Nintendo details the engineering that went into the Wii U

Four Nintendo product developers and general managers sat down this week to discuss the engineering behind the Wii U, as part of the ongoing Iwata Asks interview series. According to Genyo Takeda, a Senior Managing Director, the key to combining low power consumption with high-level performance was Nintendo’s decision to adopt a multi-core CPU and to “fully embrace” an MCM (multi chip module), which weds CPU and GPU in a single component. This process involved several different manufacturers, which presented difficulties in analyzing any defects, though Nintendo says it drew upon its earlier experiences to devise a system that quickly identifies problems with minimal effort.