Nintendo looking to release HD console before 2011

[mrpayroll]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/speculation-mounts-on-new-nintendo-hardware

Speculation mounts on new Nintendo hardware

A fresh round of speculation about new hardware from Nintendo has been reported this morning, ahead of the company's autumn press presentation tomorrow.

According to What They Play, Nintendo is currently showing new Wii hardware to developers and publishers, with a view to releasing a high-definition console before 2011.

The new console is currently dubbed Wii HD and would be a true successor to the Wii, rather than a simple hardware refresh, in a similar move to Nintendo's migration from Game Boy to Game Boy Advance.

It's suggested that the new console will feature high-definition visuals, a greater emphasis on backwards compatibility and digital distribution, and a large storage solution.

The report notes that Nintendo has more than tripled its internal research and development spend since the release of the Wii back in 2006.

And following reports earlier in the week that Nintendo is due to announce a new DS tomorrow, complete with built-in camera, music playback and improved wireless functions, analysts have told Bloomberg that the company is also likely to release new Wii hardware bundles rather than cut the price of the current market-leading home console.

"Nintendo has no need to cut the Wii's price,'' said Takashi Oka, of CSK Institute for Sustainability.

"If Nintendo cuts prices now, people who already bought the Wii will feel they've lost money. Nintendo won't do such a thing," he said.


This all makes sense to me. The next generation Wii should be high definition, should include a large storage solution and most importantly should distribute its games via digital download. There is no reason to keep the same methods of purchasing a game via physical media which can be damaged or lost. By 2010 or so, most people will be buying their music, movies & games via digitial download. That is my prediction!

Also, since the Wii will still be hard to find thru this holiday season, it makes perfect sense to create Wii bundles where Nintendo can sell more games and accessories at a lower price. There is no need in the near future to lower the price of the Wii.


Chris

[Rob V]

This will probably be the first console I skip. The Wii has done nothing but sit in my entertainment center waiting for my niece and nephew to visit every 12 months. If the quality of Nintendo games don't improve then I'll never purchase another Nintendo product again... but, if they can give me some high quality sporting events (ie golf or tennis) in HD, I might bite.

[discostu1337]

yes! 3 more years until Mario Galaxy HD, Mario Party HD, Zelda HD, and Metroid HD ;)

[mrpayroll]

yes! 3 more years until Mario Galaxy HD, Mario Party HD, Zelda HD, and Metroid HD ;)

Well, the story said before 2011, so I'm predicting Sunday November 7th or 14th, 2010.

Chris

[Liver&Onions]

I'm with Rob - I only touch my Wii when I get games that I have to review. It's sad really. Poor little thing, sitting there all sad and mopey. But at least it has the PS3 to commiserate with.

[Decker]

Makes sense. They were five years late with online play, so another five years to go HD seems about right.

[discostu1337]

I'm with Rob - I only touch my Wii when I get games that I have to review. It's sad really. Poor little thing, sitting there all sad and mopey.

Heh...touch your wii :)

[Liver&Onions]

The real sad part is that I have, metroid, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, paper mario(s), all sitting waiting to be played.

[Raul3]

It'll be interesting to see how much they improve the hardware. Will it be, in processing power, something close to the Xbox 360 and PS3? below them?
With all the advancements in hardware they should be able to fit hardware that does near HD in the current case.

[sauce07]

Nintendo has all this momentum in sales but the creative side are running around like chickens without heads.

[pinata242]

I have no interest at this point in time for Wii 2. I have no interest in Wii 1 that I spent 16+ hours waiting in line for at launch.

Eventually Metroid, Zelda, and Mario could bring me back in, but I might just end up borrowing someone else's for the time.

They're going to have to seriously revamp their entire view on appealing to gamers like me. Gamers that grew up with and love Nintendo and hate to see their potential not even approached, let alone fully realized.

[starseed1981]

I dunno. I love Nintendo. But the Wii is the most expensive paperweight I own. The last time I touched it was for Kart, prior to that Galaxy and prior to that Wii sports that came with it.

