Given that speculation has been rife about a potential HD successor to the Wii for some time now, news of Nintendo’s next home console may or may not come as much of a surprise. Taking into account the absolute drought of first party Wii support recently, it might not be a surprise at all. Even so, the internet is currently exploding at the news that Nintendo may be preparing to announce it’s next system as soon as this years E3, if not before. Regardless of the level of your surprise, that’s probably sooner than many of us have expected.
Tipped off by multiple sources, the story was originally revealed by Game Informer just a short time ago, setting the internet into overdrive and prompting both IGN and Kotaku among others to come forward with their own sources and snippets of information. According to reports, Nintendo’s next console is believed to be “significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 3” and will pack support for full 1080p HD. Backwards compatibility with the Wii has also been suggested, although sources apparently claim that Nintendo’s aim this time is to “recapture the hardcore” and build bridges with third party developers, which could prompt a move away from the Wii branding altogether. The word on the street also suggests a late 2012 launch with developers already in dialogue with Nintendo about the systems capabilities.
Interesting stuff. What say you, Tap?
Email the author of this post at matc@tap-repeatedly.com
We’re in such a strange place with consoles right now. Traditionally their cycles go more or less in sync, but neither the PS3 nor 360 needs a hardware update, and I think Sony and Microsoft would be crazy to announce one at this point.
Wii, meanwhile… that’s another story. Nintendo has not done well in online, it lacks the horsepower of the other systems, and despite innovating motion controls, we haven’t yet seen the killer app for them. Not to mention, of course, that Kinect (and even Move) is dramatically more advanced than Wii’s motion sensors.
Reclaim the hardcore, huh? Well, it can be done. It’ll be an uphill battle, but I think they can do it if they want to.
Was just thinking about this myself, Matt. We’re in a strange position that could lead to some pretty dramatic disparity between the 3 systems. Will Nintendo position this as a generation leap? Is this the start of the next gen? Or is it just Nintendo finally catching up and being REALLY late to the current HD party?
Sony have a much publicised 10 year plan for the PS3 and I think it’s safe to assume they’ll persist with that until the 6th, 7th or 8th year, then remarket the PS3 as a second tier system and hope it continues to do as well in that role as the PS2 did (and remarkably continues to do). Kinect, in theory, buys Microsoft another couple of years at least, especially if Nintendo are moving away from the “casual” crowd. Taking both of those into account, I doubt we’ll see Sony or Microsoft making a move to replace their current hardware until 2013 or 2014 at the earliest. So is the new Nintendo system going to be a really late addition to this gen, or a really early start to the next?
If it’s the latter, could it then also risk being trumped in the hardware department by Micosoft and Sony two years later?
Third party software development is Nintendo’s biggest problem. How many decent Wii games are there that weren’t developed by Nintendo themselves? Five?
If they need a new console to rebuild those bridges … well, count me out. This generation has been so consumer friendly particularly because it has gone on for so long now. Another nice benefit has been the stagnation of computer hardware. Now that a huge chunk of computer games are ported from consoles there is almost a parity in the technological standard.
I’m in no hurry to upgrade, but I understand why Nintendo feel they are missing out. Though I have to wonder about their timing: initially they were taking the “screw high definition” road, unconcerned, not even acknowledging Sony and Microsoft as competition (a realistic argument, indeed; working both ways). Why the change of heart?
They’re in a strange place; definitely the Wii is not forgotten by the mainstream consumer, despite being long ago forgotten by the “hardcore” market, save perhaps the Zelda/Metroid otaku. And of course the 3DS is brand new and will probably eventually surpass its predecessors as the most popular handheld.
They should also consider how good the Wii looked physically. Smallest, sleekest console ever launched, at the expense of power of course. Do they really want to trample over that image and re-enter the game with some giant, ugly piece of crap?
If they want to enter the high definition market and appeal to “hardcore” audiences within the next 18 months I think their new console would require the following:
1080p capability, Blu-ray playback, built in wi-fi, an online store that isn’t shit (i.e. some happy medium between Xbox Live and PSN, which both lack in terms of user friendliness in my opinion), at least a 250 GB hard drive, preferably 500 GB, compatibility with flash drives, compatibility with existing Wii hardware/junk (unless your new stuff is totally fucking awesome and essential, yeah- don’t make the consumer feel like they wasted their money on all those moronic Wii accessories), and finally: make motion controllers optional, humbly realizing that it was a fucking trend in ’06, you did the best with it that you could, but at the end of the day we gamers just want a goddamned two-handed controller with buttons and colours and analog sticks. Oh my.
