Wii U Aliens: Colonial Marines is best-looking version because of console's "more modern tech"

Hot on the heels of Vigil revealing that the Wii U version of Darksiders 2 will look "at least as good as" the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, Gearbox Software has gone one step further, and insisted the Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines will be the best-looking version.

Echoing Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford's comments made earlier this month, senior producer Brian Burleson described the Wii U is a "powerful, powerful machine".

Publishers and developers working with Wii U are under orders from Nintendo not to divulge information on the console, with technical specifications a closely guarded secret.

Previous reports have suggested Nintendo's first HD console is "not as capable" as the PS3 and Xbox 360. And Nintendo has issued a statement admitting its focus is on gameplay, not graphics. Eurogamer has been told by developers who wish to remain anonymous that Wii U ports of multiplatform games will look as good as PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, but games built from the ground up for the console will show its true potential.

While Burleson is under the same orders not to discuss the Wii U in detail, he insisted Gearbox has managed to get Aliens: Colonial Marines singing on the machine.

"[Creating the Wii U version] has been pretty easy," he told Eurogamer. "The Wii U is a powerful, powerful machine and it can do a lot of cool new things. And so the game itself, moving it over to work on the Wii U was not much of a chore.

"Now the interesting thing is finding out all the cool ways you can use the controller to do new stuff with it. You can imagine all the cool things we can do, with this franchise and having a thing with you, right?"

Gearbox plans to have Aliens' famous motion tracker displayed on the Wii U controller's touch screen, alerting players to the presence of those nasty aliens. There are other applications, too, although publisher Sega intervened in our discussion of them to prevent details from being divulged.

"You can imagine some cool features, for sure," Burleson said. "It's not hard to imagine some cool features."

The Wii U's power, though, is "one thing I can't talk about", he said. "Actually nailing the specs, they haven't come out with them yet."

But, the Wii U version of Aliens will "be better" than the PS3 and Xbox 360 version in terms of visuals, he confirmed. Why? Because of "more modern tech".

What Burleson is alluding to here is the suggestion that because the Wii U contains modern components, it will by default be more powerful than the ageing PS3 and Xbox 360.

How, exactly, will it be better? "You'll have to wait and see," Burleson teased. "Just trust me on that one."

Now, all eyes are on the E3 trade show next month, where Nintendo will unveil the final Wii U design, and third-parties will announce their Wii U games and plans.