[gimmepilotwings]

If they can do some of the enhancements that we have seen with 3rd party tools, I'd be definitely interested. Hell, I'm already interested.

[The Bus]

I'm interested but I think I've played Oblivion more than I have my Wii.

[pinata242]

If they can do some of the enhancements that we have seen with 3rd party tools, I'd be definitely interested. Hell, I'm already interested.

I wouldn't get your hopes up. Word is that
there will still be no Pilot Wings.
:(

[steebo777]

I am truly surprised at everyone that doesn't play the Wii anymore. I am on mine at least 3-5 days per week. Mostly for Kart or Brawl, but also for a lot of VC Games (just beat Super Metroid last night!) and WiiWare games (MM9 kicks my ass). The biggest disappointment for me is about to happen when they don't release jacksh*t this Christmas. WiiMusic is a joke IMO, and they have nothing else that appeals to me for this holiday :(

At least I bought a PS3 not too long ago :D

[FatTony]

So it'll be 720p and have a 10gb hard drive, then?

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed my time with the Wii, but it peaked way too early. The release slate is anemic at best. They've already put out most of their heavy-hitters, and many of those, while good, were simply more-of-the-same (Kart, Brawl, Galaxy). Meanwhile, third-party support seems almost entirely limited to kid-friendly shovelware.

Regardless, I'll be skipping the Wii HD. Sad to think that there will be a Nintendo system that I'll be skipping, but their glory days are behind them as far as serious gaming is concerned. I'll be picking up a PS3 in the near future to meet my gaming (and blu-ray) "needs" that Nintendo has failed to satisfy.

[thelwig14]

I bought a Wii again on Friday to see if the things have changed. They haven't. I did enjoy going through some of the Zapper games (like Ghost Squad), but that was short lived.

Mario Kart is coming in the mail and it is my last ditch effort to keep my Wii. If I don't get into it, I will sell the whole thing, which I probably will anyway as I can't justify $300 for one game.

But my biggest complaint with the Wii is still.....the Virtual Console SUCKS! There is just no other way to say it. All those games at their disposal with numerous systems and they release a title or two a week to cover the entire portfolio of options.

[fujishig]

This all makes sense to me. The next generation Wii should be high definition, should include a large storage solution and most importantly should distribute its games via digital download. There is no reason to keep the same methods of purchasing a game via physical media which can be damaged or lost. By 2010 or so, most people will be buying their music, movies & games via digitial download. That is my prediction!

Chris

I really hope they don't do digital distribution only. Physical media can be damaged or lost, but hard drives can also fail, and I shudder to think what kind of DRM Nintendo will use. Not to mention the time it'll take for an HD game to download/install.

[Michael Corvin]

I am truly surprised at everyone that doesn't play the Wii anymore. I am on mine at least 3-5 days per week. Mostly for Kart or Brawl, but also for a lot of VC Games (just beat Super Metroid last night!) and WiiWare games (MM9 kicks my ass). The biggest disappointment for me is about to happen when they don't release jacksh*t this Christmas. WiiMusic is a joke IMO, and they have nothing else that appeals to me for this holiday :(

At least I bought a PS3 not too long ago :D

If my choices were Wii & PS3 I'd probably be on the Wii 3-5 days a week as well. Pick up a 360 and you'd be singing a different tune. :D Seriously. I don't have a problem with the Wii, I finished Okami a few weeks ago and put about 60 hours into it, but I wouldn't have if my 360 hadn't RROD'd on me. I have Metroid 3 and RE4 still sitting there staring at me, but as long as my 360 is kickin', the Wii is a paperweight.

As for Wii2, Nintendo is going to have to seriously prove that they are going to support the 'core' gamers instead of chasing the casual gamer money train. I doubt those casual consumers that ate up the Wii will be on board a Wii2 so soon.

