Nintendo president Satoru Iwata says the enhanced, HD visual capabilities of the Wii U will appeal to many third-party developers that were reluctant to bring titles such as first-person shooters to the original Wii. Speaking at an analyst presentation during E3 last week, Iwata noted that players feel first-person shooters -- one of the most popular genres in the West -- are "greatly intensified by enhanced visuals." "Within the current environment, there are a number of the companies that are spending a significant amount to create these first-person shooters but, with the graphics capabilities of the Wii hardware, we have not been able to get them to create Wii versions of key franchises, and they have developed few games of that genre with Wii as the primary gaming console," Iwata went on. Those issues "are going to melt away" on the HD-capable Wii U, Iwata said, adding that "many of those large third-party publishers are showing great interest in what we have to offer" and that "we will be able to bring many of those key franchises to Wii U as a result of the work that we've done so far." Elsewhere in the Q&A session, Iwata said the company "looked at things like technological advancements in terms of the penetration of HDTV" in deciding to add the feature into the new console, which is due sometime next year. "What we are proposing this time with Wii U is a console that will give those consumers who did not even have an opportunity to interact with the Wii system more opportunities to connect with and use the Wii U console and, at the same time, offer the consumers who desire those high-quality HD visuals in their gameplay a product that will meet their needs as well," he said. Third-party support was a major focus of Nintendo's public unveiling of the Wii U last week -- with footage and statements from companies suchas as EA, Ubisoft, THQ, Namco Bandai, Koei Tecmo, Sega and Warner Bros. -- included in a sizzle reel of titles coming to the system. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello in particular came on stage at Nintendo's presentation to promise a "deeper relationship" with the company for the Wii U, saying that the system's HD graphics will "speak directly to the players of EA Sports and EA games."