We just published our review of the Wii U, but we didn't crack the console open to peer under the hood. iFixit did, though, and it has published a look at its usual stellar job of disassembling the console down to its component pieces and explaining what they do.

The most interesting part of the teardown, frankly, is the look inside the Wii U's GamePad. The controller is essentially its own console packed with components. In addition to a gyroscope and a touchscreen, the controller also houses an NFC module and antenna, though its functionality doesn't appear to be used by any of the launch titles. iFixit speculates that NFC could be used in the future to facilitate saved-game and character loading.

The Wii U itself sports a trio of wireless modules, including a Broadcom Bluetooth chip. One of the modules is used exclusively to communicate with the GamePad, enabling the smooth and lag-free screen mirroring observed by our gaming editor Kyle Orland. The teardown also exposes the system's AMD Radeon GPU and IBM Power-based multicore processor, both of which are marked improvements over the older Wii's downright anemic CPU and GPU.

Nintendo didn't obsess over size for the Wii U console, apparently allowing the larger motherboard to dictate the layout and arrangement of the other components. This means the Wii U features a larger (and presumably less expensive) slot-loading optical drive and fewer custom fittings for things like wireless antennas.

The Wii U is held together by tri-wing screws in addition to standard Phillips, but iFixit otherwise calls the console quite friendly to DIY repairs, rating it at an 8 out of 10. The lack of glued-down components and the ease with which things can be pulled out means that at least for the main console, replacing damaged parts is a relatively easy affair.

Head over to iFixit for loads more pictures!