[The Bus]

If my choices were Wii & PS3 I'd probably be on the Wii 3-5 days a week as well. Pick up a 360 and you'd be singing a different tune. :D

:lol:

"Hey guys! Watching PBS isn't that boring!" (When your alternative is watching paint dry)

[spainlinx0]

I haven't played it as much as my 360, but I still wouldn't consider money wasted. I spent a LOT of time playing Galaxy, No More Heroes, Zelda, Strikers, Metroid, and I made pretty much all my money back selling some of those games. I sold WarioWare for 45 bucks just a month ago!

[GreenMonkey]

I still haven't played Mario, finished Zelda, finished Rayman RR, unlocked everything in Mario Kart or Brawl, etc. We still haven't bought RE4 or Metroid either.

My buddy and I are busy cracking out on Soul Calibur IV :D

There's plenty of Wii gaming for folks that don't put in hours upon hours every week.

The only people that are griping are those that blow through a game every few days or weeks...and want to know what's next. Nintendo is never going to be able to keep you happy. ;)

You know how many 360 games I've finished since I got it in Feb 2007? 2. Gears and DMC4. Maybe you can count Soul Calibur since I've finished the the main Tower mode.

Sure, I spent a lot of hours playing multiplayer Gears online. Lots of hours. I could probably have finished another handful of games if it wasn't for the Gears addiction. I'd still have a massive backlog.

Hell I've got about 3 dozen PS2 / Xbox / GC games still backlogged. Tons of 'em.

[mzupeman2]

I now already feel as if I've lost money in the Wii. This is horrible. They should have waited instead of jumping the gun.

[fumanstan]

Seems about right. I bet it would sell tons since the Wii name is so popular now and throw in HD behind it and by 2010 even more casual folks will buy into it.

[Sonny Corinthos]

I have had a Wii since lauch day and it sees little to no action. If Animal Crossing: City Folks doesn't peak my attention, nothing will. Nintendo just keeps rehashing the same old crap of bull for each console it comes out with.

Like the poster said earlier, all the games will be Mario, Zela, Mario Kart, Anmal Crossing, Mario Party, Mario Baseball all with an HD on the end of the title.

Don't get me wrong, I have always been a Nintendo fan but enough is enough with the same old titles, different console bs.

[PopcornTreeCt]

They ought to call it the Nintendo AD-HD. First you'll love it, then you'll never play it again!

[cousindave]

I do the Wii Sports Fitness test daily and I usually spend a little more over an hour using the Wii Fit. Only other games I have are Wii Play and Mario Kart, those I usually only play when my nephew is around. I just ordered Metroid used on Amazon - Metroid was my favorite NES & SNES game, I skipped the Game Cube all together, maybe I'll get the Game Cube Metroid games one of these days, I just don't play games very much, and I'll probably get Mario & Zelda as well. I also downloaded a bunch of old games, would download more if there was more space. I'm going to get Rock Band for the Wii as well.

I may get a PS3 but that will mostly be fore Blu-Ray, If I get a PS3 I'll get Rock Band for it, but doubt there are any other games I'd get, I just don't have the paitence for games like Grand Theft Auto.

[nickdawgy]

The real sad part is that I have, metroid, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, paper mario(s), all sitting waiting to be played.

I am in the same boat, sans Metroid.

[Giantrobo]

But, but, but, it's nooot about the graaaaaphiiiics...:lol:

Nope, sorry Nintendo. I fell for the hype once but not a second time. I mean I may still buy the new Wii, but only after I really see that the system will be something I'll enjoy.

I don't need another $250+ paperweight.

[Rob V]

There is a new Punch-Out game coming out. I may pick that up but I've found that most of the remakes of my youth "classics" are bunk.

There is probably only one way I'd purchase the HD version of the Wii and that's if they make a killer Star Wars game that takes advantage of motion controls for the saber --- a Star Wars: Force Unleashed is a prime example of a game that would work and (sadly) convince me to buy the system.

[boredsilly]

I still haven't played Mario, finished Zelda, finished Rayman RR, unlocked everything in Mario Kart or Brawl, etc. We still haven't bought RE4 or Metroid either.

