Hardware How many controllers in general can the Wii U support simultaneously?

[TeeR]

Since Bomberman Blast on the Wii could support 8 Players at the same time, how many could the Wii U support? We already know it can support 4 Pro Controllers + 1 Gamepad. Could it support...

4 Wiimotes
4 Pro Controllers
1/2 Gamepads
If it can't support 8 then they obviously can't bring Bomberman Blast over like it was before or even bring 8 Players to new games.

 

[matt1tude]

Wasn't bomberman blast's 8 players online only? I wasn't aware you could connect 8 wii remotes.

 

[Clarky]

seeing as we are meant to get a backwards compatibility with the Wii, I would assume it should support as many Wiimotes as the original did, so I will guess you will get your chance to play Bomberman

edit

upon using my google-fu it appears the most the Wii ever handled was 4, so I'm assuming matt1tude was right about the 8 player online part

 

[Alexrose]

8 players on Bomberman was only possible with 4 GC controllers, which are no longer supported.

 

[pocchama1996]

seeing as we are meant to get a backwards compatibility with the Wii, I would assume it should support as many Wiimotes as the original did, so I will guess you will get your chance to play Bomberman

edit

upon using my google-fu it appears the most the Wii ever handled was 4, so I'm assuming matt1tude was right about the 8 player online part

Wasn't bomberman blast's 8 players online only? I wasn't aware you could connect 8 wii remotes.

I believe it was 8 players, 4 on wiimotes, and 4 on gamecube controllers.

 

[Clarky]

I believe it was 8 players, 4 on wiimotes, and 4 on gamecube controllers.

going by that bit of infomation, I'm going to assume then Bomberman is going down to 4 players on the Wii U then

 

[NightsOwl]

Uh... I'm pretty sure it's 6.

4 Wiimotes and 2 Upads.

Edit: And I seriously doubt you can do 4 Wiimotes and 4 Pro Controllers.

 

[HiroshiYamauchi]

Bomberman is a game that can be easily played by 8 players using 4 Wii remote + Nunchuk combos. Micro Machines 64 had a similar mode where 2 players share the same controller...it was crazy, but a lot of fun.

 

[matt1tude]

After looking it up, it is true. 4 wii motes and 4 gc controllers. You learn something new every day. My apologises for doubting you my friend.

 

[Alexrose]

Bomberman is a game that can be easily played by 8 players using 4 Wii remote + Nunchuk combos. Micro Machines 64 had a similar mode where 2 players share the same controller...it was crazy, but a lot of fun.

A nunchuck has two buttons. In Bomberman you can:
Plant bombs (same button as spooge/throw),
Punch bombs
Make kicked bombs stop.
Detonate remote bombs.
Pause.

It just can't be played with a nunchuck.

And what's more, even if it were possible, there's no way Hudson is going to go back and edit their game to be 8 player just for Wii U. They'd sooner just churn out a new Bomberman.

 

[Taleweaver]

I'm pretty sure I heard Mario U supporting four players AND someone on the gamepad. I wish I could remember the vid, as on hindsight, it looks kinda a strange number (four is a binary number. With five different ID's, it shouldn't be too hard to crank it up to 8).

Oh, and driiftmania (a top down racer akin to offroad...nice little wiiware) allows for 8 players, provided you get players to use the nunchuck/classic controller while their friends use the wiimote.

 

[JulietStMoon]

I imagine 5, possibly 6. We know for a fact that it can support up to 4 wiimotes/pro controllers, plus at least one gamepad (courtesy of NSMB U). No idea if it can support 2 gamepads plus 4 wiimotes/pro controllers. The pro controller has the "4 blue light" indicator that the wiimotes have, so I'm pretty sure you can't connect more than 4 wiimotes/pro controllers at once.

 

[KingVamp]

Do you think they will support 2 more pads even farther down the line?

 

[JulietStMoon]

Do you think they will support 2 more pads even farther down the line?

my first instinct says "no" but who can say, really?

 

[10_0ARMY]

Wouldn't it all depend on how much screen space each player needs? I can't imagine splitting a screen more than 4 ways XD. If all players could share the same screen then I guess the sky's the limit.

 

[Maxternal]

Wouldn't it all depend on how much screen space each player needs? I can't imagine splitting a screen more than 4 ways XD. If all players could share the same screen then I guess the sky's the limit.

I seem to remember an E3 demo video with a 5th screen stuck right in the center on top of the other four but I don't remember what game that was.

Do you think they will support 2 more pads even farther down the line?

I kinda think there'd be bandwidth issues pumping that many videos over Bluetooth at once ... but you never know ... and there's also added stress on the GPU that has to render everything yet another time for the other screen.

 

[DanielJavierGuzz]

Well, in games like Pes/fifa, or Smash bros, i don't think that 4 Wiimotes + 4 pro controllers +2 wiiUgamepad will be so much problem (if we can connect 4 wiimotes and 4 pro controllers) But i think that 10 is to much

 

[JulietStMoon]

Wouldn't it all depend on how much screen space each player needs? I can't imagine splitting a screen more than 4 ways XD. If all players could share the same screen then I guess the sky's the limit.

That's assuming it requires split screen at all. Games like Super Smash Bros. don't.

 

[LightyKD]

Monkey wrench time!!

Up to 16 Wii Remote controllers (10 in Standard Mode, 6 in One Time Mode,[170] connected wirelessly via Bluetooth)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii

- So, if the Wii can support 16 Wii Remotes... Imagine what the Wii U can do for local multiplayer.

 

[Maxternal]

Monkey wrench time!!

Up to 16 Wii Remote controllers (10 in Standard Mode, 6 in One Time Mode,[170] connected wirelessly via Bluetooth)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii

- So, if the Wii can support 16 Wii Remotes... Imagine what the Wii U can do for local multiplayer.

Okay, that just means it can remember the ID's of that many Wiimotes (have that many synced) but only 4 can be connected (turned on) at any one time.

EDIT : "one time mode" is synced with the home menu with the 1+2 buttons. "Standard mode" is syncing them with the two red buttons on the Wii and Wiimote.
On and connected means one of the 4 lights on the Wiimote is on. (only 4 lights available)