Userts will be able to explore the streets with the GamePad

Feb 7, 2013 22:43 GMT  ·  By

Video game hardware maker Nintendo and search giant Google are launching Wii Street U for those who live in Japan and own one of the new Wii U home consoles.

The new application, which is available in the official Japanese store, modifies the core Google Maps concept in order to allow for navigation to be conducted using the new GamePad controller.

Satoru Iwata, the president and chief executive officer of Nintendo, celebrated the launch of Wii Street U by posing for a photograph using the camera rig that Goggle uses to map narrow streets, of which Japan has quite a few.

Nintendo has been keen to add non-gaming applications to the Wii U in order to make the new console a centerpiece of the living room environment and a media hub for those who are willing to buy it.