Didn’t Nintendo have a similar slant when they were announcing the Wii to take over from the GameCube? That they were going to get more serious about their games etc? While I’d love to see the halcyon days of N64 return, unfortunately I’ll remain skeptical until I see the finished successor and the types of games it’ll boast.
With the recent web chatter about Microsoft looking to hire for a next generation team and the slumping sales of the Wii, I think this is the only card Nintendo can play at this point. By holding back at the last generation, they must have seen the potential of getting a small jump on the future generations by shifting their launch window out of sync with the rest of the industry. If they pull this off it will definitely be a short-term boon to their business.
I agree with a lot the points made by all 3 of you Matts. What we’re looking at now is almost certainly the top 3 console companies separating into 3 distinct production cycles to minimize launch window competition. Of the 3, Nintendo and Sony have the best positions and most assertive stances. Microsoft will continue to deliver just enough tech to meet the bar a year or two before Sony pushes the bar to a new position. Nintendo will jump in the middle of Sony’s schedule and do some major market damage until everyone remembers that they are half a generation behind the bar. All three console makers will still lag behind desktop potential, simple to keep profits as high as possible.
As to the question of whether or not Nintendo can win a big cut of “hardcore” gamers back…. That’s a generational question. They led with the N64 because the generation they were servicing fit exceedingly well with the types of games they were producing. The target has moved. With the Wii, Nintendo’s game strategy was to deliver more “family friendly” fare like that successful for the N64 and the “old timers” who liked those games bought the console for their kids. Meanwhile the games industry target generation became more Gears of War than Wario Ware, allowing competitors to say flippant things like “[Nintendo] is a good babysitter.”
I wish Nintendo the best; but, I don’t see them as the market leader. If they come out with platinum tomorrow, it will depreciate to gold or bronze by the time Sony lets its next salvo loose.
And, of course, some have speculated that consoles are going through a sea change with the next generation, or possibly the one after. Streaming games live is likely to dominate the living room eventually, if the broadband providers and bandwidth and stuff get sorted out.
I wonder if Nintendo could create an HD add-on to the Wii and sell it for a hundred bucks. Just a horsepower boost rather than a whole system. I know the Sega 32X hardly did well, but that was a different time.
Thing is, I have always wondered about the Wii’s actual usage rates. High sales are one thing, but the system’s attachment rate (number of games bought at the time of console purchase) is near zero, and many people aren’t buying additional games after purchase. I wonder how many Wiis are gathering dust. Nintendo wouldn’t care, of course, because like Charlie Sheen it already has your money, but it exists in a strange, non-user market.
Nintendo needs to galvanize third parties and strengthen its own internal franchises with new winners. As to getting the Core gamer back, like I said, it’s conceivable… but I must admit it’s unlikely.
Project Cafe. http://wii.ign.com/articles/116/1162045p1.html
Thanks to Senor “Neku/Cross” Collins for the heads up.
A six inch screen on the controller?
*looks at 3.5″ iPhone*
That’s.. pretty huge? Seems odd, can’t quite work this one out!
Mind you.. good to know that VMU idea didn’t go to waste after all!
Infact scrap that. “Odd”? It sounds outrageous.
Rumours of 6″ screens built into the controllers, game streaming, portable controllers.. it’s batshit insane is what it is.
Can’t believe I’m on honeymoon during E3. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Mat, I strongly suggest that you don’t let Mrs. Mat hear what you just said. ; )
Haha Mat, batshit insane 🙂
Oh well, guess I’ll have to enjoy E3 news without you 🙁
I strongly suggest that the island of Mauritius makes sure it’s WiFi is up to the job of streaming the Nintendo conference..!
Mrs Mat can entertain herself for abit. Women like walks, right? Walks along the beach? On their own?
This all seems so unlikely and doesn’t seem to fit their business model. They’re very conservative (note the hesitance about increasing manufacturing capacity during the Wii shortages). They don’t have other (large) revenue streams to fall back upon like Sony and Microsoft do (to my mind Microsoft was never interested in making game consoles as such, they just wanted a vector to get into your living room).
