Wii U demo stations show up in NYC

Nintendo has installed kiosks at its flagship store in New York City to give gamers a hands-on feel of the new touchscreen controller.

At the Nintendo World Store, located in Rockefeller Center, the units treat players to short demos of a handful of the console’s launch or near-launch titles.

As should be expected, a lot of this is the exact same content that has already been revealed at E3 and other exclusive Nintendo events. However, there is one thing that is unique to the in-store experience: the presence of a menu system.

As shown in a video captured by Nintendo World Report, the demo stations have a special selection screen on the Gamepad controller that categorizes the various games into genre or an alphabetical list.

In addition, the main menu has a number of options including the Nintendo eShop, the console’s digital download platfrom, as well as the Miiverse social network and “expanded entertainment.”

Of course, an in-store demo kiosk, especially when it comes to video games, is usually not a representation of the final product. So there is a good chance that this menu system will not be anything like what the Wii U will have when it is released. For example, there are menu categories like “Wii U GamePad” and “Accessories,” which provide information about the console’s peripherals. These obviously won’t appear on any sort of final Wii U menu screen.

This is, however, the first look that exists in what it would be like to navigate through the Wii U’s various content and connectivity options.