HeyU! WhoMii? YesU, WillU WiiU?

Professor Snugglesworth

See This? (NSF56K)

Ever imagined a time when Nintendo's games would match that shot, in both resolution and definition? Seems like a pipe dream, doesn't it, since Nintendo's most profitable ventures in the last decade have been in their budget-priced (and developed) systems.

Well, there have been rumors forever that the Big N is finally ready to go HD with their next console. Can't trust a couple of sources on the internet? How about five, and counting?

Taken from GAF's thread:

Credible Rumors:

- New console using a R700 AMD GPU [CVG]
- Also using a TriCore PPC similar to the one in X360 [CVG]
- Minimum of 512MB RAM [CVG]
- 25GB Optical Disc & 8GB of on-board flash [Kotaku]
- No built-in HDD included, SD card dependent [Kotaku]
- Controller has a 6.2" touchscreen on it [Kotaku]
- Controller also has the standard set of controls & buttons (d-pad, dual analog, 4 face buttons, 2 shoulders & 2 triggers) [Kotaku]
- Controller also has a camera & gyros/accelerometers [Joystiq]
- Backwards compatible with Wiimote
- More powerful than PS360 (significantly or just a tad bit is undefined) [Game Informer/IGN]
- Production starts as early as October 2011 [Fudzilla]

Reasonable Rumors:

- Devs have had dev kits since sometime last year (just after E3 2010) [Edge]
- Rockstar has something to show (GTA V?) & so does Retro (DKCR2?) [01net][Fudzilla]
- Possible name for system is Stream [IGN]
- $350-$450 price point [IGN]
- Optical Disc is Blu-ray based [Blu-ray.com]
- Launch date June 2012 [01net]
- No Friend Codes [1UP]
- IR sensors in the controller
- Size of original X360 & resembles modern SNES [IGN]
- Backwards compatible with Wii, GameCube [My Nintendo News]

Wild Rumors:

- Trackpad on back of controller [Juegos DB]
- Haptics & Vitality Sensor built into controller [Loading]
- Retro's game is Eternal Darkness 2 [Zelda Informer]

Things Confirmed:

- Nintendo to work with an outside company to help build better online [Wired]
Originally Posted by Satoru Iwata:
In the field of networks in particular, however, I admit that we cannot do business in pace with the changes in the world and the requests from consumers only within our company and with development companies we have long been in touch with. I am not sure which term suits us as collaborations for this purpose, [mergers and acquisitions] or partnership.
- Nintendo working closely with 3rd parties to bring games to Nintendo platforms.
- System will support High Definition graphics (1080p assumed)
- System will not launch on or before March 31st, 2012 [NCL]

Nintendo will finally reveal their new system this Tuesday at E3. There's still some time left for all your crazy predictions. Just don't mention using the 3DS as a controller. That's stupid.

Also, I've written a new blog post about how I'd want five of Nintendo's biggest franchises to be handled. Give it a read, why not.

A duck!

Console developer releases HD console, and other news from 2005.

Professor Snugglesworth

Better late than never.

Lots of Nintendo fans have been convinced on "never".

Moioink

I want a new Starfox, a new F-Zero and no waggle.

Everything else is of secondary importance.

Sterica

I wonder how the other two will respond. This generation seems like it'll be longer than others, so will they even bother to move up their next-gen timetable if this is true?

Algertman

Great, now Pachter will ramble on about he was right.

SirUltimos

I'm really not thrilled at having to buy a new console, but I will anyway. It's tough being me.

agoaj

I don't know why everyone is surpised

Miyamoto: If you look at the technology thats out there and the companies that Nintendo partners with we could have done that very easily. It's not just about graphics, its the gameplay, it's about art direction, it's about the interface. We felt that this time, going in the HD direction, the balance was too much on the graphics. Five years down the road, I think its a given that Nintendo will create an HD system. We thought it would be better to allow you to interact with any TV, not just for people with access to this expensive technology.

http://kotaku.com/#!173071/e306-super-smash-bros-brawl-qa

DHS

Jesus, this news/rumor is so sudden and over the top it's like a Nintendo Revolution thread on gamefaqs from 2004 took over the fabric of reality.

agoaj

I remember the Nintendo Megathread here where people thought the Wii was going to have a special chip to do vector graphics.

