Wii HD rumors and speculation

[eagle5953]

A pair of rumors regarding the Wii and its eventual successor:

Earlier this week, it was rumored that the Wii will be getting a $50 price drop (to $149) next month. Purported leaked photos of internal Kmart memoranda indicated this, and 5 years after release, it's certainly possible. Also, sales are dipping, and the XBox 360 is consistently outselling them.

A new rumor today (from "multiple sources" according to joystiq) holds that the oft-rumored 'Wii HD' would be announced at the E3 media convention in June and released in 2012. In a fashion similar to the 3DS, it would be more powerful while retaining backwards compatibility with existing titles; however, unlike the 3DS, it is possible that Wii games would be upscaled to HD resolutions (as is possible when emulating such titles on a PC). Further, they may try to provide an online service more like that of XBox Live - paid online is about the only money-making aspect they missed this gen, and they love coin even more than their mascot.

A release of 2012 would be 6 years after initial release, which is right in line with typical console life cycles. However, this could potentially put pressure on Sony and Microsoft, who seem determined to stick to a 10 year cycle. After all, they haven't been making money on their hardware from day 1. What's a company to do? If they do nothing, they come off looking rather Johnny-come-lately, what with 6 year old specs and motion control that's awfully similar to the Wii, including in price.

If they push their next system out the door (as they are always preparing for the next thing), they risk alienating customers expecting longer support, not to mention cutting off systems only just starting to recoup their losses. I doubt this will occur, at least by 2012. By 2013, perhaps we'll see the new systems Sony and Microsoft have been working on.

Even if the rumors prove to be false, speculation is fun in its own right. What do you think?

[Bush]

Do want, and I'm glad nintendo is stepping up even more. However, people on engadget and such are pissing me off, they don't realize what nintendo means to people born before call of duty.

[Spyder12587]

The article I read said that the reports say its capabilities put it beyond PS3 and Xbox 360 and that Nintendo is using it to entice developers and garner support early in recapturing the "hardcore" gamer. I'm excited regardless. I've always been a fan of Nintendo and their games, whether casual or hardcore.

Eagle, you bring up an interesting point. If these rumors turn out to be true and Nintendo does in fact bring out their new console next year, they have the benefit of being first out of the gate like the Xbox 360 was this current generation. That could do wonders for Nintendo's already avid fanbase (read money pile). I guess we'll see in the coming months what they have up their sleeves with E3 just about 2 months away and supposedly an announcement from Nintendo sometime next month.

[Metallica Man X]

If Nintendo does releas a new console that actually is a modern console (and not just the last gen with a set of magic wands), they could very well crush sony and do damage to microsoft.

[Bush]

? Magic wands? The wii is pretty freaking awesome, and it is a modern console; it innovated rather than being a pc style console like the 360. Just because it isnt as powerful as the other two systems doesn't make it a bad system.

[bicostp]

No, however relying on a gimmick to carry the console and leaving out high definition support when those TVs were gaining market share and quickly getting cheaper did.

I mean seriously Nintendo you couldn't be bothered to even make it run at 720p?

[Bush]

Alright, you can have your opinion, I'll have mine. It can be a gimmick, but when used properly it works great.

[vskid]

It can be a gimmick, but when used properly it works great.

That there is the key. How many games are better because they use wavy controllers?

I doubt they'll come out with a powerhouse, at best it'll be similar to the 360 power-wise, so it'll be left in the dust when Microsoft and Sony come out with something new a couple years later.

[bicostp]

Exactly. 9 times out of 10 the motion controls are just shoehorned in to justify the functionality. (The tenth is a glorified tech demo like Wii Sports and Kinectimals.)

I doubt they'll come out with a powerhouse, at best it'll be similar to the 360 power-wise, so it'll be left in the dust when Microsoft and Sony come out with something new a couple years later.

So, it's going to be the Dreamcast then?

[Bush]

But since when do sony and ms innovate? I dont want to be buying the same thing with more power.

[Black Six]

they don't realize what nintendo means to people born before call of duty.

I dunno, to me it means that they've been releasing the same games with minor increments for the past 25 years or so, and ever since the N64 they've been behind the technology curve. I enjoyed Nintendo games back in the day, but I could only play the same games so many times.

I'm not defending Call of Duty, I'm not a fan of realistic war shooters and I feel like they and others have saturated that particular market segment.

I was never interested in the GameCube due to its poorer graphics performance and lack of games I wanted to play. Every time I play a game on the Wii I always feel like the Wiimote is very much forced in. I haven't played a huge selection of games, but what I've played hasn't wanted to make me play more.

As far as a Wii HD goes - I see Nintendo not bumping up the performance significantly. Personally it's not something I'm looking forward to.

But since when do sony and ms innovate? I dont want to be buying the same thing with more power.

For me it's up to the developers to innovate with the games. I still think it's gimmicky, but Kinect seems to be more innovative than the Wiimote.

[weaponepsilon]

As much I enjoy buying every single system, I really hope that manufacturers start to really wane on pushing out new systems every 2-5 years. Home Dev people have shown that even the oldest game systems are still viable platforms for gaming. I'm not saying keep it at this level forever, just hold off a bit. Remember when XBOX was the NEXT cool thing and everyone was cautiously moving on board? After it became the mainstream system and everyone seemed to have an XBOX, suddenly 360 was announced and that cool system was suddenly looking faded and obsolete. Now everyone's got a 360 and the thought of going out and spending another $400 doesnt appeal to me. Now figure that by how many newer systems are coming out...

This current gen is still viable, they dont need to push out a new system because the competition forgot to include some things in their last system. Let the new Nintendo Machine come out and see if it even worth putting a death sentence on the gen 7s.

[cennar]

No, however relying on a gimmick to carry the console and leaving out high definition support when those TVs were gaining market share and quickly getting cheaper did.

I mean seriously Nintendo you couldn't be bothered to even make it run at 720p?

got to make money fast with the piles of people with old tv's who are going to want to buy the updated one latter. makes sense. you stick two game cubes together and wam on a gyroscope inferred motion tracking for a 300$ release and have plenty of them. As for your games, well this is one of those consoles that sells more hardware, soft ware was all dimmed down stuff you'd played before, BUT with motion control! so it makes sense now that they need to make money they will have to find developers, if they don't then you'll see another Wii-tastic thing that will bore me after ten minutes of novelty play, with said before port games with new fangle stick wave around game play win technique.

[Hifeno]

Kinect may be innovative but all I have seen by way of games they are just Wii Ports with no avatar support.

Can Nintendo not just update the firmware of the Wii to output HD. That is how they added everything else that is on it now.

[Bush]

That would require a new gpu.