In Apple, Nintendo's New Console Faces a Powerful Foe

Nintendo successfully fended off Sega, Microsoft, Sony, and other console makers to become the king of casual games. But the Mario creator found a much more insidious foe in the form of Apple. The popularity of iPhone and iPad titles such as Angry Birds has ravaged console sales for Nintendo, leading to a loss of nearly half a billion dollars last year, its first in three decades.

This fall, Nintendo will punch back with its Wii U, the video game industry’s first new console since 2006. It takes some obvious cues from the iPhone. The set-top console box comes with a GamePad touchscreen controller that looks like an enlarged smartphone with two small joysticks stuck on top. The big screen on the controller will provide extra information to players as they manipulate games on their TVs, and can become the primary screen when they move around the house. The Wii U also includes new social networking features so players can cooperate with or battle against each other.