DHS

The best is ALLLLLLL the speculation over the "Revolution" controller, and how it was too secret and awesome to reveal, lest it be stolen by the competition. In retrospect?



Probably justified.

Zxerol

To be fair, that was only after years of the Wii stomping on everything like Godzilla in Tokyo, and it was just only a matter of time before Microsoft and Sony started seeing untapped $$$ and getting in on the whole waggle wagon. Sony just was a little more obvious about it.

DHS

Yeah, that's true, this was more of a joke on the clarity of hindsight.

Moioink

There was even an Edge article where they visited Sony R&D back in the PS2 days showing all the goofy controllers Sony had been experimenting with and a wand controller with Eyetoy was one of them. Playstation Move as a prototype had been in the Sony labs long before the Wii came out so no it wasn't stolen.

mntorankusu

Having (touch) screens in the controllers would be bitchin'

The HD thing is ridiculous, but even like a Game Boy Advance-resolution screen on every Wii2 controller could make for some amazing shit. The VMU and GBA connectivity never really went anywhere, but that's not because it wasn't a good idea.

-Tal

I really don't want to pay >$100 for a new controller, though.

Zxerol

The only concept I thought was ultra cool and novel for GBA<->GC connectivity was PacMan Vs. Which I still do not own. I should probably get on that.

mntorankusu

Small and low resolution LCD screens are super cheap. I don't know how much junk they would need to add to make the controller capable of displaying things on the screen, but the added cost of the LCD itself probably wouldn't be more than a few dollars.

Edit: Your biggest concern, then, would be battery life on the controllers. But I don't think that would end up being a problem either.

DHS

And the Nintendo Wii's success had nothing to do with becoming a retail product? I guarantee the product on shelves now wouldn't be there if Nintendo hadn't had success with theirs. Even so, "a wand" isn't the only thing the two final products have in common. Sony had to have cribbed some ideas there, it's just too close.

If Sony had known with enough time that a competitor was going to produce a similar product, they would've pounced for that market share. As they did even when Nintendo had thoroughly beaten them to the punch. It's not the idea that matters here, it was the selling, and if the competitors had known, they wouldn't have been caught off-guard.

Synthesis

So...I guess Nintendo's hoping to get the jump on Microsoft and Sony at this rate?

Good to hear about Wii backwards compatibility. And I'm happy to hear that it'll be at least as powerful (and presumably more) than the PS3 or the Xbox 360.

Not terribly enthused in the proposed controller though. An HD screen on a controller? Hmmm...

SightTDW

Just have it actually connect to the 3DS, please. I want Crystal Chonicles/Four Swords style somethings already. I've got a bag full of GBA/GCN link cables Nintendo. You owe me.

EDIT: And rechargeable controllers.

Chris FOM

I definitely believe this rumor. There are multiple sources on multiple sites that do have enough credibility on the factual side of things that they wouldn't be this assertive if they didn't know. Also when details start leaking and not just "new system coming!!!" that also lends quite a bit of credence. It also makes sense of some other unrelated comments that I heard from elsewhere.

Linespider5

I guess this makes sense. Neither Sony nor Microsoft are in any rush to introduce new hardware and want to keep things as is. Still, this is awfully ballsy of Nintendo, since they're already kind of incumbent.

...

We're still getting Skyward Sword on the Wii though, right?

Right?

Moioink

DHS wrote: »

And the Nintendo Wii's success had nothing to do with becoming a retail product? I guarantee the product on shelves now wouldn't be there if Nintendo hadn't had success with theirs. Even so, "a wand" isn't the only thing the two final products have in common. Sony had to have cribbed some ideas there, it's just too close.

