To say that Nintendo has been slow to get up to speed in the online space is an understatement. Just look at their history. Nintendo’s first move actually came on the Super Famicom with the Satellaview, a satellite modem add-on only available in Japan. The system was developed to receive broadcast signals from a satellite TV station during a fixed time-slot, effectively allowing for subscription based gaming. The system only supported a handful of games, and was more an experiment than anything else.

After Nintendo essentially bypassed the N64 era without even a hint of entering the online space, the Gamecube was supposed to be given the online treatment, but there are a grand total of four titles that support online play, and another three allow LAN play. The Wii and DS were a step in the right direction, but pale in comparison to even online services of the last generation in the PS2 and Xbox.

Nintendo seems to be fully committed with Wii U and 3DS to step up their game with the Nintendo Network, and if reports from Adweek are to believed, Wii U will go further than any other Nintendo console to date.

According to the article, executives from Nintendo arranged meetings with multiple top cable and Web video content companies at last months Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to discuss adding content to the Wii U. No word on what exactly that content could be, but sources at Adweek suggest the content could include sports and music content.

This is exciting news for Nintendo fans looking forward to Wii U, and bodes well for the future and may speak to Nintendo’s future online strategy. Having the tablet controller automatically gives the Wii U an upper-hand when it comes to streaming video. Just imaging being able to stream the latest Champions League match directly to your tablet controller. I would also like to see more 3D video content on the 3DS, perhaps the ability to pay a one time fee to rent one of the latest 3D movies on the handheld. Regardless, it is nice to see Nintendo taken steps to ensure they are not left behind in an increasingly online world.

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Just imagine what must be happening at Nintendo headquarters right about now. After thwarting Miyamoto’s lastest attempt to escape his cell and fighting to turn a profit even among the recent sales success of 3DS, Nintendo is once again facing criticism over something else. The name Wii U. I mean, I have never really much cared for the name of Nintendo’s forthcoming console, but then again, I didn’t much care for the name Wii. It seems that someone at Nintendo doesn’t like it either, and some discussion is happening as to whether they should change the name of the console.

It is speculated that the recent change of heart when it comes to the consoles naming is concerned is due to the confusion about what exactly the Wii U is. Even on Infendo where I would like to think our audience are among the most intelligent Nintendo fans on the Internet, when Wii U was revealed at E3, there was some confusion as to whether it was a new console or simply a peripheral for the Wii.

I think Nintendo could do much better than Wii U, and that they should. If they would like to keep with the Wii branding, how about Super Wii? Maybe they could go another direction entirely and call it the Nintendo Vista. How about Nintendo Gametab? Ok, so maybe I’m not very good at this, but I’m sure SOMEONE at Nintendo could come up with something better than Wii U.

What do you think Nintendo should call Wii U? Can you come up with anything better?

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While not exactly Nintendo news, IGN today has revealed that the next Xbox (how bout we DON’T call it the 720, shall we?) will be based on the AMD 6000 series of GPU architecture which was introduced last year. While we don’t know exactly what will ship inside the next Xbox, IGN cites that the GPU will be similar to the Radeon HD 6670, which sports DirectX 11, 3D, 1080p output, and multidisplay output. Their sources tell them that the console will be around six times as powerful as the Xbox 360, and will yield 20 percent greater performance than the Wii U. Allegedly the console will launch in late October or early November of 2013.

What does this all mean? Well, actually nothing right now. All of this is just rumors for now, not to mention that final specs for Wii U have yet to be revealed by Nintendo. Taken at face value it looks to mean that while Wii U looks to be running on Radeon R770 which doen’t look to be quite as powerful as the new Xbox, both consoles will be more than capable and will most likely allow developers to develop for both simultaneously.

I don’t pretend to understand all the technical aspects behind what makes Mario’s suspenders look so nice, but at the end of the day, I think Wii U will be able to stand toe to toe with whatever Microsoft and Sony decide to throw at it. Bring on E3.

What do you think about this latest rumor? How do you think Wii U will fare in comparison?

If you like this post, be sure to follow me on Twitter @infendo_eugene and check out my personal blog at Nintentunes.com!