My buddy and I are busy cracking out on Soul Calibur IV :D

There's plenty of Wii gaming for folks that don't put in hours upon hours every week.

The only people that are griping are those that blow through a game every few days or weeks...and want to know what's next. Nintendo is never going to be able to keep you happy. ;)

You know how many 360 games I've finished since I got it in Feb 2007? 2. Gears and DMC4. Maybe you can count Soul Calibur since I've finished the the main Tower mode.


Yeah, I agree with you. A lot of people had similar complaints about the Gamecube, only not to this extent, and I was always happy with that machine.

Like you mentioned some of the guys around here put in a shit load of playing time. I don't see how they do it. I enjoy playing games, but get bored rather quickly, which is why I don't play all that much. On my 360 I've only really put considerable time into Crackdown, Gears, Pac Man:CE, Puzzle Fighter, TMNT, Portal, and the Geometry Wars games. And by considerable time I mean I beat them -- with most of these games being pretty damn short. There are a few more I want to get around to eventually, but I'm waiting for the price to get to that sub $30 sweet spot.

So looking at the games on Wii, I would be content with the amount of stuff on it. I only want to play about 7-10 games on it, but that would keep me busy for a good while. Which makes sense since I'm pretty casual about playing games these days, which is the demo for the Wii. I'll get one when it's around $150.

[Michael Corvin]

Like you mentioned some of the guys around here put in a shit load of playing time. I don't see how they do it. I enjoy playing games, but get bored rather quickly, which is why I don't play all that much.

Very fitting user name then.

[boredsilly]

I try. -wink-

[Kelkee]

But, but, but, it's nooot about the graaaaaphiiiics...:lol:

Nope, sorry Nintendo. I fell for the hype once but not a second time. I mean I may still buy the new Wii, but only after I really see that the system will be something I'll enjoy.

I don't need another $250+ paperweight.

Exactly what games are you playing instead?

[spainlinx0]

People are so hostile towards Nintendo on this board. I love my 360, but damn people, the Wii didn't rape your mother.

[Giantrobo]

People are so hostile towards Nintendo on this board. I love my 360, but damn people, the Wii didn't rape your mother.

rotfl

[steebo777]

People are so hostile towards Nintendo on this board. I love my 360, but damn people, the Wii didn't rape your mother.
I heard the Wii is the new Lucas... it not only rapes childhoods but mothers too!

[mrpayroll]

People are so hostile towards Nintendo on this board. I love my 360, but damn people, the Wii didn't rape your mother.

Speaking of mothers, my mom (76) and her first husband (81) play the Wii 3 or 4 days a week. They of course are using Wii Fit quite a lot. They actually have 2 Wii's, one for the living room and one for outside. It was easier than moving it back and forth! :lol:

Chris

[dvdsteve2000]

People are so hostile towards Nintendo on this board. I love my 360, but damn people, the Wii didn't rape your mother.

I openly hate Nintendo, but only because they force me to. I have 16 games for the Wii (and the Wii of course) that my 3 kids don't even want to play.

I had to buy a (another) DS Lite because 6 months after I bought the regular DS, the DS LIte came out and all of the accessories, including the stylus, don't fit/work on the original. My oldest son had the original, my middle son got a Lite. As we went to buy accessories for them, there was only stuff for the lite. My oldest son was jacked, so we ended up getting him one too.

Some bad decisions from Nintendo (IMO of course):

Playstation releases, N64 stays with the cardtridge instead of a CD, and that controller is ass.

Playstation 2 & Xbox release, Gamecube goes with a mini-CD instead of full size with DVD capabilities...as DVD starts to boom...and the controller was ass.

PS3 & 360 release, Wii not only doesn't support DVD (still), but as HD booms, they opt for SD graphics and no hard drive to speak of...BUT WAIT, YOU CAN WIGGLE YOUR CONTROLLER AROUND!!! GREAT FOR THE ELDERLY & INFANTS!!! EXERCISE YOUR FAT ASS WHILE YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES!!! ...and the controller is ass.