If Sony had known with enough time that a competitor was going to produce a similar product, they would've pounced for that market share. As they did even when Nintendo had thoroughly beaten them to the punch. It's not the idea that matters here, it was the selling, and if the competitors had known, they wouldn't have been caught off-guard.

Sometimes companies don't want to take a risk, that's all. To say that Sony "stole" the concept of something they had been working on for nearly 10 years is just wrong. They didn't "crib some ideas" either: The technology is completely different in implementation to the Wii remote and was developed concurrently with the original Eyetoy and was not a big secret (like I said, it was featured in a British magazine). You could make a stronger argument that Nintendo "stole" Sony's idea (not that I am saying they did).

UncleSporky

So if the controller does have a screen, what would you assume it'd be used for? For starters there's all the basic DS sort of functionality - a map, inventory, stats, etc.

I really like the idea of using it as a tool for increased immersion. You're a space marine and this is your all-purpose wrist computer. You're out catching Pokemon and this is your Pokedex. You're a detective and this is your notepad to scribble clues down on.

You point it at the screen and motion sensors help treat it as a viewfinder, letting you see "through" the controller to things that were invisible on the TV.

Htown

I believe it this time.

This is the first time I can remember with an actual months-long Wii game drought. Not one of the fake ones that people pretend about to fuel system wars nonsense or because they aren't paying attention. There has literally been nothing of interest on the Wii for months, and very little word from Nintendo about upcoming releases for the platform.

Nintendo doesn't pay its employees to sit around on their butts, they have to be working on something.

I just hope we get a Xenoblade localization before the Wii is done.

Couscous

http://wii.ign.com/articles/116/1161875p1.html

A report from CVG states the new Nintendo console will use an all-new controller - not an updated Wii controller - with sources saying it will have a built-in screen. Additional sources informed IGN the screen has touch capability.

Sounds like the controller screen is a real thing.

Couscous

UncleSporky wrote: »

So if the controller does have a screen, what would you assume it'd be used for? For starters there's all the basic DS sort of functionality - a map, inventory, stats, etc.

I really like the idea of using it as a tool for increased immersion. You're a space marine and this is your all-purpose wrist computer. You're out catching Pokemon and this is your Pokedex. You're a detective and this is your notepad to scribble clues down on.

You point it at the screen and motion sensors help treat it as a viewfinder, letting you see "through" the controller to things that were invisible on the TV.

Something like the Gamecube Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles or Pacman Vs.

Rami

Still not buying this. A screen in a controller would likely require it to be a two handed controller, which is a backwards step over the remote and nunchuck style, and really kills motion controls beyond some tilting. It also makes backwards compatability with the Wii sucky as you'd have to keep old controllers and new customers would have to seek out old hardware. I also can't imagine what worthwhile information you would need an HD screen on the controller for, that's a huge gimmick to replace a menu or map screen.

Couscous

It also makes backwards compatability with the Wii sucky as you'd have to keep old controllers and new customers would have to seek out old hardware.

The Wii's BC already works that way so I don't see the problem.

Dritz

Slowly edging from not believing this even a little bit to not believing it but entertaining that maybe it could happen. If so seems odd to hear about a late-2012 console from Nintendo so early. Seems like they moved away from that with the 3DS and various software titles not called Skyward Sword.

Rami

It's less than ideal, and one controller split into two halves is better than traditional, unflexable, pads anyway. They also made a pretty big deal of making a simpler controller design to attract non-gamers and I don't see them going back on that so readily, especially when remote+nunchuck already covers the function of a traditional pad exactly, while being more comfortable.

And like I said, motion controls with a two hander aren't going to work, and a one handed controller would have to have a tiny screen due to bulk restrictions.

If we're talking VMU here, then maybe. But that isn't going to be HD.