A console like this would easily break over that $200-250 consumer electronics sweet spot. This would put them in Sony and Microsoft territory. If they did that they’d have to offer a comparable online presence, which they’ve been unwilling to do yet. Otherwise, why would people bother?
This also brings up the question of what does “hardcore” mean to them? Does it mean Mario/Zelda/Metroid fans, or Gears/Duty/Halo fans? The former can be serviced without state-of-the-art technology in my opinion. I know those are simplifications, but the question is still valid I believe.
Questions. So many of them.
I tend to think Nintendo recognizes that it can’t compete in Sony and Microsoft territory without investing heavily in technology, something it has historically avoided. Nintendo was always (intentionally) a little behind the curve in tech – it abandoned cartridges late, adopted optical late, added online late, still hasn’t gone to HD, etc. The reason for this is that it’s able to compete without doing so by keeping its prices down, focusing on its key franchises, and letting the super-high-end duke it out. A similar analogy might be video cards. While nVidia and AMD enjoy the bragging rights of having the “fastest consumer video card in the universe,” the real money is made on mid-level desktops that serve office workers.
Within the industry, Core gamers are traditionally defined as those who turn to electronic gaming as their primary source of entertainment, and who choose traditional games (FPS, RTS, RPG, etc) over “casual” games when given the choice. Core gamers will play tower defense and Bejeweled at the office but go home and play Crysis, or Zelda.
The Wii is odd because it caters to both the Core gamer (Zelda, Metroid, MadWorld, SMB, what have you) and the Casual gamer (all those Wii party games). There’s a lot of crossover in this sector, and industry folks often try to ignore the fact that Casual gamers can be Core from time to time, and vice versa. They’re not separated by a wall. Plus, with Kinect and Move, both Sony and Microsoft are attempting to tap the lucrative Casual sector.
In point of fact “Casual” gamer is no longer a valid term. Really these gamers should be called “Non-Core,” which is to say they don’t turn to gaming as their primary entertainment pastime and don’t tend to consume “traditional” video games. Nintendo tries to stay out of that debate, which I think is why it’s seen such success with the Wii and DS.
Going hardcore tech is contrary to the company’s business model, I agree. A key question for Nintendo moving forward is that, realistically, the world is going online. Nintendo has never really been great at online. Either they’re hiding hidden capability or they’ll have to catch up quick. The next generation of consoles may well be the last to have discrete media. Beyond that, it’s a streaming universe, I think.
All that these stories do, to my mind, is fuel questions about what Nintendo is REALLY up to (which may be what you’re saying Steerpike). It makes me think this is all just a marketing research exercise for Nintendo, to gauge consumer/press responses to various stimuli.
Another obvious point, concerning technology, is that Nintendo pretty much has to make profit on hardware.
Releasing another home console in the near-term doesn’t seem like a very good business decision for any of the three. But that may just be my own biases talking. For my part, what’s available now is just fine and will be for a while. I definitely don’t consider myself in the majority though. I’m happy to be at least a half generation behind.
The price is an interesting talking point I think, because all this talk about the potential for tablet based controllers and the like doesn’t sound cheap to me. Traditionally Nintendo have never been the sort of company who will launch products at a loss in the hope of improving later, unlike Sony. As has already been said, Nintendo would sooner take a back seat from the top table.
Can they do that again? It depends on where this Wii 2 positions itself in the market. If it’s genuinely powerful enough to represent a generational step up then I think a $250+ price point is fine, but to be only marginally more advanced than the PS3 and 360, or only feature incremental advancements to motion controls, will make it a hard sell at that price.
Like you say, there are so many unanswered questions.
You guys are also right regarding Nintendo’s major franchises. They’re a company that produces games that don’t necessarily need the latest cutting edge visuals. Super Mario Galaxy looks fine, and Nintendo’s second most lucrative franchise has remained a handheld exclusive, sprite based RPG throughout it’s existence (other than some middling spin offs). I don’t think there’s pressure for Nintendo to make a machine that makes Zelda, Metroid, Mario, Smash Brothers etc look as good as Crysis or Killzone, which makes me think whatever they’re planning will be more about the hardware rather than a huge graphical leap. But if that’s the case, will that advanced new hardware come at a price, and will people swallow that at this stage, particularly if third party titles in particular don’t look significantly better than the PS3 or 360?