Promising that Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference on Tuesday will focus "almost entirely on games," company president Satoru Iwata used a streaming Web presentation today to announce new details about the unique tablet controller and social functions of the upcoming Wii U.

Iwata began a bit philosophically, showing a picture of a standard nuclear family sitting together in a living room, each member with their head buried in their own separate digital screens. "People are gathered together in the same room with friends and family, but they are not truly connected. They are paying more attention to their devices than each other."

Referencing Shelly Turkel's book Alone Together, he acknowledged that technology has improved our lives, but added that "we have to wonder what this will mean for the nature of human relationships moving forward."

The finalized Wii U GamePad

The Wii U's touchscreen-equipped controller is now officially being called the Wii U GamePad, in homage to the controller for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. It will be available in either white or black. The final design looks remarkably similar to the prototype first shown off at last year's E3, but the sliding, 3DS-style thumbpads on that prototype have now been replaced with protruding, fully tiltable thumbsticks. They can be "clicked" in the same fashion as the sticks on the Xbox 360 and PS3.

Iwata also revealed a new infrared transmitter for the final controller, allowing users to turn on the living room TV and change channels from the touchscreen. The final controller is also a bit wider than last year's prototype, and features a redesigned, ergonomic back that promises more comfort over extended play sessions.

The presentation reconfirmed GamePad's built-in near-field communications capabilities, which will allow the controller to exchange information to and from everything from credit cards to Skylanders-style action figures. Iwata also played up the GamePad's motion and gyroscope sensors, which can be used in conjunction with the TV for new gameplay experiences. For instance, a short video showed a player using the tablet view to aim a pitch in Wii Sports baseball, and to track a fly ball on-screen until it landed in an outfielder's glove.

Finally, Iwata also unveiled a new, touchscreen-free Wii U Pro Controller. It looks almost exactly like a standard Xbox 360 controller and is designed for "cross-platform games."

Miiverse adds online features

Nintendo's home systems have generally lagged behind the competition as far as online connectivity. The company seems determined to try to change this on the Wii U with a wide-ranging social service called Miiverse. The core of the network is a home screen where hundreds of the familiar, cartoony Mii avatars gathered around icons representing the games they each are playing.

These Miis can communicate to the other Miis in this plaza with simple text messages or hand-drawn notes (similar to those in the 3DS's Swapnote feature). Players were also shown posting to integrated message boards associated with each game, and viewing those message on smartphones and PCs (though Iwata admitted this cross-platform functionality will not be available at launch).

More interestingly, the video presentation showed Miiverse being used to overlay text messages directly into games. In a feature reminiscent of games like Dark Souls, a player that dies at a tough portion of a Mario level might see encouraging and/or helpful messages from other players, for instance.

Players will also be able to post screenshots and "game content they have created themselves" to share with others through the network. Finally, Wii U users will be able to chat directly through a video chat system, by propping the camera-equipped tablet controller up in front of the TV.

Given Nintendo's history of heavily restricting how its systems can be used to communicate with strangers, we remain a little skeptical of how seamless and free-flowing these online communications features will be. That said, based on what Nintendo showed today, Miiverse represents a pretty big expansion of Nintendo's commitment to social networking through its consoles.