Chris FOM

Nintendow as starting to talk about the Revolution in 2005, and Sony also formally announced the PS3 in 2005 as well. The timing really isn't that suspicious. They've also been really hitting the third party angle hard with the 3DS, but the Wii well was poisoned a long time ago. They might feel it will take an entirely new system to wipe that slate clean to the point of working out.

Linespider5

Couscous wrote: »

It also makes backwards compatability with the Wii sucky as you'd have to keep old controllers and new customers would have to seek out old hardware.

The Wii's BC already works that way so I don't see the problem.

I suppose I could buy the next Nintendo console having some kind of eye on it strictly for backwards compatibility for the wiimotes-or, more likely, just a port on the back to plug the sensor bar's cord into for the same.

Nintendo has always been an absolute master at making their newest machine make its predecessor look like stale toast. Although it would amuse me to no end to see Nintendo give up the motion control after forcing everyone else into following suite, it's probably going to still be there, one way or another.

I'm thinking something like the wiimote, but without the nunchuck attachment, but something like it. I think the touchscreen might replace the thumbstick completely. That's my best guess at least.

V Faction

A question for people:

Would you prefer Zelda: Skyword Sword to stick to its original Wii destination, hopefully coming out some time this year after E3, or would you want it to be moved to the next Nintendo console, offering a much cleaner-looking, better-running, but ultimately not made-from-the-ground-up for the system game with the potential for a delay?

In my head, I'm running the scenarios. I personally don't have an answer, but I can imagine what the reaction might be. If Nintendo does in fact announce a new console but decides to keep Skyward Sword on the Wii, the potential to hurt the sales of the game, as well as invoke the wrath of the gaming base's cynicism, comes as a result. People may feel the Wii to be obsolete and thus forgo any interest in the remaining software yet to be released on the console.

However, there's the flipside. If they have a new console and announce SS as a new title for it, there's a population of gamers who will be infuriated at the idea of having to buy another console to play a single game when they were expecting it to be on one they already owned. This increases the danger of folks dropping the Wii completely, and perhaps even all future Nintendo consoles.

In either case, there's a chance for a large sense of betrayal to be felt by both parties. If you have no interest in Zelda or SS, then this doesn't apply to you (but then again, why do you have a Wii in the first place), so please feel free to ignore the discussion. For the rest of us, how do you feel?

Heleor

If they end up doing the same as Twilight Princess before it, I don't see many people getting annoyed over it.

Spectral Swallow

I really hope at least one of the next gen consoles places a HEAVY emphasis on head tracking (like that dudes wii demo). When I saw that a couple years ago I completely believed THAT was the future of video games. I mean even just watching on the computer, it looked 3d.
As for Nintendo's new console, I could see the screen on the controller being useful for 'party' games where you need to hide your selection from someone using the same TV, but otherwise I'm fairly burned out on the gimmicky controllers.

Edit for video, on the offchance nobody has seen it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw

-Tal

Skyward Sword can still make 2011, leaving a whole year until the next console.

Linespider5

Heleor wrote: »

If they end up doing the same as Twilight Princess before it, I don't see many people getting annoyed over it.

Yeah. Either a dual release for both systems, or, possibly, re-release on the new console with New Stuff and improved graphics. Skyward Sword was supposed to be all but ready for this year, after all. End of 2012 is kind of a long way away. I know Nintendo will always do whatever they want, but something in me questions them delaying something that damn far.

Zxerol

Depends. Which version has him left-handed?

RidleySaria

I'm as eager as anybody to have the Wii unceremoniously shoved out the door. Shit has been a disaster in my eyes, no matter how well Nintendo made out. Still, I'm not going to let the rumors excited me. We can dream up all kinds of crazy cool uses for an HD touch screen controller but history shows that Nintendo won't even scratch the surface of that awesome potential. Miyamoto probably used an iPad and thought "This would be perfect for a dress making simulator" cause he recently took up sewing. E3 rolls around, we're all baffled, Nintendo sells a shitload to grandmas and Ubisoft starts a whole line of Stitchingz shovelware.