Nintendo DS...no wait, Nintendo DS LITE!!!...no wait, Nintendo DS-i SUPER-DUPER ULTRA LITE, WITH GINSENG!!!

The Nintendo "WiiFinallyDecidedToDoWhatWiiShould'veDoneInTheFirstPlace"?? Say it isn't so!! A Wii in HD, with an HD, that may play DVD???

I had enough of Nintendo's shit.

[GreenMonkey]

I[rant clipped...]
Nintendo DS...no wait, Nintendo DS LITE!!!...no wait, Nintendo DS-i SUPER-DUPER ULTRA LITE, WITH GINSENG!!!

I had enough of Nintendo's shit.

Stuff changes. Geez. Did Nintendo rape your child's childhood? Is that that story now? :rolleyes:

My wife has my fat DS, it still plays games fine. OMG she can't use the Dragon Quest stylus I just bought. Big whoopee.

[dvdsteve2000]

But I wouldn't be ranting if I didn't have my DQ junk. The original DS plays games just fine. I don't see the issue.


Telling your 8 year old that he can't put his stylus in the slot, "just keep it somewhere", and "yeah, your brother has this cool armor case for his, but you can't have one", and "hey that's a cool Mario lunchbox DSLite carrying case for your system & accessories but you can't have one" is different than your wife using yours.

For the PS2-slim, they didn't discontinue the controller for the PS2 and make new ones for the slim that wouldn't work on the regular PS2.

[Raul3]

Who's buying all those Wiis if everybody here hates Nintendo? ;)

[fujishig]

But dvdsteve, Nintendo's ploy worked, you bought your son a new DS. They're laughing all the way to the bank, especially if they were making money on the Wii console itself from early on.

Also, note that the only other portable system, the PSP, did much the same thing as the DS in regards to making a "lite" system, and apparently is set to do another upgrade. You'd complain a lot more if they did a real revision, like the GBC, which had games that a regular Gameboy couldn't play.

edited to add: and I see you've already posted on the DSi thread... :)

[dvdsteve2000]

But dvdsteve, Nintendo's ploy worked, you bought your son a new DS. They're laughing all the way to the bank, especially if they were making money on the Wii console itself from early on.

Also, note that the only other portable system, the PSP, did much the same thing as the DS in regards to making a "lite" system, and apparently is set to do another upgrade. You'd complain a lot more if they did a real revision, like the GBC, which had games that a regular Gameboy couldn't play.

Sure, they got my money, but they lost a future customer, thanks to the DS & the Wii.

I knew better than to get into the PSP, so I have no gripe with Sony. I bought a PS3 to use as a BR player, and that's what it does.

[fujishig]

I'm just saying this happens with a lot of things, especially portables. The DS, the PSP, cell phones, iPods, they all have new versions that come out, and then the accessories for the old versions dry up.

[dvdsteve2000]

I accept that, and I expect that, to an extent. When the stylus doesn't fit in the thing anymore, that's huge to me. This was my first experience with any handhelds, and it left a bad enough taste in my mouth that I won't go back. I have a 30gb ipod from last gen, and it didn't bother me at all when I saw the new ones, and I actually will buy a Touch because it brings something new to the table. As for cell phones, they change daily...acceptable. Mine takes pics, surfs the web, plays music, etc..., that's all I need. I had no anger or remorse upgrading from a standard 'call only' phone to what I have now, because of the changes. To not be able to use accessories because of a case redesign is ass, especially when the original DS wasn't that old to begin with. If the Lite added some new features, I could justify it, Hell, I would've been happy with the repurchase.

[shumway]

The only actual feature it added was more and better lighting that the DS Phat didn't have. It, as you are aware only has light on or off. The light has off and I think 3 levels of brightness on the backlight.

