UPDATE: NintendoLife's Thomas Whitehead has verified that this commercial actually uses footage from an older commercial from six months ago. You can see the original here.
Original story is below:
A recent Japanese commercial for Mario Kart 8 may have leaked early evidence of a new GamePad.
The circumstances for this reveal are very strange. For one, while the commercial was meant for Japan, it clearly uses footage from a Western commercial.
The part of the commercial which shows the new GamePad simulates a man playing with the controller on his couch, as his couch actually moves around the house as well. Subsequently, the GamePad looks blurred.
Lastly, the end of the commercial clearly uses a pic of the current Japan only 32 GB white Wii U model.
For the second that the new GamePad appears, however, the change is unmistakable. The controller seems smaller now, with more real estate dedicated to the GamePad screen. The screen not only moves outwards to the corners of the controller, it also borders very close to the GamePad’s physical controls on either side.
Is this evidence of a new Wii U model? Not necessarily Wii U owners have been asking for replacement GamePads for quite some time now, and Nintendo has, unfortunately, not made such controllers available.
If this video really does show a new Wii U GamePad, it may in fact be the default replacement GamePad Nintendo plans to bring to retail. This redesign may have been necessary to keep costs down, and possibly open up opportunities for multiple GamePad games, and so Nintendo would have made design improvements as well.
Are you a Wii U owner? Would you buy this new GamePad to replace or supplement your current controller? Would you want to play multiple GamePad games? Share your thoughts with us in the comments. In the meantime, check out one fan’s meticulous screencaps of the purported new GamePad below.
