NOA boss Reggie Fils-Aime has suggested that the reasons behind the Wii U not supporting mutlitouch controls via its touchscreen are simple: it'd be too unwieldy.
“When we went through the building of this and, given some of the functionality, we thought that single-touch was a more appropriate option, especially when you’ve got other button configurations,” he said.
“Certainly there's a cost to it. We envision this as a controller that you’re putting in your hands and you’re doing a two-screen experience. The concept of putting it in your lap to do multi-touch for us just feels unwieldy.”
Fils-Aime also had some announcements to make regarding the GamePad's battery life.
"I have to say that, as a company, we are amazingly conservative when it comes to giving guidance on things like battery life," he said. "If you go back to the 3DS discussion on battery life, the numbers we gave before launch vs. the reality of launch were very different. So what I would tell you is that Nintendo is absolutely committed to making sure that the battery life for the Wii U will not get in the way of the gaming experience."
For the record, Nintendo's predictions when it came to the 3DS suggested a battery life of 3-8 hours. The Wii U GamePad is only expected to hold up to 5 hours of charge, though it can be replenished during play. Hmmm. [Kotaku]