[fujishig]

btw, you can still buy the old stylus directly from nintendo:
http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=83651&currency=USD&catalogId=10001&tranId=0&lastAction=setCurr&storeId=10001&languageId=-1&categoryId=58694&ddkey=http:SetCurrencyPreference

[boredsilly]

I openly hate Nintendo, but only because they force me to. I have 16 games for the Wii (and the Wii of course) that my 3 kids don't even want to play.

Your complaints seem like those of a person who's just buying the wrong products. Is it Nintendo's fault that your kids don't want to play those games anymore? Maybe your kids just grew tired of them or they want a different kind of experience with games? Either way that seems like something you would have noticed before buying 16 titles (unless you bought a lot of them at the same time). I can understand your frustration with owning something but not getting what you want out of it, but it seems like you're misplacing your anger a bit here.


Playstation 2 & Xbox release, Gamecube goes with a mini-CD instead of full size with DVD capabilities...as DVD starts to boom...and the controller was ass.

I'm curious, in what way did the Gamecube's use of mini-CD effect you and your gaming experience? What's your argument here? The N64 use of cartridges did effect the price of some games, but the mini-cds of the Gamecube delivered the same exact (if not better) experiences of their dvd counter parts . Yes, the Gamecube didn't have a dvd player, but there was nothing written in stone that said it needed one either. I was buying a game machine, not a game machine that could do X, Y, and Z.

You say you didn't like either the N64 or Gamecube controllers, which is totally fair to say. Preference and all that jazz, but I found both of them to be really great for the games on those systems.

[darkside]

But, but, but, it's nooot about the graaaaaphiiiics...:lol:

Nope, sorry Nintendo. I fell for the hype once but not a second time. I mean I may still buy the new Wii, but only after I really see that the system will be something I'll enjoy.

I don't need another $250+ paperweight.

No kidding. I'm really not interested in buying into this again. I've tried to use my Wii as much as possible, but Nintendo has made that difficult. The VC makes it worth owning, but I don't need the Wii2 for that.

[Michael Corvin]

This really isn't news. 2011 puts the Wii lifecycle at 5 years which is the norm. Nintendo would be hard pressed to release an SD system in 2011.

[JasonF]

The real sad part is that I have, metroid, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, paper mario(s), all sitting waiting to be played.

What the hell is wrong with you!?!?!

Seriously, those games are as good as anything you'll find on any other platform.

[GreenMonkey]

What the hell is wrong with you!?!?!

Seriously, those games are as good as anything you'll find on any other platform.

Me too, pretty much the same backlog as L&O.

My issue is simply time. 2.5 yr old, 1 yr old, and a wife in grad school, plus work = no time.

What time I do have is a couple of hours at nighttime some nights...generally sucked up by Gears multiplayer / Soul Calibur IV multiplayer.

[JasonF]

I understand not having enough time to game. I don't have enough time to game anywhere near as much as I would like. I'm just saying that when you do have an hour or two to play a game, that time would be well spent with the games L&O listed.

[mrpayroll]

This really isn't news. 2011 puts the Wii lifecycle at 5 years which is the norm. Nintendo would be hard pressed to release an SD system in 2011.

Well ! :grunt:

Chris

[maxfisher]

I'd be a little disappointed with the Wii if I did all my gaming solo. If I'm playing single player or online, my gaming time probably breaks down to about:
60% - 360
20% - PS3
20% - Wii

When friends are over, though, it's more like:
80% - Wii
10% - 360
10% - PS3

I imagine I'll pick up the Wii HD whenever it comes out, but I doubt it will do much to change my single-player habits.

[xmiyux]

I'd be a little disappointed with the Wii if I did all my gaming solo. If I'm playing single player or online, my gaming time probably breaks down to about:
60% - 360
20% - PS3
20% - Wii

When friends are over, though, it's more like:
80% - Wii
10% - 360
10% - PS3

I imagine I'll pick up the Wii HD whenever it comes out, but I doubt it will do much to change my single-player habits.

I imagine the second breakdown would also be me if i didn't own Rock Band. I borrowed a Wii for a little while and still company only wanted to play drums on the 360. :lol: