Wii U texture resolution higher than PS3, Xbox 360

With the Wii U gamers can expect higher texture resolution than what we’ve seen on both the PS3 and Xbox 360, Gearbox co-founder and chief creative officer Brian Martel has told IGN.

“We’ve got the [Aliens: Colonial Marines] engine running on the Wii U, and as far as the console goes, you’re going to see textures at a resolution that you haven’t seen on [the current] generation,” said Martel.

However, Martel says the studio is still “finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have.”

“But we like the system a lot,” he added: “We think it’s going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it’s really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it’s a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming – for us that’s fantastic.”

It’s not the graphical grunt that is getting Gearbox excited, however, but the fancy touch screen controller.

“But the thing we’re most excited about is: what can we do with the controller? So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker [on the controller screen], or the sentry gun information – all that kind of stuff. That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably. That would be fantastic, right?”

Aliens: Colonial Marines will be released spring 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The Wii U version will presumably follow later in the year.