Nintendo is gearing to morph itself as the premier fun-provider of households the world over as the Japanese firm unveiled on Thursday the new Wii U, touted as "the entertainment hub in the centre of the house."

The company's sales and marketing chief in North America, Scott Moffitt, told Reuters that the revamped game console now comes with 'TVii', which empowers consumers to build up on their TV viewing menu using the new Wii U controller GamePad.

The game console has kept the functions and features that endeared it most to global consumers - a motion-sensing controller (the toy can actually detect two GamePads simultaneously) and a host of interesting games that Nintendo said should define family moments in the moments and years ahead.

Come Nov 18 this year, the Wii U will retail starting at $US300 with about 26 titles initially available for gamers' delight plus the pre-installed Super Mario game.

"With the integrated second screen of the included GamePad and features that instantly enhance the way people play games, watch video and interact with each other, consumers will see how Wii U delivers a completely unique experience," Agence France Presse (AFP reported Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime as saying.

What would come out at the start of the holiday season would radically redefine home entertainment as we know it, Mr Fils-Aime added.

"(The Wii U will) change your gaming, change how you interact with gaming friends and change the way you enjoy your TV," the Nintendo executive added.

In short, Nintendo engineers took great pains in reinventing the hit product that Reuters said delivered around $US14 billion to the company coffers.

Nintendo will attempt to convince gamers that there is entertainment life beyond the net and mobile computing, where pretty much the business of amusement is currently focused, analysts said.

It wants to project an image of alternative fun that actually involves physical interaction, not only with the Wii U game console but also with friends and family members all present in a common room.

While social networking and virtual communication made life much easier for everybody, Nintendo would want to convey the message that nothing beats the flavour of hearing laughter and hurrahs in real life and not in real time, tech watchers said.

The new tack is hoped to reverse the steady decline of dedicated gaming machines, no thanks to the rise of mobile computing devices that in turn spawned the new gaming and entertainment platforms now dominating the tech world.

For the new Wii U, Nintendo forged partnerships with the likes of Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Hulu to beef up its ability in delivering contents that would keep consumers glued on their seats.

Some analysts, however, were in doubt if the Japanese company would actually halt the momentum of firms like Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Samsung, all of which are set to unleash or have already issued products that will light up the Christmas season this year.