will probably be a hack that enables Blu-Ray and DVD playback down the line though. Of course, that'll totally invalidate your warranty in the process.

 Wii U changes things up with four Wii remotes and one GamePad.

The five-player gameplay is demonstrated in Nintendo-Land, a pack-in title for the Premium package. In the Luigi's Ghost Mansion game, for instance, four remote-toting players need to whittle the health down of the GamePad-toting ghost.

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