14 DAY TRIAL // One of the best features of the Wii U is its ability to stream games straight to the gamepad, leaving the TV free to do whatever. Recently, a group of hackers managed the feat of streaming PC games to a Wii U gamepad.
This year's 30C3 hacker conference saw a group of talented people reverse engineer the Wii U controller/tablet, which normally only works with the Wii U console, and showcasing Final Fantasy VII running on the device.
Their entire process was documented in their Reverse Engineering the Wii U GamePad presentation. Apart from finding a way to connect to the gamepad, the team also had to struggle with working out the non-standard protocols used by the device to stream the video, audio and controller data.
The device sports a relatively low resolution of 854x480, which may be suitable for older games but not so much for more modern titles. Which is, of course, a discussion for the distant future, as for now the process is entirely too complicated for ordinary users to replicate.
The project is currently more of a proof-of-concept, but further tinkering may make it possible for interested users to run more heavyset PC titles on the Wii U GamePad.