Gearbox: Wii U a "cool stop gap" console

Gearbox's Brian Martel has described the Wii U as a "really cool stop gap," and how he hopes to integrate its tablet controller into the development of Aliens: Colonial Marines.

"We think it's going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation," the Gearbox co founder told IGN.

"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."

He admitted that Gearbox was still figuring out the console's technical specifications, but said that Colonial Marines is already running on the machine, with "textures at a resolution that you haven't seen on [the current] generation."

Martel said he was most excited about the new tablet controller that streams video and information from the console.

"So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker, 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 was officially announced in February 2008, and has been in development since 2006.

Last week Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford discussed another major science fiction franchise, Bladerunner, revealing that while the property was on Gearbox's list of dream projects, it would have ruined the company.