Wii U

The Wii U (codenamed Project Café) is an upcoming home console created by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. To be released in 2012, it was announced at E3 2011, where a prototype version was playable. The Wii U will be compatible with games from the Wii, but sacrifices the functionality of Nintendo GameCube games or its peripherals. The Wii U will also be compatible with the Wii Remote, Nunchuk and Balance Board peripherals, which were initially designed for the Wii.

The console is the first Nintendo console to produce high-definition graphics, and features a new controller, called the GamePad, with an embedded touchscreen interface. The GamePad lets players to continue a gaming session by displaying the game through its screen, even when the television is switched off. In the trailer displayed at E3, players using the prototype GamePad were able to send media like videos wirelessly to the television screen through the use of the touch screen. The GamePad also features a camera, a microphone, its own sensor bar, motion sensors similar to the Wii Remote +, and NFC technology.

The Wii U will use a new online service called "Nintendo Network", also available for the 3DS. Unlike previous Nintendo consoles that featured online play, the Wii U will provide "Personal Accounts" for each family member rather than relying on one single system wide account.

No Metroid titles have been confirmed for the Wii U as of yet, however a fourth Super Smash Bros. game, in which Metroid protagonist Samus Aran will most likely appear, has been revealed, though it has yet to enter production. A Metroid-themed game called Battle Mii was shown at E3 2011. The following year, at E3 2012, Nintendo announced that it be one of 12 series-based Mii games in Nintendo Land. In this game, Miis dress as the characters from one of the included series in a Nintendo theme park (which includes a mechanical Ridley) to play a related game using the Wii U GamePad and Wii Remotes.

The "Mii Wara Wara" menu design shown at the E3 2012 Nintendo Direct event showed a Samus icon that a group of Miis who preferred the series grouped under. One Mii named AC stated, "I've played just about every metroid game" amidst the other conversations. Another in the group, named Leo, remarked, "Back. He's baaaaaack..." The Samus icon was a Varia Suit based on artwork from the Metroid Prime Trilogy reverse cover.

Games featuring Metroid on Wii U

 * Nintendo Land
 * Untitled Super Smash Bros. series game

Metroid games playable through Wii backwards compatibility

 * Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
 * Super Metroid (3 minute demo in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.)
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime (Japan only.)
 * New Play Control! Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Japan only.)
 * Metroid Prime Trilogy
 * Metroid: Other M

Metroid games through Virtual Console backwards compatibility

 * Metroid
 * Super Metroid

Metroid cameos through Wii backwards compatibility

 * WarioWare: Smooth Moves
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl
 * Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse (Japan only.)
 * Animal Crossing: City Folk
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns

Metroid cameos through Virtual Console backwards compatibility

 * Super Smash Bros.
 * Kirby Super Star